They were broken in pieces, nation against nation, and city against city: Nation and city are the subjects of the passive verb were broken in pieces. The Hebrew verb here means “to crush fine” or “to pound up.” In this context it is used figuratively to mean “oppressed” (Good News Translation) or “destroy” (New Century Version). As mentioned in the previous verse, translators must decide whether the Hebrew phrase rendered nation against nation refers to people of different countries or to clans within Israel. Moffatt, for example, says “clan … against clan.” Most interpreters seem to understand it as referring to conflicts between nations.

For God troubled them with every sort of distress: The writer sees God as responsible for the difficulties experienced by the peoples of these nations and cities. The words every sort of distress are almost synonymous with “great disturbances” in the previous verse.

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 .