The structure of this verse may prove awkward to imitate in other languages just as Revised Standard Version sounds somewhat strange in English. It will also be important to make sure that the referents of the pronouns are clear.

For: This initial conjunction renders a Hebrew word that has a wide range of functions. Here it seems to introduce a result; that is, this verse states the result of the evil that Zedekiah had done. It is also possible to understand the Hebrew word here as expressing emphasis, so both New Revised Standard Version and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh begin with the word “Indeed.”

It came to the point …: This translates the common Hebrew verb meaning “to be.” A more literal rendering would be “it happened….” In some languages the best translation may be a simple adverb such as “finally” or “eventually.”

Cast them out: The idea contained in the verb here is rejection. New Century Version translates “threw them out.” Some other possible translations are “expelled them” (New Revised Standard Version) and “banished them” (Good News Translation, Revised English Bible). Ezekiel prophesied this exile of the people (Ezek 17.15).

A possible model for restructuring the first half of the verse is as follows:

• The LORD finally rejected Jerusalem and all the rest of Judah because he became so angry with the people who lived there.

And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon: According to some interpreters, this final sentence of Revised Standard Version belongs logically to chapter 25. It is placed there by Good News Translation and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, but this does violence to the traditional chapter division of the Hebrew text. While the position of this sentence may be considered somewhat awkward, there is some argument for considering it at the same time as a conclusion to chapter 24 and a transition to the following chapter. New American Bible and American Bible, for example, use the English transition word “Thus” at the beginning of this sentence to translate the common Hebrew conjunction and in this way show that it is appropriately connected to what precedes as well as to what follows. Translators are advised to retain this sentence as an integral part of chapter 24 although possibly it should appear as a separate paragraph (Revised Standard Version/New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible).

The Hebrew verb translated rebelled indicates insubordination with regard to authority. It is the same verb as found in verse 1 as well as in 2 Kgs 18.7, 20.

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 .