Verses 36-39 present a seventh and final situation in which God’s people may turn to him in prayer. Such a situation of exile is threatened in Deut 28.36-37 if the people disobey God. Verses 36-38 in Hebrew contain a repeated play on the verbs shabah (“to carry captive”) and shub (“to repent/turn”). The verb shub in different forms in Hebrew is translated “lay it [to heart]” (verse 37) and “repent” (verses 37 and 38).

This verse in Hebrew begins a long conditional sentence. Verses 36-38 express the “if” part of this long sentence. Verse 39 forms the concluding “then” part of the conditional sentence. In addition to this long, complex sentence, verse 36 contains the parenthetical comment for there is no man who does not sin. It will probably be necessary in many languages to restructure the form of these verses for the sake of clarity (see the model below).

If they sin against thee: If is better rendered “When” (Good News Translation, New International Version), since the following parenthetical statement makes it clear that there is no doubt about the people sinning. For clarity the pronoun they may be translated “your people” (Good News Translation) or “the Israelites” (Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente).

For there is no man who does not sin: This parenthetical statement is set off by dashes in Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation, while Revised English Bible uses parentheses and states the truth in the form of a rhetorical question, saying “and who is free from sin?” New Century Version handles this digression by beginning the verse with “Everyone sins, so your people will also sin against you.” This kind of restructuring may be helpful to make the meaning more easily understood in other languages. In this context the words no man may be translated “no human being” (Nouvelle Bible Segond) or simply “no one” (New Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, New International Version) since the focus is not on men in contrast to women but rather on people in contrast to God.

And thou art angry with them: The Hebrew verb rendered art angry occurs only rarely in the Old Testament. It is used a total of 14 times and is always used in relation to God, usually in relationship to some punishment given to the people. Some languages have figurative expressions for anger, such as “gets bad liver,” “liver hurts,” or “heart becomes hot.”

And dost give them to an enemy may be rendered “and allow their enemies to defeat/overcome them.”

So that they are carried away captive to a land far or near: These words refer to a future exile. The Hebrew text is literally “and their captors will take them captive….” Revised Standard Version has used a passive verb here, although the Hebrew verb is active with an explicit subject (“their captors”). An active expression may be kept here by saying “and their enemies capture them and take them away into another land.” Contemporary English Version says “you … let their enemies drag them away to foreign countries.” According to the text, the land of their exile may be far or near. The Good News Translation expression “even if that land is far away” leaves implied the fact that the land might also be nearby.

A model that restructures this verse is:

• There is no person on earth who does not commit sin. So when your people do sin and make you angry, you allow their enemies to overcome them and take them as captives to another land, which may be near or far away.

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 .