And: In some languages the conjunction at the beginning of this verse may have to be translated “But,” as in New American Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh and New Jerusalem Bible.

Jehu drew his bow with his full strength is literally “Jehu filled his hand with his bow,” which may mean “Jehu set an arrow on his bow.” One ancient interpretation of this expression is that he drew the bow with his full strength, and this understanding is found in several versions (Revised Standard Version/New Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation). But this interpretation is not followed in New International Version, Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible and New Century Version, which read “Jehu drew his bow” (similarly New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). Either interpretation is acceptable.

Between the shoulders is literally “between his arms.” A more natural way of saying this in English is “between the shoulder blades” (Hobbs, New Jerusalem Bible), showing more clearly that the arrow entered from the back.

He sank in his chariot: The context shows that Joram died as a result of the arrow through his heart. But the wording here is more picturesque. Modern versions use verbs such as “slumped down” (Revised English Bible, New International Version) and “collapsed” (New American Bible, American Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh).

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 .

He went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings: Instead of he went in, the Masoretic Text and most ancient versions have “they went in” (also Revised English Bible, Nouvelle Bible Segond). It is possible that the plural verb refers to the worshipers of Baal, who offered sacrifices and burnt offerings. If this is the intended meaning, then Jehu apparently did not enter the temple (see the comments on verse 25). Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, for example, says “The worshipers of Baal entered the temple to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings.” Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament gives a {B} rating to the Masoretic Text. Many interpreters, however, follow some ancient Greek manuscripts in reading the singular, as verse 25 seems to require (but see the comments there). Even if translators should follow the Greek by keeping the focus on Jehu with the singular pronoun, the context indicates that Jonadab accompanied Jehu at this point. It will be possible to retain focus on Jehu while at the same time including Jonadab by translating “he and Jonadab went in…” (Good News Translation) or “Jehu and Jonadab entered…” (Traduction œcuménique de la Bible; similarly Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Bible en français courant). Either rendering may be a good model for some languages.

The problem with the translations and interpretations just mentioned is that the text says that someone (whether Jehu, Jehu and Jonadab, or the worshipers of Baal) entered the temple (verse 24) even though they were already in the temple according to verses 21 and 23. How did they go in when they were already in the temple? Some interpreters understand the Hebrew construction of the verb meaning “to go” or “enter” plus the infinitive to mean “to begin (an action).” With this understanding the Hebrew at the beginning of verse 24 would be translated “Then they proceeded to offer sacrifices…” (New Revised Standard Version, New American Bible) or “He then proceeded to present sacrifices…” (New Jerusalem Bible). This interpretation is preferable here.

For sacrifices see the comments at 1 Kgs 1.9 and 2 Kgs 5.17; for burnt offerings, see the comments at 1 Kgs 3.4. Some languages render the expression sacrifices and burnt offerings as “sacrifices that are burned and other kinds of sacrifices.”

Now Jehu had stationed eighty men outside: The verb stationed may be rendered in certain languages by a causative form meaning “caused to stand” or possibly “instructed to take a position.” Most translations understand the Hebrew to mean that Jehu had placed these men outside the temple of Baal before he entered it. But since Biblia Dios Habla Hoy says that it was the worshipers of Baal who entered the temple, here it says “Meanwhile, Jehu put eighty men outside”; that is, Jehu stationed eighty men outside while the worshipers were going in.

In some languages it will be important to make it clear that the soldiers were stationed outside the temple of Baal (so Good News Translation, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch) and not in some indefinite outdoor location.

The verb said in this context may be legitimately translated “commanded” or “ordered” (as in verse 20) since what is involved is a military officer speaking to the men under his authority. Revised English Bible says “warned them.”

The man who allows any … to escape shall forfeit his life: Shall forfeit his life is literally “his life in place of his life.” The eighty men stationed outside the temple were to kill the worshipers of Baal. If any guard allowed a worshiper of Baal to escape, the guard himself was to be put to death.

The direct quotation of Jehu’s order may be made indirect in those languages where this would be more appropriate. A possible model for this is:

• And he instructed the soldiers to kill all the people inside the temple. He said that anyone who allowed a person to escape would lose his own life.

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 .

For the form of the name Jehoash, see the comments at 2 Kgs 11.21. Unless translators use one form of the name consistently for the same person, readers are likely to be confused. So “Joash” is recommended.

The seventh year of Jehu refers to his rule as king over Israel and not to his age. It is probably a good idea to provide this information clearly in translation as some common language translations have done (for example, Good News Translation, Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje, Bible en français courant, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch).

The remainder of this verse follows the standard formula for introducing a king, telling how long Joash ruled and where his capital city was located, as well as providing his mother’s name and city of origin. Since the expression Zibiah of Beersheba might possibly be misunderstood by readers who do not know that Beersheba is a city, it will be helpful to add the classifier term “city” in translation as Good News Translation has done. Beersheba was located in the southern part of Judah.

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 .

Elisha said to him, “Take a bow and arrows”: The direct quotation here is rendered as an indirect statement in Moffatt, which has “Elisha told him to take his bow and arrows.” This may be a helpful model for other languages.

A literal rendering of the verb Take may lead to misunderstanding in some languages. The intent seems to be that Jehoash should somehow “Get” (Good News Translation, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) or “Bring” (New Jerusalem Bible) a bow and some arrows to the place where the prophet was dying.

So he took a bow and arrows: The fulfillment of Elisha’s order is emphasized by the repetition of all the elements contained in the command. This detailed repetition, however, may or may not be natural in other languages. If it is not, a shorter summary statement like that of Good News Translation may be used.

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 .

Did what was evil in the sight of the LORD is literally “… in eyes of the LORD.” The whole expression may be rendered “sinned against the LORD” as in Good News Translation or “did what is displeasing to Yahweh” (New Jerusalem Bible). This negative evaluation of the reign of Jeroboam II is similar to the ones given for a whole series of bad rulers, beginning with Solomon (1 Kgs 11.6).

The negative expression did not depart from … may be better translated positively as “kept on doing…” or “continued to copy….” Compare 2 Kgs 3.3.

For all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, see the comments at 1 Kgs 16.31 and 2 Kgs 3.3.

Which he made Israel to sin: See the comments at 1 Kgs 14.16 and 2 Kgs 10.29.

There is potential for confusion in this verse since the subject is Jeroboam II, but he is said to have imitated the behavior of his namesake, Jeroboam I. International Children’s Bible attempts to avoid confusion by spelling out more clearly the relationship between the two, rendering the last half of the verse as follows: “Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to sin. And Jeroboam son of Jehoash did not stop doing the same sins.”

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 usual formula to introduce a king is continued in this verse with the following information:

• (1) Jotham’s age at the beginning of his reign: twenty-five years old.

• (2) Length of his reign: sixteen years. There are difficulties in establishing the time when Jotham ruled, since various biblical texts seem to provide conflicting information (see verse 30 and 2 Kgs 17.1). The sixteen years probably include the time when he ruled with his father Uzziah (about 750–742 B.C.) as well as when he ruled alone after his father’s death (about 742–735 B.C.).

• (3) His capital: Jerusalem.

• (4) His mother’s name: Jerusha.

• (5) His grandfather’s name from his mother’s side: Zadok.

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 .

Walked in the customs of the nations: As elsewhere in the Scriptures, the verb walked is a way of saying “lived” or “behaved” (see 1 Kgs 3.3). Osty-Trinquet says “imitated.” The Hebrew word for customs may be rendered “practices” (New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible) or “rites” (New American Bible). The whole expression may be translated “lived like the nations” (New Century Version).

Whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel: See the comments at 1 Kgs 14.24.

And in the customs which the kings of Israel had introduced is literally “and the kings of Israel which they did.” Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation have added the word customs, which is not in the Hebrew. This clause is awkward in Hebrew and some experts have suggested that it should be omitted altogether, following the ancient Syriac version (Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible). But the textual evidence for its presence here is rather strong and the majority of ancient and modern versions retain it in one form or another. Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament gives a {B} rating to the Masoretic Text. Rather than omitting these words, translators should recognize that this is an elliptical sentence, that is, even though the words “they walked in the customs of” are not repeated from the beginning of this verse, they must be understood as implied in the Hebrew text. Revised Standard Version speaks of the customs which the kings of Israel had introduced. The most likely meaning is “the practices established by the [previous evil] kings of Israel.” Earlier kings of Israel had been guilty of setting up wrong ways of worshiping and living, and the people willingly followed these practices as well as those of the other nations around them. The reference to the kings of Israel is to the kings of the northern kingdom of Israel.

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 .

So: In Hebrew this verse begins with the common conjunction plus a form of the verb “to be.” Together they have the force of a connector that is used to introduce a summary statement. New American Bible uses the word “Thus” to make the transition. New Jerusalem Bible, like Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation, sets this verse off as a separate paragraph to highlight the fact that it is a summary statement.

These nations refers to the foreign settlers in Samaria as in verses 26 and 29. If verse 40 refers to the same people, then this verse is a continuation of the preceding verses. But if verses 34-40 refer to the Israelites, then verse 41 is a summary and should be set apart as a separate paragraph.

And also served their graven images: The conjunction and will have to be rendered differently in most languages since what follows stands in opposition to the preceding statement. A contrasting conjunction like “but” (Good News Translation) or “however” will be required in many cases.

Graven images renders a single Hebrew noun that comes from a verb meaning “to carve” either out of wood or stone. This is the only occurrence of the word in 1–2 Kings, but it is found elsewhere in the Old Testament (for example, Deut 7.5; Psa 78.58; Isa 10.10). It may be translated “carved images” (New Revised Standard Version) or, more generally, “idols” (Good News Translation, New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible).

Their children … and their children’s children: In some languages this will be the most natural way to speak of “children and grandchildren.” But others may have a special term for children’s children. However, the expression is probably not intended to limit the meaning to two generations. For this reason Good News Translation translates “their descendants.” Translators are advised not to follow New American Bible “their sons and grandsons” since females as well as males are included.

Their fathers is better translated “their forefathers” (Revised English Bible) or “their ancestors” (New Revised Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible).

To this day: See the comments at 1 Kgs 8.8 and 2 Kgs 2.22.

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 .