This verse begins in Hebrew with the common conjunction, which Revised Standard Version and most other versions do not translate. It is not clear why Good News Translation renders it “But,” since verse 10 does not seem to stand in opposition to the statement in verse 9. Contemporary English Version begins with “One day,” which may be a good model for other languages.
Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying: Called on is a literal rendering of the Hebrew verb here. Good News Translation, New Century Version, and New American Bible express its meaning with “prayed to.” New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh and La Bible du Semeur use the more technical term “invoked.” The prayer has four separate requests.
Oh that thou wouldst bless me is literally “If to bless, you will bless me.” The use of the archaic pronoun thou and verb form wouldst in Revised Standard Version does not reflect a difference in Hebrew and should be ignored. New Revised Standard Version rightly says the same thing in more modern language: “Oh that you would bless me.” But many versions go a step further in modernizing the quotation. Since there is nothing in the Hebrew that requires the exclamation Oh, it is omitted in most versions. In certain languages a prayer such as this will naturally be introduced by words of entreaty, such as “I beg you [to bless me].”
And enlarge my border: Good News Translation makes the meaning of this clause clear with “and give me much land.” Similarly, Contemporary English Version says “and give me a lot of land.” These translations, however, may give the impression that Jabez had no land at the time he offered this prayer. But here he was asking for territory in addition to what he already possessed. For this reason it may be better to translate “and extend my boundaries” (New American Bible) or “and give me more land” (New Century Version). Complete Jewish Bible connects the blessing and the enlargement of the territory more closely by saying “Please bless me by enlarging my territory.”
And that thy hand might be with me: The word hand is often used in the Old Testament to refer to the power of God. In this context thy hand stands for God himself. For this reason several modern versions translate this whole clause simply as “Be with me” (Good News Translation; similarly New Living Translation), “Help me” (New American Bible), or “Stay with me” (New Century Version), without any mention of God’s hand.
And that thou wouldst keep me from harm so that it might not hurt me is literally “and that you would do from evil in order not to have pain me.” Curtis and Madsen correctly state that these words are “difficult to translate” (page 108). These two clauses state the reason Jabez is asking for God’s presence. The expected result is the absence of any difficulty. The general sense of these two clauses is clear, but the specific details are not clear since the Hebrew does not tell who might do the evil (or, harm) and who might hurt Jabez. From whom does Jabez pray to be kept from harm and hurt? Is he praying that God will not harm him? Revised English Bible says “do me no harm, I pray you, and let me be free from pain.” Or is he praying that God will protect him from harm by other people? New Revised Standard Version says “and that you would keep me from hurt and harm.” The general sense is probably correctly expressed in Good News Translation, which has “and keep me from anything evil that might cause me pain.” Compare also “so I will be safe from harm” (Contemporary English Version), and “and keep me from all trouble and pain” (New Living Translation). It is also possible that the sense is that Jabez wants God to protect him from the evil that threatens him simply because of his name: “Pain.”
And God granted what he asked: The connector And renders the common Hebrew conjunction, which in this context may be more appropriately translated “So” or “Then” in some languages, while others may not translate it at all (so Bible en français courant, Parole de Vie). The Hebrew verb translated granted is the causative form of the verb “to come” with the resulting meaning “caused to come about” or “accomplished” (Traduction œcuménique de la Bible).
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 .