And he took the captains, the nobles, the governors of the people, and all the people of the land means Jehoiada summoned all these people to go with him. They joined him in bringing the new king from the Temple to the royal palace. The captains (literally “the commanders of hundreds”) refers to the military officers mentioned in verse 14. The nobles were respected leaders in the community, and the governors of the people were civilian officials. These two expressions may be translated “the most important citizens of Judah, and the government officials” (Contemporary English Version). For all the people of the land, see the comments on verse 13.
And they brought the king down from the house of the LORD: The Hebrew has “and he [Jehoiada] brought the king down…,” while the Septuagint, the Vulgate, and the parallel text of 2 Kgs 11.19 say “and they brought the king down….” A number of modern versions follow the Hebrew here (so New International Version, NET Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, Anchor Bible). But others follow the reading of the Septuagint and the Vulgate (so Revised Standard Version/New Revised Standard Version, God’s Word, Revised English Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). However, this is not recommended. Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament does not deal with this textual problem because the singular pronoun is virtually certain as the correct reading. Moffatt offers something of a compromise, translating “he had the king brought down….” This rendering indicates that others were involved in the process, while Jehoiada was the person who ensured that it was done. Since the Temple was located higher on the hill than the king’s palace, the writer says that Jehoiada escorted the king down. This downward direction is not essential to the meaning here.
Marching through the upper gate to the king’s house: The Hebrew verb translated marching is literally “they went” (Moffatt). The Hebrew here does not mean that the people marched in military formation as soldiers do, but rather they went escorting the new king. In some modern versions the Hebrew word for upper is taken as a proper name, so they say “the Upper Gate” (New Living Translation, New Century Version, Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, Dillard). Good News Translation refers to it as “the main gate,” that is, the principal entrance to the royal palace.
And they set the king upon the royal throne: Good News Translation says “and the king took his place on the throne.” This rendering takes the focus off the people who consecrated Joash as king and makes it sound as if he ascended the throne on his own. However, we do not recommend Good News Translation‘s model here.
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 .