And they smote all the cities round about Gerar: The pronoun they refers to the soldiers of Judah, which La Bíblia: Bíblia catalana traducció interconfessional makes explicit by saying “those of Judah.” They smote all the cities means the Judean army killed many people in these cities as well as destroying the cities themselves. Round about Gerar refers to the general geographical area of Gerar.

For the fear of the LORD was upon them: The fear of the LORD sometimes refers to “awe” rather than “fear.” But in this context it is a matter of real fear. The pronoun them may refer either to the people in the cities near Gerar or to the soldiers of Judah. The former is much more likely. Therefore the clear meaning of this clause is that the inhabitants of these cities were “terrified of the LORD” (Good News Translation). Other translations include “for the LORD had struck the people with panic” (Revised English Bible) and “for a panic from Yahweh had seized the towns” (New Jerusalem Bible). For the same idea, see Exo 23.27.

They plundered all the cities, for there was much plunder in them: The meaning of the Hebrew noun rendered plunder is very similar to that of the Hebrew noun translated “booty” in the previous verse. The Hebrew verb rendered plundered, meaning “to take the spoils,” comes from the same root as the noun for plunder. An alternative model for this whole sentence is “These towns contained many valuable things, so Asa’s army took them all away” (similarly New Century Version).

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 .