So Hanun took David’s servants …: Hanun’s action is a result of what his advisers had said to him. The logical connector So in many languages will make this clear. But in some cases the common Hebrew conjunction here will be better left untranslated. In this context some languages may require a more forceful verb than took. Several English versions use the verb “seized” (Good News Translation, New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). Contemporary English Version says “arrested,” but such a rendering in English suggests a more formal, legal process than the Hebrew does.

And shaved them: As verse 5 makes clear, it was their beards that were shaved, not the hair on their heads. This may be made explicit here (so Good News Translation, New Living Translation, Bible en français courant, La Biblia: Traducción en Lenguaje Actual). The shaving of a man’s beard was sometimes done as a sign of mourning (see Isa 15.2; Jer 41.5). Here it was done to humiliate David’s envoys (compare Isa 50.6).

And cut off their garments in the middle, at their hips: This action further humiliated David’s messengers by exposing their private parts (compare Isa 20.4). The Hebrew word translated hips may refer to the buttocks or the hips. Two possible models for this clause are “and cut the bottoms of their robes off leaving them exposed from the waist down” and “and cut off half their garments up to the buttocks” (Revised English Bible). Compare also “cut their clothes off half-way up, right by their buttocks” (New Jerusalem Bible; similarly Bible en français courant). It is possible that the text means that one side of their garments was cut off up to the hip, not that the whole garment was cut off up to the hips. New Century Version makes it explicit that this action and the previous one were performed “To shame them.” But this will probably be understood in many languages without being stated. Morever, the next verse states that these men “were greatly ashamed.”

Since it is not likely that Hanun himself shaved David’s envoys and cut off their garments, some versions use a causative verb form. Bible en français courant, for example, uses the impersonal third person singular construction, saying “one shaved their beards, one cut their garments off half-way up, right by the buttocks.” In languages where the impersonal third person singular is not an option, it may be necessary to say “his [Hanun’s] men shaved them and cut off their garments up to their buttocks.”

And sent them away: Here again, the context may require a more forceful verb in some languages. One of the following verbs may help translators to find the appropriate equivalent in their own language: “dismissed” (Revised English Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible), “ejected,” “ousted,” “evicted,” “drove out,” or “chased away.”

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 .