He carried off is literally “he carried off from there,” that is, from Jerusalem. The subject of this verb is still Nebuchadnezzar. If this is unclear, the proper name may be added. In certain languages it will be necessary to state where the objects were carried from or where they were carried to. Good News Translation and Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje correctly state that they were carried “to Babylon” and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh indicates, equally correctly and based more on the form of the Hebrew text, that they were carried off “from Jerusalem.”

The treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king’s house: In some languages the word treasures will be translated “things of value.” This would have included objects made of silver and gold that were used both in the Temple and in the royal palace.

Cut in pieces translates an intensive form of the Hebrew verb here. It is probably better rendered “broke up” (Revised English Bible, New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible) since the objects involved were made of gold and this may not be something that is usually thought of as being cut. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh renders the verb as “stripped off” (compare 2 Kgs 18.16, where it is translated “stripped … from”).

The clause which Solomon king of Israel had made could be taken to qualify the word temple and this would certainly be true. But the intent of the writer here is to show that the vessels of gold were made on orders from Solomon. If a literal rendering gives the impression that Solomon did all the work himself, translators should use a causative form or some other device to show that the king was not the craftsman.

As the LORD had foretold is literally “as the LORD had spoken.” This refers to the message to Hezekiah through the prophet Isaiah found in 2 Kgs 20.17. The valuable items in the Temple and the palace were taken to Babylon just as the LORD had predicted. A few interpreters, however, take these words as describing how Solomon made the gold utensils for the Temple. Compare Peregrino for the last half of the verse: “and destroyed all the utensils of gold that Solomon, king of Israel, had made for the temple according to the orders of the Lord.” If this second interpretation is followed, then the meaning is that Solomon made the gold utensils according to God’s instructions.

Contemporary English Version restructures this verse in a way that may prove helpful to translators in other languages. The following model puts the events in a more chronological order by speaking first of the previous warning given by the LORD:

• The LORD had warned that someday the treasures would be taken from the royal palace and from the temple, including the gold objects that Solomon had made for the temple. And that’s exactly what Nebuchadnezzar ordered his soldiers to do.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .