The rest of the acts of Abijah, his ways and his sayings refers to everything else Abijah did and said. His ways refers to the things he did during his life, that is, his activities. In some languages this phrase may be translated “the things that he did,” “his deeds” (New American Bible), or “his conduct” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh).

The passive verb are written will have to be made active in some languages. A possible model for this is “they [indefinite] have written” or “someone has written.”

The story of the prophet Iddo: This work is unknown today. Story is literally “midrash” (so New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, Moffatt, Osty-Trinquet). The Hebrew word for story may also be translated “study” or “commentary.” In later Hebrew this term became a commonly used word for “exegesis.” At this point in the development of the language, the word probably meant “story.” If the word means “commentary” here (so Nouvelle Bible Segond, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, El libro del Pueblo de Dios), then what Iddo wrote was not simply a history of Abijah’s reign but rather a commentary on his reign. Iddo is also mentioned in 2 Chr 9.29 and 12.15 as a source of information about other kings.

In the Hebrew text chapter 13 contains twenty-three verses; that is, 14.1 in Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation corresponds to 13.23 in the Masoretic Text.

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 .