Then Josiah contributed to the lay people, as passover offerings for all that were present …: Like Hezekiah before him (2 Chr 31.3), King Josiah made a personal contribution to the celebration of the Passover. The Hebrew verb for contributed is literally “lifted up,” but its meaning here is “offered” or “gave” (New Century Version). For the lay people, see the comments on 2Chr 35.5.
Lambs and kids from the flock to the number of thirty thousand, and three thousand bulls: The Hebrew word for lambs refers to young rams (see the comments on 1 Chr 29.21), and the expression for kids (literally “sons of goats”) refers to young goats. But several versions omit any reference to the age of the animals and translate simply “sheep and goats” (Contemporary English Version, New International Version, New Century Version). Revised English Bible, on the other hand, translates explicitly “young rams and goats.”
According to Exo 12.3-11, the Passover offering must consist of sheep or goats, and the meat must be roasted, not boiled in water. However, according to Deut 16.2-8, cattle as well as sheep and goats could be offered, and the meat must be boiled in water. These two different traditions are combined in 2 Chronicles, with the result that the Passover offering consisted of sheep and goats, and the cattle were considered as a separate additional offering. Verse 13 calls the offering of cattle “the holy offerings.” The Hebrew text here in verse 7 indicates that the passover offerings consisted only of the lambs and kids. The bulls were not a part of the passover offerings but were additional offerings. By restructuring the wording of this verse, Good News Translation does not maintain this distinction.
The words to the number of thirty thousand follow the words all that were present in the Hebrew text, but the number 30,000 refers to the lambs and kids and not to the people. Revised Standard Version has changed the word order to avoid the ambiguity.
These were from the king’s possessions: This statement that makes it clear that what King Josiah contributed was taken from what he owned personally. This information may easily be incorporated in the earlier part of the verse to avoid a separate sentence here. Good News Translation does so with the words “from his own herds and flocks.”
Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Chronicles, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2014. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .