Shaphan the secretary told the king: Told is literally “told … saying.” In view of the ongoing conversation, Bible en français courant translates this clause as “he added.”

Once again, it may be unnatural to repeat the words the secretary and the priest here since this information has already been given to the readers previously.

Regarding the change in spelling from “Hilkiyahu” to Hilkiah in Hebrew in this verse, see the comments on verse 4.

A book: As in verse 8, New Living Translation calls this “a scroll.” Shaphan does not use the definite article here since the young King Josiah was presumably not familiar with “the book of the law” as the older Israelites would have been.

Shaphan read it before the king: According to the parallel passage in 2 Chr 34.18, Shaphan apparently did not read the book in its entirety. Rather, he “read from it” (2 Chr 34.18 in New International Version). Compare verse 8. Readers should also be made to understand that Shaphan was not reading quietly to himself, but reading aloud for the king and others to hear. A number of translations make this explicit by adding the word “aloud” (so Good News Translation, New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible).

If it is necessary to convert the direct quotation of this verse to an indirect statement, the following model may be considered:

• Then Shaphan told the king that Hilkiah had given him a book. So Shaphan read it [aloud] in the presence of the king.

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 .