And Judah assembled to seek help from the LORD: In this context the common Hebrew conjunction rendered And may be translated “So” (New Living Translation, NASB, Moffatt) or “Accordingly” (An American Translation). The name Judah is used here in the collective sense for its people, so it may be rendered “The Judeans” (La Bible Pléiade) or “The people of Judah” ( NET Bible). The next verse will make it clear that they assembled in Jerusalem. This information may be moved forward into this verse (so Good News Translation, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente). Here it says they gathered to seek help from the LORD. This response of the people reminds the reader of Solomon’s words in 2 Chr 7.14. The Hebrew word for seek differs from the one used in the previous verse, but they are synonyms here.

From all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD: This clause essentially repeats the previous one for emphasis, saying people from everywhere in Judah came to seek help from the LORD. It begins with an emphatic Hebrew particle that may be rendered “indeed” (New International Version). The Hebrew verb for seek is the same one used in the previous clause.

Good News Translation combines the two clauses in this verse, but it misses the emphasis here. New International Version provides a better model, saying “The people of Judah came together to seek help from the LORD; indeed, they came from every town in Judah to seek him.” Another possible model is:

• So the people of Judah came together in Jerusalem to ask the LORD for help; yes, they came from every city in Judah to ask him for help.

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 .