But the men of the army whom Amaziah sent back …: Instead of the contrastive connector But, the common Hebrew conjunction here may be taken as a temporal transition by using the word “Meanwhile” (Good News Translation, New International Version, Revised English Bible). The men of the army refers to the soldiers of Israel, the northern kingdom (see verse 10). Bible en français courant says “the Israelite soldiers.” Since verse 6 indicates that Amaziah paid these soldiers, New American Bible says “the mercenaries.”

Fell upon the cities of Judah, from Samaria to Beth-horon: The verb fell upon (literally “stripped”) will be more naturally translated in a number of languages as “raided” (Contemporary English Version, New Living Translation, Revised English Bible) or “made incursions into” (Osty-Trinquet) in this context. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh says “made forays against.” Samaria was the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel (see the comments on 2 Chr 18.2), and Beth-horon was to the south, on the border of the southern kingdom of Judah (see the comments on 2 Chr 8.5). The meaning of this verse is not clear since Samaria was not a Judaean city. Some interpreters assume that Samaria here must refer to a town in Judah rather than the capital of the northern kingdom. Others think that the soldiers attacked from the direction of Samaria. Perhaps the best solution is that found in Good News Translation, which renders from Samaria to Beth-horon as “between Samaria and Beth Horon.”

And killed three thousand people in them, and took much spoil: Most versions assume that the subject of the verbs killed and took is the Israelite soldiers of the northern kingdom. But it is possible to understand the subject for these verbs as the people of the Judean cities that were attacked. According to this understanding of the Hebrew, three thousand Israelite soldiers were killed. This interpretation is the basis for the alternative translation in Bible en français courant, which reads “but three thousand of them were killed and much spoil was taken.” For the Hebrew noun rendered spoil, see the comments on 2 Chr 14.14, where it is translated “plunder.” See also the comments on 1 Chr 20.2 and 2 Chr 15.11, where a different Hebrew word occurs.

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 .