And: The transition word here in Hebrew is the common conjunction and may be left untranslated (New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible). But in many languages a logical connector will be required. Both New Jerusalem Bible and American Bible translate it “And so” Even the word “Therefore” may not be too strong in this context.

The LORD was with him: This expression means that the LORD was present with Hezekiah to help him. Contemporary English Version has “The LORD helped Hezekiah.” Others may wish to say “The LORD gave strength to Hezekiah.”

Wherever he went forth, he prospered: In many languages it will be more natural to reverse the two clauses here, saying “he was successful in all that he undertook” (New Jerusalem Bible) or “he prospered in all that he set out to do” (New American Bible). It should be noted that the Hebrew verb translated prospered does not necessarily imply material or financial prosperity, as the English verb “to prosper” does.

Rebelled against the king of Assyria: While the verb rebelled often has negative connotations, this action is considered a positive one by the writer of the book of 2 Kings. In order to preserve the positive sense, it may be necessary in certain languages to say something like “declared his independence from…” or “renounced the authority of….” The dates of the events mentioned in verses 7b-8 are uncertain, so it is not clear which king of Assyria is intended here, but the reference is probably to Sennacherib, who ruled Assyria 705-681 B.C.

The expression would not serve him is another way of talking about rebellion and serves to reinforce the verb rebelled. In the political context of that time, Assyria was the dominant political power, and the kingdom of Judah was subservient to Assyria. In technical terms, kings who owed loyalty to a more powerful ruler were called “vassals.” This is the basis for the rendering in American Bible, which translates “was his vassal no longer.” Since vassals were forced to pay tribute to the ruling power, New Living Translation translates would not serve him as “refused to pay him tribute.”

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 .