And stand in the holy place … the lay people …: The Levites were to position themselves in such a way as to be able to help every Israelite family. The Hebrew text of this verse is somewhat obscure. Holy place is literally “the holy.” Does this refer to the entire Temple area, including the courtyards, or does it refer only to the central room of the Temple in front of the Most Holy Place? The lay people is literally “the sons of the people.” This expression refers to all the people of Israel who were not priests or Levites. It may be translated “the ordinary Israelites,” “your relatives who are not priests or Levites,” or simply “the common people” (New American Bible, An American Translation). The same expression is used again in verses 7, 12 and 13.

The most likely meaning of this verse in simplified form is reflected in the Contemporary English Version rendering, which is “Divide yourselves into groups, then arrange yourselves throughout the temple so that each family of worshipers will be able to get help from one of you.” Moffatt translates “stand in the sacred place with some of each Levitical family, to serve each group of families among your kinsmen the laity.”

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 .