Jechoniah and “Jehoiachin” (Good News Translation) are the same person, but Good News Bible has adopted the principle of following the more familiar name of a person rather than maintaining both names for the same individual (see, for example, the following verses, where Jehoiachin is referred to as Jechoniah in the Old Testament: 1 Chr 3.16, 17; Est 2.6; Jer 24.1; 27.20; 28.4; 29.2). See the comments on names in 1.1.
The phrase and his brothers is perhaps based on the text of 1 Chronicles 3.15, where the names of Jechoniah’s brothers are listed. The brothers of Jechoniah are not as important in the tradition of the people of Israel as the brothers of Judah in verse 2. In languages that have one word for both brothers and sisters, translators should say “Jehoiachin and his male siblings” or “Josiah was the father of Jehoiachin and other sons.”
At the time of the deportation to Babylon is rendered “when the people of Israel were taken into exile in Babylon” by Good News Translation and introduced earlier (verse 6b). Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch (“This was at the time when the inhabitants of Jerusalem were carried off to Babylon”) and Bible en français courant (“at the time when the Israelites were deported to Babylon”) provide a dynamic restructuring of the last part of this verse. The mention of the Babylonian exile closes the second division of the genealogical list.
Deportation is a concept many cultures understand far too readily and for which they have a way of speaking. In many cases the word for it is understood to mean “carried into slavery.” If possible the real emphasis should be on exile rather than on slavery. There are languages where the idea is expressed with two or more verbs, as in “At the time when the Israelites were conquered and forced to go live in Babylon” or “At that time, the Babylonians forced the Israelites to go live in their country.” Of course, translators must make sure that it does not sound as if the Israelites were literally picked up and carried to Babylon.
Most CLTs make it clear who was deported, that is, the people of Israel, and some languages also have to indicate who did it, by saying “the Babylonians forced….”
Babylon refers to both the city and the country around it. In modern writings the city is commonly referred to as “Babylon,” while the country of which it is the capital is called “Babylonia.” Translators should use terms that are consistent for their own languages. Since not all the Israelites were made to live in the city, it may be best to say “the country of Babylonia” or, as above, “in their country.”
Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .