And David perceived that the LORD had established him king over Israel: Since King Hiram treated David as an equal, David realized more fully that the LORD had caused him to become the king of Israel. The result relationship between this verse and the previous one may be expressed more clearly by rendering And as “And so” (Good News Translation), “then” (New Revised Standard Version), “Thus” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) or “Accordingly” (An American Translation). Perceived may be rendered “became aware.” In some languages the verb “saw” will be the most natural one to use in this context, but it should not give the impression of physical, literal sight. Others may prefer to use the verb “knew” (New Century Version, Revised English Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible), which is precisely the meaning of the Hebrew verb here. The Hebrew verb translated had established is the causative form of the verb meaning “be firm” or “be certain.” For the first half of this verse New American Bible has “David now understood that the LORD had truly confirmed him as king over Israel.”

And that his kingdom was highly exalted for the sake of his people Israel: This second half of the verse is connected to the first half by the Hebrew conjunction ki. This conjunction has a range of usages, but here it means either that or “because.” If the first interpretation is followed, the sense is that David perceived two things: (1) that God had established him as king, and (2) that his kingdom was highly exalted. Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation both follow this interpretation. If the second interpretation is followed, the second half of the verse gives the reason why David perceived that God had established him as king. Many Spanish and Portuguese translations follow this interpretation (so Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, El libro del Pueblo de Dios, Reina-Valera revisada, La Biblia Latinoamerica], Almeida).

Exalted may be rendered “caused to flourish” or “made successful.” The pronoun his most likely refers to David in the phrase his kingdom (compare 2 Chr 13.8), but it refers to God in the phrase his people Israel. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh says “his kingship” and “His people Israel,” but we do not advise the use of capital letters to show a reference to God. It is better to say “David’s kingdom” (Moffatt) and “God’s people Israel” (similarly Bible en français courant). For the last half of this verse International Children’s Bible has “And he knew the Lord had made his kingdom very important. The Lord did this because he loved his people, the Israelites.”

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 .