In verses 11-19 David gives Solomon the plans for the Temple. Bible en français courant and Nouvelle Bible Segond begin a new section here called “David delivers to Solomon the plans for the temple” (similarly Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente).
Revised Standard Version follows the form of the Hebrew, with one long sentence from verse 11 through verse 18. Good News Translation and other common language translations break it up into several shorter sentences.
Then David gave Solomon his son the plan …: The temporal connector Then renders the common Hebrew conjunction. Other versions that render it in the same way are New Century Version, New Jerusalem Bible, and New American Bible. However, in some languages the beginning of a new paragraph will serve the same purpose without any other overt marker (so Good News Translation).
The Hebrew identifies Solomon as David’s son, but repetition of information that has already been expressed many times is not considered good English style, so Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, and New Living Translation omit the words his son.
The Hebrew technical term rendered plan is also used in Exo 25.9 and 40, when God gave Moses instructions about building the Tabernacle. The word plan, which occurs also in verses 12, 18 and 19, may be translated “pattern” (King James Version, New American Bible). Bible de Jérusalem speaks of a “model.” The plan probably was a description in words rather than a drawing. If it is considered to be a drawing, then the Hebrew verb for gave may be translated “handed over” (American Bible).
The vestibule of the temple … its houses, its treasuries, its upper rooms, and its inner chambers: The vestibule of the temple (literally “the vestibule”) refers to the porch in front of the Temple (see 1 Kgs 6.3). It was an unroofed structure through which someone had to pass in order to enter the sanctuary itself. Revised English Bible says “the porch of the temple.” The Hebrew contains a difficulty here since the possessive pronoun its must refer to the vestibule because the words of the temple are not in the Hebrew. For this whole part of the verse An American Translation says “the porch, its houses, its treasuries, its upper chambers, and its rooms within” (similarly New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). But it makes no sense to speak of the vestibule’s upper rooms, since it was the Temple itself that had upper rooms, and not the vestibule. Most translations overcome the problem by supplying the phrase of the temple, as Revised Standard Version has done. Good News Translation simplifies the text by including the different rooms under the more general expressions “all the Temple buildings” and “all the other rooms.” Most Septuagint manuscripts read “the temple” instead of the vestibule, and this is the basis for some translations (so Braun).
Its houses probably refers to the Temple’s surrounding buildings (so New Living Translation).
The Hebrew word translated treasuries occurs only here in the Old Testament. It is a loanword from Persian and means either treasury or supply room. It has been understood by some as a place that could be locked up in order to protect its contents. Revised English Bible speaks of “strong-rooms.”
The Hebrew word rendered upper rooms is translated “room on the roof” in Jdg 3.20 by Good News Translation, which is the sense it has in this context, so Revised English Bible says “roof-chambers”. The two Hebrew words translated inner chambers refer to rooms that are inside the Temple. Contemporary English Version attempts to translate into simple language the two kinds of rooms referred to here as “the rooms upstairs and downstairs.”
The room for the mercy seat (literally “the place of the Ark-cover” [New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh]) refers to the Holy of Holies or “the Most Holy Place” (Good News Translation; see 1 Kgs 6.16, 19-28). Instructions for the building of the mercy seat are given in Exo 25.17-21. It was made of pure gold, and it had the same measurements as the Covenant Box, which according to Exo 25.10 measured about 110 centimeters (45 inches) long by 66 centimeters (27 inches) wide. It sat on top of the Covenant Box with the two gold cherubim attached to it. On the Day of Atonement (Lev 16.1-28), the High Priest sprinkled blood on the mercy seat to atone for his sins and for the sins of the people. Because of this function of the mercy seat, Good News Translation and Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje translate the room for the mercy seat as “the Most Holy Place, where sins are forgiven,” and New Century Version similarly says “the place where the people’s sins were removed.” New Living Translation has “the inner sanctuary where the Ark’s cover–the place of atonement–would be kept.” New International Version says simply “the place of atonement.” Revised English Bible says “the shrine of expiation,” and New American Bible has “the room with the propitiatory”; but neither of these renderings is common language. Moffatt takes the Hebrew word for mercy seat to simply mean “cover,” so he says “the shrine for the ark and its cover.”
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 .