So all Israel was enrolled by genealogies; and these are written …: The Hebrew text of this chapter begins with the common conjunction, which Revised Standard Version translates So (also English Standard Version). New International Version, New Century Version, and many other modern versions leave it untranslated, but if the first half of this verse is taken as a part of the previous section (as in New International Version and New Century Version), then a connecting word may be required. The first half of this verse seems to form a conclusion to the genealogies of chapters 1–8. For this reason the Hebrew verb translated was enrolled is better rendered with a past perfect verb in some languages, for example, “had been enrolled” (Nouvelle Bible Segond, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). And these are written is literally “and behold these are written.” The Hebrew word for “behold” is a focus marker calling particular attention to what follows. King James Version and New American Standard Bible render this word as “behold” here, but most modern translations do not translate it. The passive verbs, was enrolled and are written, will have to be made active in certain languages. A possible model that does this for the first half of this verse is “So scribes [or, someone] had written down [or, recorded] the names of all the people of Israel according to their genealogies….”
The Book of the Kings of Israel: Regarding sources used by the Chronicler, see “Translating 1–2 Chronicles,” pages 3-4. After the northern kingdom of Israel was conquered by Assyria in 721 B.C., the name Israel was often used to refer to the southern kingdom of Judah (see, for example, Micah 3.9-10). Here Israel probably refers to both kingdoms.
And Judah was taken into exile in Babylon because of their unfaithfulness: Some translators prefer to render the common Hebrew conjunction for And as “But” (Holman Christian Standard Bible, Revised English Bible), because there seems to be a contrast between Israel and Judah (see the comments below). The Hebrew verb rendered was taken into exile is plural, so Judah here refers to the people of Judah. Good News Translation says “The people of Judah” in order to clarify that Judah does not refer to an individual. In Hebrew the noun rendered Babylon is used to refer to the country Babylonia and to its capital city Babylon. Unlike English, in some modern languages there is no distinction in form between the name of the city and the name of the country. Contemporary English Version correctly says “Babylonia” here. Babylonia occupied the southern part of Mesopotamia in what is now the country of Iraq. The people of Judah went into exile because of their unfaithfulness, which refers to their rebellion against God. Good News Translation says “as punishment for their sins.”
In languages where passives are unknown or unnatural, the passive verb was taken will have to be made an active one. If so, translators may wish to render the last sentence of this verse as “The enemies of Judah forced them to go to Babylonia because of their rebellion against God.” However, the ultimate agent in the mind of the writer may well be God since the context shows that this happened because of the unfaithfulness of the people. So it may be better to use two separate sentences, saying “The enemies of Judah captured them and forced them to go to Babylonia. God allowed this to happen because they had sinned against him.”
The relationship between the two parts of this verse is not clear. New Jerusalem Bible may express the intended meaning: “Thus, all Israel’s official genealogies had been entered in the records of the kings of Israel and Judah before they were deported to Babylon for their infidelity.” According to this interpretation, verse 1a refers to the official genealogies before the time of the exile. However, the difficulty with this translation is that the system of accents in the Masoretic Text clearly marks a major division between the words Israel and And Judah. Therefore some interpreters take the second half of verse 1 with the beginning of verse 2. Osty-Trinquet, for example, says:
• 1 All the Israelites were registered genealogically, and they were written in the book of the kings of Israel.
After Judah had been deported to Babylon for its unfaithfulness, 2 the first to live in their….
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 .