The number of them along with their brethren …: Good News Translation takes the pronouns them and their to refer to the twenty-four men previously mentioned in verses 2-4 and makes this explicit. The Hebrew word for brethren is to be taken in its broader sense and translated “relatives” (New International Version, New Century Version), “kinsmen” (Revised English Bible), or “fellow Levites” (Good News Translation).

All who were skilful may be rendered “all expert” (New Jerusalem Bible) or “all masters” (American Bible).

Two hundred and eighty-eight: Verse 2 lists four sons of Asaph, verse 3 lists six sons of Jeduthun, and verse 4 lists fourteen sons of Heman, making a total of twenty-four, as Good News Translation makes explicit. The number 288 (24 x 12; see verses 9-31) includes these twenty-four men.

The Good News Translation translation may give the impression that the twenty-four men listed in the preceding verses were not themselves “trained musicians.” The meaning of this verse is stated clearly in International Children’s Bible, which reads “These men and their relatives from the Levites were trained in music. They were skilled in making music for the Lord. There were 288 of them.”

This Handbook recommends that verses 6-7 form a separate paragraph, with verse 6 referring to all of the sons and fathers mentioned in verses 2-5, and the beginning of verse 7 referring to the same twenty-four people named in verses 2-4. The following NET Bible rendering is recommended as a model:

• 6 All of these were under the supervision of their fathers; they were musicians in the LORD’s temple, playing cymbals and stringed instruments as they served in God’s temple. Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman were under the supervision of the king. 7 They and their relatives, all of them skilled and trained to make music to the LORD, numbered two hundred eighty-eight.

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 .