And they went about through Judah: The pronoun they refers to the five military officers with whom Jehoiada had made an agreement. Contemporary English Version makes this explicit by saying “These five men.” Moffatt says “he and they” in order to keep the focus on the priest Jehoiada, but it is unlikely that Jehoiada himself traveled with them. They went about through Judah means the five officers went throughout the whole kingdom of Judah. New Living Translation makes explicit what is probably implied in the story, namely that this was done “secretly.” They did it without the knowledge of the authorities in power at the time.

And gathered the Levites from all the cities of Judah, and the heads of the fathers’ houses of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem: The five officers summoned the Levites and clan leaders throughout Judah and they went to Jerusalem. Good News Translation combines the verbs gathered and came by saying “brought back,” which other languages may find helpful. In languages where the word cities refers exclusively to great metropolitan areas with very large populations, it is better to say “towns” (Contemporary English Version). The heads of fathers’ houses of Israel refers to the leaders of the families and clans of Judah (see the comments on 1 Chr 5.24). This is another context where the word Israel is used for the southern kingdom of Judah.

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 .