And they roasted the passover lamb with fire: The pronoun they refers to the Levites again, which Good News Translation makes explicit. The Hebrew verb translated roasted is a rather general term meaning “cooked” (Revised English Bible), but in this context the cooking is done with fire, probably meaning “over the fire” (Good News Translation), so the meat was not boiled. But a more general term such as “cooked” will be appropriate if there is no specific term for roasting. The same Hebrew verb is translated boiled in the second half of this verse. For the passover lamb, see the comments on 2Chr 35.1.

According to the ordinance: See Exo 12.8-9, which says that the Passover animals are to be roasted. According to Deut 16.7, they are to be boiled. See the comments on 2Chr 35.7.

And they boiled the holy offerings in pots, in caldrons, and in pans: The holy offerings refers to the bulls that were offered (see verse 7). Moffatt renders the first half of this clause as “and boiled the sacrificial flesh of the oxen.” Some languages may not have separate terms for pots, caldrons, and pans. For others it may be necessary to know the shapes of these different vessels and the kinds of materials they were made of. In the Temple, unlike the home, most vessels were made of metal. It is difficult to know sometimes what the Hebrew words here refer to since the same vessel is sometimes given more than one name in the text. Translations will reflect this uncertainty. The word rendered pots occurs in 2 Chr 4.11 and 16. Here it refers to a wide-mouth household utensil, deeper than a flat cooking pan, used for boiling food. The word rendered caldrons is sometimes used in other contexts for a kind of basket or receptacle for carrying different items (Jer 24.2; Psa 81.6), but here it is obviously a kind of deep, round-bottomed, two-handled cooking pot. New Jerusalem Bible says “kettles.” The word translated pans is sometimes rendered “dish,” referring to a relatively flat vessel. But here it seems to refer to a round bowl. For these three terms, see WTH, pages 302-303|fig:WTH.Cooking pot, kettle.302-303.html.

And quickly carried them to all the lay people: The pronoun them refers to “the meat” (Good News Translation) that was cooked. For the lay people, see the comments on 2Chr 35.5.

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 .