Therefore: The Good News Translation transition marker (“and”) at the beginning of this verse seems weak and does not adequately express the force of the Hebrew adverb here. Translators should show the logical connection between the previous description of Josiah’s penitence and the resulting kindness of the LORD which is stated in this verse. In addition to the rendering of Revised Standard Version (also New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, New American Bible), some other possible renderings are “So” (New Jerusalem Bible, Contemporary English Version), “Assuredly” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), and “because of that” (Traduction œcuménique de la Bible).
Behold: The focusing particle in Hebrew here highlights the fact that although the people of Jerusalem and all Judah will be punished, this will not take place immediately.
The active expression I will gather you to your fathers and the passive expression you shall be gathered to your grave in peace are slightly different ways of referring to the same event: the death of King Josiah. In those languages where the passive form is unacceptable, the idea may be translated only once. A literal rendering is rarely satisfactory. The expression “gathered to their fathers” (Jdg 2.10) or “gathered to my people” (Gen 49.29) refers to death. The peacefulness of Josiah’s death is emphasized by the addition of the words in peace. In peace may mean he will die before the great disaster happens. (Actually Josiah died in battle according to 2 Kgs 23.29-30.) Translators should look for a comparable euphemistic expression used to refer to death in their own language. If such a euphemism is not available, it will be possible to speak more directly of death. Bible en français courant translates “I will allow you to die in peace.” Compare the more common expression “slept with his fathers” (for example, 1 Kgs 2.10; 2 Kgs 8.24).
Your grave follows the singular noun of the ancient versions. The Masoretic Text has “your graves,” which may be a reference to the royal tombs. Many interpreters suggest a slight change in the spelling of the plural Hebrew noun to make it singular, grave, which the context seems to require (see also 2 Kgs 23.30, which says that Josiah was buried in his own tomb).
Your eyes shall not see all the evil: The word evil refers to the disaster that will come on Jerusalem and the rest of Judah (see verse 16). In certain languages it will be unnatural to make the eyes the subject of a clause such as this. It will be better to say something like “you will not have to look on all the misfortune.” Two possible models in modern English versions are “You won’t see all the trouble” (New Century Version) and “you will not live to see the great disaster” (New Jerusalem Bible).
Which I will bring on this place: In the parallel passage in 2 Chr 34.28, the additional words “and its inhabitants” follow the words upon this place. It is possible that the words “and its inhabitants” were original here also and that they were accidentally omitted since the Hebrew words for “its inhabitants” (yoshebayw) and they brought back (yashibu) are similar in spelling. A couple of Septuagint manuscripts have this longer reading here in verse 20. La Bible Pléiade, Maredsous, and Gray include the words “and [on] its inhabitants” (La Bible Pléiade within square brackets), but translators are encouraged to follow the Masoretic Text, as do nearly all other modern translations.
They brought back word to the king: The pronoun they refers to the five men (verse 14) who had gone to consult Yahweh for the king through the prophetess Huldah as an intermediary. If this is unclear, it will be possible to translate “the men whom Josiah had sent” or “the messengers.”
Brought back word renders the same Hebrew expression translated “reported” in verse 9. Some may wish to translate it using the same verb here as follows: “they reported all this to 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 .