But it was ordained by God that the downfall of Ahaziah should come about through his going to visit Joram is literally “And of God [was] the destruction of Ahaziah to go to Joram.” But renders the common Hebrew conjunction as a connector that introduces an unexpected event. Good News Translation and many other versions omit it. The passive expression it was ordained by God may be easily made active by saying “God ordained it.” This whole sentence may be restructured by saying “It was God’s will that the visit of Ahaziah to Jehoram should be the occasion of his downfall” (Revised English Bible) or “Through Ahaziah’s visit to Joram, God brought about Ahaziah’s downfall” (New International Version).

For when he came there he went out with Jehoram to meet Jehu …: When Ahaziah arrived at the place where Joram was recuperating, both of them went to meet Jehu. For renders the common Hebrew conjunction. Here it introduces how God brought the downfall of Ahaziah through his visit with Joram. Both occurrences of the pronoun he refer to Ahaziah, which Good News Translation makes clear by rendering the first one as “Ahaziah.” In this context Joram and Jehoram refer to the same person, as in verse 5. Jehu overthrew King Joram of Israel and became king of Israel (see 2 Kgs 9.1–10.36).

The son of Nimshi: Both God’s Word and Moffatt have “[the] grandson of Nimshi” since according to 2 Kgs 9.2 and 14, Jehu was the son of Jehoshaphat, who was in turn the son of Nimshi. But other Old Testament texts (1 Kgs 19.16; 2 Kgs 9.20) agree with this verse in 2 Chronicles in saying that Jehu was the son of Nimshi. Some scholars think that the words “the son of Jehoshaphat” are a latter addition to the text in 2 Kings. Since no other information is known about Jehu’s ancestry, it is better to translate literally here and perhaps include a footnote indicating that Jehu may have been the grandson of Nimshi.

Whom the LORD had anointed to destroy the house of Ahab: The verb anointed may refer to a literal anointing of Jehu as king (see 1 Kgs 19.15-17 and 2 Kgs 9.1-13), so La Bible des Communautés Chrétiennes says “consecrated as king,” and Knox has “anointed king.” Or it may refer to the fact that he was “chosen” by God for this particular task. It may be legitimately translated “appointed” (New Living Translation, New Century Version). To destroy is literally “to cut off.” For the house of Ahab, see the comments on 2 Chr 21.6.

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 .