Verses 11-14 provide slightly more detail at this point than the usual formula summing up the reign of a king (compare 2 Chr 9.29-31; 12.15-16).

In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was diseased in his feet, and his disease became severe: King Asa contracted a foot disease near the end of his reign. The precise nature of the disease is not stated. But it was clearly serious and perhaps made him crippled (so Good News Translation). The Hebrew noun for disease and the related verb rendered was diseased refer to ill health or disease in general. The context may indicate that the illness was serious enough to cause death, as in the case of Elisha in 2 Kgs 13.14, but here the context is too vague to support New Living Translation‘s rendering (1996) that this disease was “life threatening.” Since the Hebrew word for feet is sometimes used as a euphemism for the sexual organs (see, for example, Isa 7.20), some interpreters think that Asa may have had a sexual (venereal) disease, but such an interpretation should not be made explicit in translation. Helpful models for this sentence are “In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa became gravely affected with disease in his feet” (Revised English Bible) and “… Asa suffered from an acute foot ailment” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh).

Yet even in his disease he did not seek the LORD, but sought help from physicians: Yet even renders the common Hebrew conjunction followed by another conjunction, which taken together in this context emphasize the surprising fact that Asa still failed to turn to God for help. Yet even in his disease may be translated “In spite of all this” or “But even then.” The phrase seek the LORD has a limited meaning here of asking for God’s guidance or help. The same phrase has a broader meaning in other contexts, where it means “doing God’s will” (see, for example, 2 Chr 14.4). The Hebrew word translated physicians comes from the verb meaning “to heal.” There may be a play on words here in Hebrew since the name Asa is another word for “healer” or “physician.”

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 .