Instead of beginning the quotation with Because and making one long sentence of verses 11-12, some languages may prefer to start a new sentence at the beginning of verse 12, connecting it logically with the conjunction “Therefore” (New International Version) or “So” (Good News Translation). This may be more natural and would not change the meaning, but would rather make the meaning clearer and easier to understand. Revised Standard Version, in fact, has “therefore” at the beginning of the next verse.
Abominations renders the same Hebrew noun as the one translated “abominable practices” in verse 2. Some other renderings are “detestable sins” (New International Version) and “shameful deeds” (New Jerusalem Bible). See also 1 Kgs 14.24, where the same term is used.
Has done things more wicked than all that the Amorites did, who were before him: The Amorites were one specific group among the original inhabitants of Canaan. Some commentators think that in this context they represent all “the nations” mentioned in verses 2 and 9. This explains the use of the more general expression “the Canaanites” in Good News Translation. Another possibility would be to speak of “the original inhabitants of the land” or something similar. New Living Translation translates “is even more wicked than the Amorites, who lived in this land before Israel.” In any case, the comparison shows that the wickedness of Manasseh and his people surpassed the evil of those people whom they considered pagans. If the term Amorites is used in translation, it may be advisable to add a footnote stating that it is used in the sense of the nations that lived in Canaan before the Israelites settled there.
Has made Judah also to sin with his idols: For made … to sin, see the comments on 1 Kgs 14.16. Translators should ensure that Judah is understood as “the people of Judah” and not as an individual by that name. The words with his idols seem to indicate that it was by means of the idols which Manasseh had made that he was able to lead the whole nation astray. Regarding the Hebrew noun rendered idols, see the comments on 1 Kgs 15.12. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh translates the word idols as “fetishes.”
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 .