Another rapid change in government is briefly described. Some languages may have a special transition word to use in place of Then in such a context.

Son of Gadi: It is uncertain whether this is to be taken as simply providing the name of Menahem’s father or of the clan from which he came. Possibly it means that he was from the tribe of Gad, but virtually all translations take the expression as giving his father’s name.

Came up from Tirzah: The city of Tirzah had been the capital of the northern kingdom during the reign of Jeroboam I (1 Kgs 14.17). King Baasha (1 Kgs 15.21, 23) and King Asa (1 Kgs 16.8-9) are also said to have lived there and Baasha is reported to have been buried there (1 Kgs 16.6). Tirzah was located in the mountainous area allotted to the tribe of Manasseh. Going from there to Samaria meant crossing over the mountains and involved both ascending and descending. So it may be misleading to translate literally came up. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh translates “set out from Tirzah,” while New Jerusalem Bible has “marched from Tirzah.” In certain languages it will be advisable to add the classifier term “city” to the name Tirzah (so Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch).

Struck down … and slew: The text has practically the same wording as in verse 10, which describes Shallum’s assassination of King Zechariah. Revised Standard Version, however, has slew in this verse while it translates “killed” in the earlier case. There is, however, no reason for translators to look for different terms in their own language.

Once again the words son of Jabesh do not need to be repeated in most languages as this information is given in verse 10 and possibly also in verse 13.

One Hebrew manuscript and several Septuagint manuscripts omit the second mention of Samaria in this verse. Some modern translations likewise omit this second reference to Samaria, but they seem to do so in order to avoid needless repetition in the receptor language (Good News Translation, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy).

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 .