And all the assembly made a covenant with the king in the house of God: All the assembly refers to all the Levites and clan leaders who had gathered at the Temple in Jerusalem. For made a covenant (literally “cut a covenant”), see the comments on 1 Chr 11.3 and 2 Chr 5.10. Here the Hebrew noun for covenant is the same one rendered “compact” in verse 1, but the verb is different. The king refers to the young King Joash (see 2 Chr 22.11). The house of God refers to the Temple in Jerusalem.

And Jehoiada said to them is literally “And he said to them.” But Revised Standard Version and many other versions (for example, New Revised Standard Version, NASB, English Standard Version, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible) substitute the proper name Jehoiada for the pronoun “he,” because the pronoun may be misunderstood as referring to the king just mentioned in the text. The quotation that begins here continues to the end of verse 7. For those languages where indirect discourse is preferred, see the model given at the end of the discussion on 2Chr 23.7.

Behold, the king’s son!: The Hebrew focusing particle rendered Behold draws attention to the physical presence of Joash, the son of King Ahaziah, and presents him. Some possible models for this clause are “Here is the king’s son!” (New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible) and “Look, the king’s son” (New Jerusalem Bible).

Let him reign: This literal rendering may give the false impression that the listeners were up to this point preventing Joash from reigning. But this was not the case. The meaning of the Hebrew verb here is better rendered “He must reign” (Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Osty-Trinquet) or “He should be king” (God’s Word).

As the LORD spoke concerning the sons of David: It was the will of the LORD that a descendant of David would be continually on the throne (see 1 Chr 17.12, 14). The sons of David means “David’s descendants” (Good News Translation, New Century Version).

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 .