Verses 4 and 5 may be understood as a direct quotation of David’s words in the Hebrew text, since verse 5 ends with the words “which I have made for praise.” Good News Translation has restructured these two verses as narrative without direct speech (also Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, Bible en français courant, Parole de Vie). New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh and Traduction œcuménique de la Bible use narrative without speech except for the last part of verse 5, which is taken as direct discourse because of the first person singular pronoun. Revised Standard Version inserts the words David said (also New Revised Standard Version, New International Version; similarly La Bible du Semeur) because of this pronoun. La Bible Pléiade and Osty-Trinquet likewise insert “David said,” but place these words in square brackets to show that they are not written in the Hebrew text.

Twenty-four thousand of these … shall have charge of the work in the house of the LORD: The precise meaning of this clause is not clear. There are two possible interpretations:

• (1) It may refer to the work the Levites will do once the Temple has been built, so American Bible says “… are to direct the administration of the house of Yahweh,” and Revised English Bible has “… were to be responsible for the maintenance and service of the house of the LORD.” Since the other duties that follow seem to refer to a time after the Temple will have been built, this first interpretation is preferable.

• (2) Or it may refer to the work of building the Temple; for example, Moffatt says “… having to superintend the work of building the temple of the Eternal,” and Bible en français courant has “… to supervise the construction of the temple of the Lord” (similarly Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). But Twenty-four thousand Levites seems like a huge number to serve as supervisors of the Temple construction. However, elsewhere the writer uses the Hebrew verb rendered have charge of for overseeing the people who built or repaired the Temple (2 Chr 2.1, 18; 34.12-13). Furthermore, 2 Chr 34.12-13 indicates that Levites who were gatekeepers and scribes also served as overseers. According to 1 Chr 22.2, it was the foreigners who were to do the actual labor of building the Temple.

Six thousand shall be officers and judges: The Hebrew word for officers can refer to military or civil officials. It is uncertain whether the word originally meant “scribe” (so Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, El libro del Pueblo de Dios, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente) or “record-keeper,” which is the basis for the Good News Translation rendering “to keep records.” New International Version and Nueva Versión Internacional use the general term “officials.” The Hebrew word for judges is sometimes used for someone who is a ruler or leader, as in the book of Judges; but in this context the narrower sense of “judge” is more likely the intended sense.

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 .