But Jeho-shabe-ath, the daughter of the king, took Joash … and stole him away from among the king’s sons …: But renders the common Hebrew conjunction. Here it marks the contrast between the desperate situation described in the preceding verses and the hope offered in what follows. The majority of versions use the connector “But.” However, it is also possible to understand the Hebrew conjunction as expressing the logical result, so NET Bible uses the connector “So.”
Jeho-shabe-ath is called “Jehosheba” in the Septuagint and in the parallel text of 2 Kgs 11.2. Some versions use the name “Jehosheba” here in 2 Chronicles also (so Good News Translation, New International Version, Revised English Bible, Bible en français courant). As the second part of this verse makes clear, she was the daughter of King Jehoram, which means that she was the sister of King Ahaziah and the aunt of Joash. New Century Version renders the daughter of the king as “King Jehoram’s daughter” for clarity. Bible en français courant calls her “the princess Jehosheba,” and New American Bible similarly says “Jehosheba, a royal princess.”
The verbs took and stole may have to be translated by a single verb plus an adverb in some languages. The idea is that Jehosheba “secretly took” (New American Bible) her nephew so that no harm could be done to him.
The king’s sons may be rendered “the other sons of the king” (New Century Version) since Joash was also a son of King Ahaziah.
Who were about to be slain: This passive expression may be made active by saying “whom Athaliah was about to kill” or “whom they [indefinite] were about to murder.”
And she put him and his nurse in a bedchamber: The Hebrew word rendered nurse is a participle that comes from the causative form of the verb meaning “to suck.” This word should not to be taken here in the sense of a person with special medical training, but rather should be understood as a “nursemaid.” Such women were hired to take care of small children, and in some cases even to nourish them with their own milk. In this context the meaning may be expressed in modern English as “caregiver.”
Bedchamber probably refers to one of the private bedrooms in the Temple area which were destined for use only by the priests and their families. Because Jehosheba was the wife of a priest, she was apparently able to hide her nephew in one of the private rooms that were normally used only by the priests. In Hebrew bedchamber is literally “inner room of the beds,” so some interpreters believe this refers not to a bedroom but rather to a room where the covers and cloths for the beds were kept. This interpretation is the basis for the NET Bible rendering “room where the bed covers were stored.” This Hebrew expression is better rendered “bedroom” (Good News Translation, New Century Version, New American Bible; see WTH, page 144|fig:WTH.3.1.6.7.Bedroom.144.html) or “sleeping quarters” (New Jerusalem Bible). Good News Translation and Bible en français courant make it explicit that this bedroom was “in the Temple,” bringing this information forward from verse 12.
Thus Jeho-shabe-ath, the daughter of King Jehoram and wife of Jehoiada the priest … hid him from Athaliah: This clause repeats much of the information in the first half of the verse, so it serves as a summary. Revised Standard Version indicates this by rendering the common Hebrew conjunction as Thus. New Century Version is similar with the connector “So.” Jehoiada is described as the priest. But the definite article may be misleading since there were many priests. 2 Chr 24.6 says he was the chief priest.
Jehosheba rescued Joash because she was a sister of Ahaziah. According to some interpreters, 2 Kgs 11.2 suggests that Jehosheba had a different mother from Ahaziah. Furthermore, Josephus (the first-century Jewish historian) and Jerome (the translator of the Latin Vulgate) thought that Jehosheba was the daughter of Jehoram but not of Athaliah since she was not loyal to Athaliah. This interpretation is the basis for the Good News Translation translation of sister as “half sister.” But nowhere in the Old Testament is it said that Jehoram had another wife, so it is better to follow Revised Standard Version and most other translations in saying that she was the sister of Ahaziah.
So that she did not slay him may be rendered “so that Athaliah could not murder him” (New Living Translation).
Good News Translation restructures this verse by providing the essential information about the relationships first and then giving the details of how Joash managed to escape death. This restructuring may also be a good model for many other languages.
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 .