And Joash the king of Israel sent word to Amaziah king of Judah: Since Joash and Amaziah have already been identified in the previous verse as king of Israel and king of Judah, some versions omit the full identification here for reasons of style in the receptor language (so Good News Translation, Bible en français courant). In view of the context, sent word may be better translated “sent a return message,” “answered with the following message,” or “sent back this answer” (Revised English Bible). But since the response is in the form of a parable, some translators may prefer “responded with the following story.” For this whole clause New Living Translation has “But King Jehoash of Israel replied to King Amaziah of Judah with this story.”
Contemporary English Version begins the parable of King Jehoash with the words “Once upon a time,” clearly indicating to English readers that the story which is being introduced is fictional. Other languages have similar introductory expressions that could be used here to inform the reader or hearer of the nature of the story that follows.
A thistle on Lebanon sent to a cedar on Lebanon: The contrast between a thistle and a cedar could hardly be more striking. The cedar was considered the most admirable of all the trees in the world (see the comments on 1 Chr 14.1). On the other hand, the thistle was considered a bothersome bush. In the Old Testament the Hebrew word for thistle usually refers to a thornbush (so Good News Translation, Bible en français courant). Here the weakness of the thistle is contrasted negatively with the strength of the cedar. Jehoash likens himself to the cedar tree and Amaziah to the thornbush. The aim of the story is to point out to Amaziah that he should not overestimate his importance by considering himself on equal footing with Jehoash.
On Lebanon may be understood to mean either “in Lebanon” (that is, in the country called Lebanon; so New International Version) or “on the Lebanon Mountains” (Good News Translation; similarly Bible en français courant). The latter meaning is more likely since the most striking characteristic of Lebanon is its majestic mountains (see the comments on 2 Chr 2.8).
Sent to a cedar means “sent a message to a cedar” (Good News Translation).
Give your daughter to my son for a wife: This embedded quotation of what the thornbush said to the cedar tree should probably be made indirect in some languages in order to avoid the problem of multilevel quotations. One possible model for this is to say “A thornbush on Mount Lebanon sent a message to a cedar tree on Mount Lebanon proposing the marriage of his son to the daughter of the cedar tree.”
And a wild beast of Lebanon passed by and trampled down the thistle: The conjunction and at the beginning of this sentence may be better translated “but” (New Revised Standard Version, Contemporary English Version, Revised English Bible) in some languages because the story takes an unexpected turn at this point. A wild beast of Lebanon refers to Jehoash. The Hebrew expression for a wild beast is a general one referring to an untamed animal normally living apart from human beings. A more literal rendering is “a living being of the open field.” But it will be more natural in many languages to say simply “a wild animal” (so Good News Translation). Good News Translation leaves implied the words of Lebanon since the place name was already introduced earlier in this verse.
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 .