While Jehiel … were overseers assisting Conaniah and Shime-i his brother: Good News Translation indicates at the beginning of this verse that the ten new men named here were “Levites” and states explicitly that they were ten in number. This information is implicit in the text, but it may be a good idea in other languages to make it explicit. In the Hebrew text the names Azaziah, Ismachiah, Benaiah and Conaniah have long forms that are not represented in Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation. The long forms are “Azazyahu,” “Ismachyahu,” “Benayahu,” and “Conanyahu.”

The ten Levites are referred to as overseers, but they were clearly under the authority of Conaniah and Shimei as the text indicates. The Hebrew expression rendered assisting is literally “under the hand of.” New American Bible says “subject to.” The words his brother do not need to be repeated in this verse since this information has just been stated in the previous verse. In fact, Good News Translation replaces the whole expression Conaniah and Shimei his brother by the pronoun “them.” This may prove to be more natural in other languages as well.

By the appointment of Hezekiah the king and Azariah the chief officer of the house of God: This information may be expressed in a separate sentence by saying “They did this because Hezekiah … and Azariah … told them to do so” (compare Good News Translation). In the Hebrew text the names Hezekiah and Azariah also have long forms, which are “Jehizkiyahu” and “Azaryahu.” The chief officer of the house of God is another way of referring to the High Priest (see verse 10).

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Chronicles, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2014. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

But Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart …: But translates the common Hebrew conjunction. Good News Translation and An American Translation use the connector “however.” Either of these contrastive connectors is acceptable here since there is a turn in the story when Hezekiah finally humbled himself. Good News Translation also adds the adverb “Finally” to show that the story is reaching a climax. Humbled himself means he acknowledged his wrongdoing and repented (see the comments on 2 Chr 7.14). This whole clause may be rendered “But later Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem were sorry and stopped being proud” (New Century Version).

So that the wrath of the LORD did not come upon them: This clause gives the result of the peoples’ repentance. It picks up the same wording as in the previous verse, and may be restructured by saying “so the LORD stopped being angry with them” or “so the LORD decided not to punish them.”

In the days of Hezekiah provides the limits of God’s gracious tolerance. This phrase may be expressed as “during the lifetime of Hezekiah” (Nouvelle Bible Segond), “while Hezekiah was king,” or “until after Hezekiah died.”

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Chronicles, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2014. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

The verb in this sentence comes in the next verse. However, some versions insert a verb here at the beginning of verse 6, saying “He did the same thing[s]” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New Living Translation).

And in the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, and as far as Naphtali: Revised Standard Version, which follows the form of the Hebrew here, could be misread to mean that Ephraim and Simeon were cities of Manasseh. Also, the expression cities of Manasseh is subject to misunderstanding since the text of 2 Chronicles has just talked about a king named Manasseh in the previous chapter, but this is not a reference to cities belonging to or related to the king named Manasseh. Therefore, it may be better here to translate “in the towns in the territory of the tribes of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon all the way to the towns of Naphtali.” As in similar contexts, Contemporary English Version specifies Manasseh as “West Manasseh” here. The tribe of Naphtali was located further north than the other tribes mentioned here. Good News Translation makes this explicit by adding “as far north as.”

In their ruins round about: The northern kingdom had been defeated by Assyria, and the words their ruins refers to the what was left after the destruction inflicted on the cities by the Assyrian armies. However, the Hebrew is uncertain here. One possible literal translation of the Hebrew is “on the mountain their houses round about.” But this seems to make little sense. Scholars have suggested numerous ways to correct the Hebrew text here as follows:

(1) Some interpreters change the Hebrew word meaning “on the mountain” [bahar] to a word meaning “destroyed,” and read “he destroyed their idolatrous temples” (see 2 Kgs 23.19). Moffatt, for example, translates “destroyed their houses.”
(2) Others change the middle consonant of the Hebrew word bahar to read “burned” (biʿer); for example, Revised English Bible has “he burnt down their houses wherever he found them.”
(3) Some change the middle consonant to read biʿer with the meaning “removed.” This is the basis for Dillard’s rendering, which is “he removed their temples.”
(4) Other interpreters change the letters in the Hebrew word bahar to read bechar and then connect this word to the following word to read “in their ruins” (Revised Standard Version/New Revised Standard Version, Nouvelle Bible Segond; similarly New International Version, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). Good News Translation is similar with “the devastated areas.” These words refer to the devastation caused earlier by the Assyrian army.
(5) Yet other interpreters change the letters in the Hebrew word bahar to read berach and then connect this word to the following word to read “in their public squares” (Luther). This is the basis for translations such as “and around their plazas” (Anchor Bible; similarly Biblia Dios Habla Hoy), “and round their open spaces” (New Jerusalem Bible).
(6) The margin of the Masoretic Text reads “with their swords all around.”
(7) Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament gives a {C} rating to a slight emendation of the Masoretic Text that changes bahar to read bachar, which means “searched.” This is the basis for the rendering “where he searched the houses” (Bible en français courant). Josiah searched homes to find out if anyone had hidden idols in their homes. The legislation in Deut 13.14 expresses the same idea.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Chronicles, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2014. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

Then Josiah contributed to the lay people, as passover offerings for all that were present …: Like Hezekiah before him (2 Chr 31.3), King Josiah made a personal contribution to the celebration of the Passover. The Hebrew verb for contributed is literally “lifted up,” but its meaning here is “offered” or “gave” (New Century Version). For the lay people, see the comments on 2Chr 35.5.

Lambs and kids from the flock to the number of thirty thousand, and three thousand bulls: The Hebrew word for lambs refers to young rams (see the comments on 1 Chr 29.21), and the expression for kids (literally “sons of goats”) refers to young goats. But several versions omit any reference to the age of the animals and translate simply “sheep and goats” (Contemporary English Version, New International Version, New Century Version). Revised English Bible, on the other hand, translates explicitly “young rams and goats.”

According to Exo 12.3-11, the Passover offering must consist of sheep or goats, and the meat must be roasted, not boiled in water. However, according to Deut 16.2-8, cattle as well as sheep and goats could be offered, and the meat must be boiled in water. These two different traditions are combined in 2 Chronicles, with the result that the Passover offering consisted of sheep and goats, and the cattle were considered as a separate additional offering. Verse 13 calls the offering of cattle “the holy offerings.” The Hebrew text here in verse 7 indicates that the passover offerings consisted only of the lambs and kids. The bulls were not a part of the passover offerings but were additional offerings. By restructuring the wording of this verse, Good News Translation does not maintain this distinction.

The words to the number of thirty thousand follow the words all that were present in the Hebrew text, but the number 30,000 refers to the lambs and kids and not to the people. Revised Standard Version has changed the word order to avoid the ambiguity.

These were from the king’s possessions: This statement that makes it clear that what King Josiah contributed was taken from what he owned personally. This information may easily be incorporated in the earlier part of the verse to avoid a separate sentence here. Good News Translation does so with the words “from his own herds and flocks.”

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Chronicles, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2014. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

Therefore renders the common Hebrew conjunction as a logical connector, which is appropriate in this context. Other versions use the similar connector “So” (Good News Translation, New Living Translation, New Century Version, God’s Word). But New International Version and Revised English Bible omit the conjunction here.

He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans: The pronoun he refers to the LORD, which Good News Translation and Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente make explicit. Brought up against them may be rendered “caused … to attack them” or “made … to fight against them.” The Chaldeans lived in southern Babylonia on the Persian Gulf. Under the rule of Nabopolassar, they captured the city of Babylon in 622 B.C. The term Chaldea then became a synonym for “Babylonia” (so Good News Translation, New International Version, New Living Translation, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente).

Who slew their young men with the sword …: In the Hebrew text the verbs rendered brought up, slew, had … compassion, and gave seem to have the same subject. Who slew is literally “and he slew.” Since God is the subject of the first verb and the last verb, some interpreters think that God is also the subject of the verbs slew and had … compassion. Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, and most other versions make the Babylonian king the subject of the middle verbs. But New Jerusalem Bible seems to have God as the subject of all four verbs. Of course, it was the Babylonian soldiers (so Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente) and not strictly speaking the Babylonian king (so Good News Translation) who killed the young men of Judah, but the writer seems to say that they were simply carrying out God’s will. The verb slew is somewhat archaic, so New Revised Standard Version and most other modern versions say “killed.” The Hebrew word translated young men is the plural of the same word rendered young man in this verse. Some interpreters think that the meaning of the Hebrew word should be understood to mean “elite” in light of a cognate noun in the Mari writings, which refers to elite or select soldiers. This understanding is the basis for the La Bible Pléiade rendering “elite men.” But most interpreters do not find this nuance in the Hebrew term. For the phrase with the sword, see the comments on 2 Chr 21.4.

The house of their sanctuary may be rendered simply “the Temple” (Good News Translation). See the comments on 1 Chr 22.19.

And had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or aged: For the Hebrew verb rendered had … compassion, see the comments on verse 15. The Hebrew word translated virgin is rendered “young woman” in New Revised Standard Version. In this context it refers to any young woman and stands in opposition to young man. The point of the list here is to include all people of whatever age or sex. It also includes people who may be in poor health or in good health. The Hebrew term for aged refers to the weakness that comes with old age. For this reason Revised English Bible translates old man or aged as “neither the old nor the weak.” Some other renderings are “the aged or the feeble” (New Revised Standard Version) and “the old people or the sick people” (God’s Word).

He gave them all into his hand: The pronoun he refers to God and the pronoun his refers to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylonia. In some languages one or both of these pronouns will have to be translated by a noun; for example, New International Version and New Century Version say “God handed all of them over to Nebuchadnezzar,” Revised English Bible has “God gave them all into his power,” and Contemporary English Version translates “God let him kill everyone in the city.” This took place just as Jeremiah had prophesied (see Jer 21.1-10; 34.1-5; see also Ezek 12.12-14). The word hand is used here as an image for power.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Chronicles, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2014. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

The Arvadites lived in the city of Arvad, located on a rocky island in northern Phoenicia. Arvad is mentioned also in Ezek 27.8, 11.

The Zemarites were probably the inhabitants of a city in Syria, referred to in several ancient inscriptions.

The Hamathites lived in the Hittite city-state of Hamath, located in Syria on the Orontes River about 210 kilometers (130 miles) north of Damascus.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Chronicles, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2014. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

Nahshon was the father of Salma: Salma was twenty-ninth in the generations from Adam to David. The spelling of this name varies in its different occurrences in the Bible. In the book of Ruth it is spelled “Salmah” in 4.20God’s Word and “Salmon” in the very next verse. In the genealogy of Matthew it is spelled “Salmon” (Matt 1.4-5). In order to avoid confusion, it may be wise to harmonize the spelling of the name, adopting the form found in Ruth 4.21 and Matthew.

Salma of Boaz: According to Matt 1.5, Salmon married Rahab and their child was Boaz. The name of Boaz is very familiar to most Bible readers from the story in the book of Ruth. Boaz married Ruth, a woman from Moab. Ruth’s first husband had died and yet she remained loyal to her Israelite mother-in-law, Naomi, and accompanied her back to Israel, becoming a part of the history of the people of God.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Chronicles, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2014. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

She also bore …: Also renders the common Hebrew conjunction (literally “And”). New Living Translation and International Children’s Bible translate it in the same way. For the sake of logic and smooth-flowing English, Good News Translation begins with the transition word “Later” (also Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch).

Since Madmannah, Machbenah, and Gibe-a are almost certainly the names of places and not persons, the expression the father of is better rendered “the founder of” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch; similarly Good News Translation, Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje).

And the daughter of Caleb was Achsah: Good News Translation makes this sentence a separate paragraph and introduces it with the words “In addition” (similarly Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje). This may be wise in other languages since the mention of a daughter is a new and different thought.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Chronicles, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2014. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .