And did not seek guidance from the LORD is more literally “and did not seek/inquire of the LORD.” The Hebrew contains no word for guidance although it is clearly implied. Some other ways of saying the same thing are “instead of asking the LORD for guidance” (New Living Translation) and “He had not consulted Yahweh” (New Jerusalem Bible). While International Children’s Bible begins a new sentence at this point, it links this verse with the previous one by translating “He did this instead of asking the Lord for help.”

Therefore the LORD slew him: Therefore translates the common Hebrew conjunction. In this context the conjunction functions as a logical connector and may be translated “So” (New International Version, New Living Translation, Holman Christian Standard Bible) or “This is why” (New Century Version). The LORD slew him is literally “he killed him.” However, it is advisable to translate the pronoun “he” as the LORD for the sake of clarity. For the whole clause New Revised Standard Version has “the LORD put him to death,” and Good News Translation says “the LORD killed him.” Actually, Saul killed himself, but the writer says that this was what God willed. Translators in some languages may prefer to use a causative form of the verb here, for example, “caused his death” (New Jerusalem Bible) or “had Saul killed” (Contemporary English Version).

And turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse: Other ways of expressing the meaning here include “and transferred the monarchy to David…” (New Jerusalem Bible; similarly Revised English Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, La Bible du Semeur) and “and made David … king in his place.” Others use verbs such as “gave” (New Century Version, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy) or “entrusted” (Bible en français courant).

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 .