All these were the sons of Heman the king’s seer: Seer translates the same Hebrew word as in 1 Chr 21.9. See the comments there and at 1 Chr 9.22.
The Hebrew text for the rest of this verse has a number of ambiguities that allow for several different ways of interpreting and translating this verse.
According to the promise of God to exalt him is literally “by the words of God to lift up a horn.” If the Hebrew words here are taken literally, then the sense seems to be “at God’s word they blew the horn” (New Jerusalem Bible); that is, in the worship service the task of Heman’s sons was to make loud blasts on the horns. The Hebrew phrase meaning “by the words of God” is ambiguous. It may refer either (1) to something that God did, that is, “God made a promise,” or (2) to something that Heman did, that is, “Heman spoke God’s word.” The Hebrew phrase rendered to exalt him, which is literally “to lift up a horn,” may originally have said “to lift up his horn.” If it did, the Hebrew suffix meaning “his” (the letter waw) was accidentally omitted because the next word in Hebrew begins with the same letter waw. Regardless of whether or not the Hebrew originally said “his horn” or “a horn,” the pronoun him may need to be supplied in translation. The phrase “to lift up a horn” is probably figurative as in 1 Sam 2.10; Psa 92.10; and 148.14. “By the words of God to lift up a horn” may be understood in three different ways here:
• (1) It may mean that God had given these sons to Heman to exalt him or “to enhance his prestige” (New American Bible) because God had promised to do this. Compare “God promised to make Heman strong” (New Century Version). This interpretation is commonly found in many other modern versions (so Good News Translation, God’s Word, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente, Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje). As noted above, the pronoun him is not in the Hebrew but has been added as the sense of this first interpretation requires. And in this first interpretation, the Hebrew phrase meaning “by the words of God” is understood to mean “according to God’s promise.”
• (2) It may mean that Heman received prophecies from God to enhance the king’s prestige. Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, for example, has “the king’s seer, who transmitted to him the words of God in order to increase his power.”
• (3) Or it may mean that Heman uttered “prophecies of God for His [God’s] greater glory” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). The difficulty with this third understanding is that the expression “to lift up a horn” is used elsewhere in the Old Testament of human beings. Bible en français courant, which seems to follow this interpretation, reads “who announced to the king the messages of God, in order to exalt his power,” and then states in a footnote that the Hebrew text is not clear since the “power” may be that of God or of the king.
For God had given Heman fourteen sons and three daughters: Revised Standard Version follows the first interpretation above, so this clause explains how God had exalted Heman. But the Hebrew is literally “and God gave Heman….” So this clause does not necessarily provide the reason or cause as Revised Standard Version indicates. If interpretation 2 or 3 is followed, the common Hebrew conjunction is better translated “and.” The fourteen sons are named in verse 4.
The Hebrew text makes a break in the sense after the words “by the words of God to lift up a horn.” Most translations, including Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation, follow this punctuation. However, El libro del Pueblo de Dios makes a break in sense after “by the words of God,” and takes the Hebrew noun for “words” as “matters” rather than as promise. The phrase “by the words of God” then indicates more precisely the area in which Heman functioned as a seer. El libro del Pueblo de Dios renders this whole verse as “All of these were the sons of Heman, the king’s seer in matters concerning God. In order to exalt his power, God had given Heman fourteen sons and three daughters” (similarly Osty-Trinquet). New American Bible follows the same interpretation, saying “All these were the sons of Heman, the king’s seer in divine matters; to enhance his prestige, God gave Heman fourteen sons and three daughters.”
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 .