Behold renders the Hebrew focusing particle again. Here Jehoshaphat directs God’s attention to the fact that the peoples whose lives had been spared by God were now the very ones who threatened the existence of the people of God.

They reward us by coming to drive us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit: The Hebrew verb rendered reward means simply “to do” or “to show” to someone. In this context it implies something very negative and undeserved. The English word reward may sound too positive in some languages. A better verb here is “pay back” (so God’s Word). Compare Gen 50.15, where the same Hebrew verb is translated this way. Thy possession refers to the land of Israel. Moffatt says “thy very own country.” The land of Israel did not belong to its inhabitants, but to their God. He gave it to them to live in, but it is not theirs.

The behavior of the Ammonites, Moabites and Edomites is surprising since the Israelites had not attacked and destroyed them when the Israelites came into the land of Israel from Egypt. Surely Jehoshaphat’s words were spoken with emotion. Unlike Revised Standard Version, which places a period at the end of this verse, some translations use an exclamation point (so New Jerusalem Bible, La Bible Pléiade), which is preferable.

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 .