Judah also did not keep the commandments …: The Hebrew word translated also may be rendered “indeed” or “even.” It is used to show that contrary to what might be expected, the people of the southern kingdom of Judah imitated their northern neighbors whose kingdom Yahweh had destroyed. The word also does not capture the emphasis of the Hebrew in English as well as “But even” does in Good News Translation.

The verb keep is to be understood in the sense of “comply with” or “obey” (Good News Translation). In certain cases it may be advisable to replace this whole negative statement by a positive one using a verb like “disobeyed” (Contemporary English Version) or “rebelled against.”

Their God: The plural pronoun their probably refers to Judah in a collective sense, that is, “the Judeans.” It is also possible to understand the plural pronoun as referring to both Israel and Judah.

Walked in the customs which Israel had introduced: In verse 8 it is said that it was the kings of Israel who introduced such customs (see the comments there). Here, however, the blame is laid on the northern kingdom as a whole. Translators should maintain this difference if possible.

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 .