And the fear of God came on all the kingdoms of the countries …: The people of other nations became afraid of God when they learned about what had happened to the Edomites and their allies. The fear of God refers to real fear of God (see the comments on a similar phrase in 2 Chr 14.14). It is also possible, though not likely, that the Hebrew word translated of God should be understood in an idiomatic superlative sense. If so, then this phrase may be rendered “a great fear/terror.” For the kingdoms of the countries, see the comments on 1 Chr 29.30. This phrase may be rendered “the kingdoms in that area” (God’s Word), “the surrounding kingdoms” (New Living Translation), or simply “the other nations.” This whole clause may be rendered “All the surrounding countries were afraid of God.”

When they heard that the LORD had fought against the enemies of Israel: Here the author here uses the term Israel for the southern kingdom.

This whole verse may be restructured by saying:

• When the rulers of all the surrounding nations heard how the LORD had fought against the enemies of Israel, they were very much afraid of him.

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 .