Afterwards he built an outer wall for the city of David …: The pronoun he refers to Manasseh, which Good News Translation makes clear by using his name. In the description that follows it is not clear exactly what the intended sense of the Hebrew is. Interpretations and translations differ regarding the building of the outer wall. Since the city of David, Gihon, and Ophel were all located in the southeast part of Jerusalem, the wall apparently went from the Fish Gate on the north side of Jerusalem, all the way down the east side of the city.

It is not clear whether the Hebrew verb at the beginning of this verse should be translated built or “rebuilt” (New International Version, New Living Translation) here. Two different understandings are possible:

(1) Manasseh continued work on the wall that Hezekiah had begun (2 Chr 32.5) by rebuilding it higher and further to the west. This understanding is the basis for the following renderings: “Manasseh increased the height of the outer wall” (Good News Translation), “Manasseh rebuilt the eastern section of Jerusalem’s outer wall and made it taller” (Contemporary English Version), and “he rebuilt the outer wall of the City of David … and made it very much higher” (New Jerusalem Bible).
(2) Manasseh built a new high wall on the eastern side of the city and extended it westward (so Revised Standard Version/New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, Nouvelle Bible Segond, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). This wall was on the hill below the eastern side of the city above the Gihon Spring.

For the city of David, see the comments on 1 Chr 11.5 and 2 Chr 5.2.

The Hebrew says that the wall was west of Gihon. Since Gihon Spring was located on the east side of the city, Good News Translation correctly says that the wall was “on the east side of David’s City.” Outside the city walls, on the east side, Gihon Spring was the principal source of water for Jerusalem. It will be important in most languages to add the classifier term “spring” since otherwise the readers may not know what Gihon was. See the comments on 32.30.

The exact location of the Fish Gate in the wall around the city is uncertain. Most likely it was on the northern wall and was a place where fish was sold and delivered to the city. According to Neh 3.3 and 12.39, the Fish Gate was to the east of the Ephraim Gate and to the west of the Tower of the Hundred on the north wall of the city (for a good map of Jerusalem at that time see A Handbook on Ezra and Nehemiah, page 295|fig:Map_JerusalemNehemiah.jpg).

And carried it around Ophel: Based on normal English usage, the verb carried is out of place here. The idea is that the work of building (or rebuilding) the wall continued in this direction. The Hebrew verb here actually has the meaning of “going around” or “encircling.” For this whole clause God’s Word says “He made the wall go around the Ophel.” New American Bible and Moffatt say “encircling Ophel.” For Ophel see the comments on 2 Chr 27.3.

He also put commanders of the army in all the fortified cities in Judah: See the comments on 2 Chr 17.2.

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 .