He broke in pieces the pillars: If the pronoun reference here is unclear, he may be translated as “King Josiah” (Good News Translation).

The pillars refer to oblong objects made of stone which neighbors of the Israelites worshiped (Exo 23.23-24). See the comments at 1 Kgs 14.23. That these pillars were made of stone may be made explicit (so Good News Translation, Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje).

Cut down the Asherim: Asherim is the plural form of “Asherah” (1 Kgs 15.13). See the detailed comments at 1 Kgs 14.15. In this context the reference is to the carved wooden poles that were used to represent this Canaanite goddess. This goddess is not the same as “Ashtoreth” mentioned in the previous verse, but both Asherah and Ashtoreth are mentioned as partners of Baal in the Old Testament.

The worship of pillars and Asherim is forbidden in Deut 7.5 and 12.3. The rediscovery of the book of the Law made Josiah realize that this kind of worship was wrong and compelled him to destroy these objects of pagan worship. Similar action was also taken by Hezekiah in 2 Kgs 18.4.

Filled their places with the bones of men: Their places refers to the ground where the idols had stood before they were demolished.

Since the expression the bones of men refers not only to the bones of male human beings, this may be legitimately and more naturally rendered as “human bones” (Good News Translation, New Century Version) or “bones of human beings.” Since contact with a dead person was thought to make anything it touched impure (Num 19.11-13), this action was intended to make the places unfit for any religious purposes. Since this information may not be assumed in some cultures, it may be helpful to have a footnote, as in Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente, which states “with this action he wished to desecrate and profane the altars.” Contemporary English Version has a similar footnote: “This made the whole area unfit for the worship of any god.” Or, this information may be made explicit in the text itself, as in New Living Translation, which reads “Then he desecrated these places by scattering human bones over them.”

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 .

The prophet Ezekiel refers to this event in his explanation of his parable of the eagles and the vine (Ezek 17.12).

The Hebrew verb translated carried away is the same one as in the previous verse. And the implied subject continues to be Nebuchadnezzar.

The king’s mother: Some languages may have a special word to refer to the mother of a chief or a king. It would be appropriate to use such a term here.

The king’s wives: In some languages it will be necessary to choose between a plural form for wives that indicates a few wives or a plural form that indicates many wives. There is, however, no statement in the biblical text or other ancient documents which indicates the number of Jehoiachin’s wives.

The Hebrew word translated officials is the same as the one rendered “palace officials” in verse 12. As in verse 12, some modern versions therefore translate it “eunuchs” (Revised English Bible, La Bible Pléiade, em>Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente). But the more general meaning given in Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation is probably more appropriate in this context.

The chief men of the land: This expression refers to the leading citizens of Judah. Its meaning is virtually the opposite of “the poorest people of the land” in verse 14. These two groups represent the opposite ends of the social scale in Judah. New Revised Standard Version says “the elite of the land.” The Hebrew word for chief men is ʾewil. This word is sometimes translated “foolish” or “fool” in other contexts, but such a meaning has no clear sense here. Probably the Hebrew word here is a loanword from Akkadian which means “man” or “citizen.” The reading in the margin of the Masoretic Text has the Hebrew word ʾayil (meaning “male sheep”). This word occurs in Exo 15.15 and Ezek 17.13 in a metaphorical sense to refer to rulers or powerful men. Whichever reading is followed, the meaning will be the same.

The repetitious information in this verse may be reduced if it is considered unnatural. The two verbal expressions, he carried away … to Babylon at the beginning of the verse and he took into captivity … to Babylon at the end, may be reduced to a single verb phrase if necessary.

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 .

One day: The Hebrew text begins with the verbal transition marker “And it happened one day,” showing that a new story is about to be told. But this marker is represented in most modern versions by the beginning of a new paragraph or a new section. The same may be done in most other languages.

Elisha went on to Shunem: Moffatt has “Elisha went over to Shunem.” The Hebrew verb used here is a very common one having the root meaning “to cross over.” But it is used with a wide variety of meanings in transition situations. Some models from modern versions are “traveled” (Hobbs), “visited” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), and “was passing” (New Revised Standard Version, Anchor Bible). For the whole clause both New Revised Standard Version and Anchor Bible have “Elisha was passing through Shunem.” This is a good model since verse 9 seems to suggest that Elisha often passed through Shunem. Their rendering is based on reading ʿal (“through”) instead of ʾel (to) of the Masoretic Text.

Shunem was a small town located about 40 kilometers (25 miles) to the north of Israel’s capital, Samaria, and about that same distance to the southeast of Mount Carmel (see the comments on 1 Kgs 1.3).

A wealthy woman is literally “a great woman” (King James Version), but the expression is not related to physical size; rather, it is used to describe people who have attained a certain status in their society. While such status is often associated with wealth, this is not always the case. But most versions show clearly that the woman’s greatness had to do with either wealth or influence: “a woman of influence” (New American Bible), “a woman of rank” (New Jerusalem Bible), “an important woman” (New Century Version), “a well-to-do woman” (\jmp New International Version (2011 Revision), \jmp Revised English Bible), and “a rich lady” (Moffatt).

Who urged him to eat some food is literally “and she constrained him to eat bread.” But the Hebrew word for “bread” often refers to food in general in the biblical texts. The meaning is somewhat distorted in Revised Standard Version, which almost makes it sound as if Elisha was ill and had no appetite. However, the real meaning is that the woman insisted that he take a meal with her and her family. Some helpful renderings are “who … pressed him to stay and eat there” (New Jerusalem Bible) and “who pressed him to accept hospitality” (\jmp Revised English Bible). The relative clause in Revised Standard Version also complicates the structure of this verse and can easily be made into a separate sentence as Good News Translation has done.

So whenever he passed that way; that is, each time Elisha visited the town of Shunem, he was invited to eat with this family. In the Hebrew text the verbal transition “And it happened” occurs at the beginning of this clause. Both Revised Standard Version and New International Version (2011 Revision) render it with the logical connector So, which fits this context well.

He would turn in there to eat food; that is, he would take a meal with the woman and her husband. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh translates “he would stop there for a meal,” showing clearly that this became a habit.

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 .