But of the people of Israel Solomon made no slaves for his work: But renders the common Hebrew conjunction. Here it marks the contrast between the way that the non-Israelites and the Israelites were treated with regard to the forced labor. New Jerusalem Bible and Anchor Bible use “however.” BNT makes the contrast even stronger by rendering this whole clause as “Not one of the seed of Israel was used for these works.”

They were soldiers, and his officers, the commanders of his chariots, and his horsemen: His officers is literally “the officers of his lieutenants” in the Masoretic Text. Revised English Bible, which follows the Septuagint, says “his captains and lieutenants.” Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament gives a {B} rating to the Masoretic Text.

For the Hebrew word rendered horsemen, see the comments on 2Chr 8.6. Since this word has several possible meanings, other possible renderings for his horsemen are “the commanders … of his cavalry” (New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible), “his … cavalry commanders” (New Jerusalem Bible), “his … cavalry troops” (Contemporary English Version), and “his chariot drivers” (New Century Version).

Contemporary English Version goes a step beyond Good News Translation and restructures the whole of verses 7-9 as follows:

• Solomon did not force the Israelites to do his work. Instead, they were his soldiers, officers, army commanders, and cavalry troops. But he did make slaves of the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites who were living in Israel. These were the descendants of those foreigners the Israelites did not destroy, and they remained Israel’s slaves.

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 .