The guards stood, every man with his weapons in his hand: This should be taken to mean that the guards took up fixed positions with their weapons drawn and ready for action. For guards see the comments at verse 4; for every man with his weapons in his hand, see the comments at verse 8.
From the south side of the house to the north side of the house, around the altar and the house is literally “from the right wing of the house to the left wing of the house to the altar and to the house to the king around.” The meaning of this rather complicated expression is uncertain since it is not clear whether the house refers to the palace or to the Temple.
If the house refers to the palace the first two times and to the Temple the last time, then the sense is that the guards stood around the palace and extended their protection from the palace to the Temple and the altar so that Joash could pass safely from the Temple to the palace. Compare Hobbs for this understanding: “right around from the south side of the palace to the north side, as far as the altar and the temple in support of the king.”
A number of translations are based on the understanding that all three occurrences of the house refer to the Temple. Compare, for example, “all around the front of the Temple, to protect the king” (Good News Translation) and “around the temple and the altar to protect Joash on every side” (Contemporary English Version). In languages that have difficulty with the words north and south, one of these more dynamic renderings may prove to be a good model. If every reference is indeed to the Temple, then the rendering in Good News Translation is more precise than the one in Contemporary English Version. However, there is no specific mention of the altar in Good News Translation, but probably “the front” is considered a translation of this idea since the altar was located in the front of the Temple. But if the interpretation of Hobbs is followed, then the word altar should not be omitted.
Revised Standard Version follows the ancient Syriac by omitting the words “to the king” (also New Jerusalem Bible, Gray). Since the young king does not come out of the Temple until the next verse, it makes little sense to say here that the guards stood around the king. Other interpreters consider the words “to the altar and to the house” to be a later addition and omit them in translation (so Revised English Bible, which reads “from corner to corner of the house to north and south”).
Sense can be made of the Masoretic Text, however, and it should therefore be followed without correction. The meaning is clearly expressed in La Bible du Semeur as follows: “in a half circle in front of the building, from the southeast corner of the Temple to the northeast corner, near the altar, in a manner to surround the king.”
Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .