He also removed Maacah his mother from being queen mother: Regarding the sense of mother in reference to Maacah, see the comments on verse 10. The Hebrew verb rendered removed is translated in Moffatt and New Living Translation as “deposed,” which is a more technical word used in the context of overthrowing rulers. If the receptor language has a verb with this particular usage, it will be appropriate to use it here. Queen mother translates a Hebrew noun that usually refers to the mother of a king, although in 1 Kgs 11.19 it refers to the king’s wife (where Revised Standard Version has “queen”).

She had an abominable image made for Asherah; and Asa cut down her image: Regarding Asherah, which Good News Translation identifies as “the fertility goddess Asherah,” see the comments on 1 Kgs 11.5 and 14.15. The pronoun her in the phrase her image refers, of course, to Asherah and not to Maacah.

Abominable image and image both translate the same Hebrew noun, which occurs only here and in 2 Chr 15.16. The noun comes from a root that means “to shake.” The meaning of the noun is uncertain, although it is usually thought to mean something like “horror.” La Bible Pléiade and Osty-Trinquet say “Horror.” Other translations include “obscene object” (Revised English Bible), “outrageous object” (New American Bible), “obscenity” (New Jerusalem Bible), and “abominable thing” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh also adds a footnote here to indicate that the exact meaning of this Hebrew word is uncertain. Other translators may wish to include a similar footnote.

Asa cut down her image and burned it at the brook Kidron: Since the image of Asherah was in the form of a wooden “pole” (New International Version), it could be cut down and burned.

Regarding the brook Kidron, see the comments on 1 Kgs 2.37.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .