But Azariah the priest went in after him, with eighty priests of the LORD …: But renders the common Hebrew conjunction. Revised Standard Version takes it here as marking contrast between the expected behavior of the priests (allowing the king to do whatever he pleased) and their actual conduct. Most other modern versions ignore this conjunction (so Good News Translation). Azariah the priest is otherwise unknown. Bible en français courant calls him the “high priest” here, bringing this information forward from verse 20.

The Hebrew phrase rendered men of valor (literally “sons of strength”) is often used to describe soldiers (see, for example, 1 Chr 5.18, where it is translated “valiant men”), but here it highlights the bravery of the priests who risked making the king angry by trying to prevent him from committing sacrilege. New Living Translation calls them “brave men,” and God’s Word says “courageous priests.”

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 .

This verse begins with the common Hebrew conjunction. Although it is often translated “And,” Revised Standard Version renders it as For here. This makes good sense, because verse 23 explains how Ahaz became more unfaithful to God.

He sacrificed to the gods of Damascus which had defeated him: This sentence credits the Syrian defeat of Judah to the Syrian gods (see verse 5). Damascus was the capital of Syria and thus represents the whole country, so Good News Translation translates the gods of Damascus as “the gods of the Syrians.” Another possible model is “the gods worshiped by the Syrians.”

And said: The verb said may be understood to mean either “he said to some other people” or “he said to himself” (Contemporary English Version, La Bible du Semeur, La Bible Pléiade). The latter interpretation is more likely and may be expressed as “he thought” (New International Version, New Century Version, New Jerusalem Bible, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy).

Because the gods of the kings of Syria helped them, I will sacrifice to them that they may help me: This direct quotation may be transformed into indirect discourse by saying “He reasoned within his own mind that since the Syrian gods helped the kings of Syria, he should also sacrifice to those gods so that they might help him also.”

But they were the ruin of him, and of all Israel is literally “And they were to him to cause him to stumble, and to all Israel.” This sentence may be expressed as “But they only made things worse for him and for all Israel” or “But in fact they caused his downfall and that of all Israel” (Revised English Bible). For Israel, which Contemporary English Version and New Living Translation render as “Judah,” see the comments on verse 19.

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 number of the burnt offerings … all these were for a burnt offering to the LORD: The repetition of burnt offering may be superfluous in some languages and may be reduced to a single occurrence (so Good News Translation). Good News Translation restructures this whole verse for naturalness in English. Other languages may find it to be a helpful model.

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 .

And his servants said still more against the Lord GOD and against his servant Hezekiah: His servants refers to the officials sent by the king of Assyria to bring the message of verses 10-15 (see the comments on 2Chr 32.9). Some versions make the antecedent of the pronoun his explicit by saying “Sennacherib’s envoys” (Revised English Bible, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch), “Sennacherib’s officers” (New International Version), “The envoys of the king of Assyria” (Bible en français courant), or “The Assyrian officials” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version). These messengers apparently added their own words of discouragement to the ones that their king had sent. Said still more may be rendered “said even worse things” (Moffatt). New Living Translation loosely translates that they “further mocked … heaping insult upon insult.”

When Revised Standard Version says the Lord GOD, this phrase usually renders the Hebrew words ʾadonai YHWH. But here the text has YHWH haʾelohim, which Revised Standard Version normally translates “the LORD God.” The misplaced capitalization in Revised Standard Version is an error that carried over into New Revised Standard Version.

Hezekiah is described here as his servant, that is, the servant of Yahweh. The Hebrew word for servant is the same one rendered servants at the beginning of this verse. In some languages his servant may be more naturally translated “who served the LORD.”

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 account of Manasseh’s reign is concluded here by another common formula used to summarize the reign of most of the kings of Israel and Judah. It refers to his death, burial, and successor.

So Manasseh slept with his fathers: For slept with his fathers, see the comments on 2 Chr 9.31. New Revised Standard Version correctly changes fathers to “ancestors.”

And they buried him in his house: The subject of the verb buried is indefinite but may be translated “his people.” Instead of in his house, Revised English Bible says “in the garden-tomb of his family.” Revised English Bible corrects the text to agree with the parallel text in 2 Kgs 21.18. Similarly, New Jerusalem Bible says “in the garden of his palace” (so also An American Translation and Moffatt). Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament gives a {B} rating to the Masoretic Text, which says “in his house,” and states that in this context his house does not refer to the palace alone but rather to the palace and the surrounding property. So a good rendering for this whole phase is “on his palace grounds” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh).

And Amon his son reigned in his stead: For reigned in his stead, see the comments on 1 Chr 19.1 and 2 Chr 9.31.

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 .

And the king stood in his place: Instead of in his place, the parallel text in 2 Kgs 23.3 says “by the pillar.” A number of versions change the Hebrew here to agree with the text in 2 Kings (so Good News Translation, Revised English Bible). The majority of modern translations of 2 Kings take “by the pillar” to refer to a special place where the king stood next to a column in the royal palace when making important official pronouncements. Standing by the royal column apparently showed others that he was speaking authoritatively. Compare “The king took his place of authority beside the pillar” (New Living Translation). The phrase in his place is probably a more general way of speaking of “by the pillar.” Similar terminology in 2 Chr 30.16 and 35.10 suggests that the Masoretic Text preserves the original text here.

And made a covenant before the LORD: For made a covenant, which is literally “cut the covenant,” see the comments on 1 Chr 11.3. In this clause the word for covenant is preceded by the definite article in Hebrew. Since this is not the first time such an agreement was made between Yahweh and his people, it is preferable to translate “renewed the covenant” (New International Version) or “bound himself by the covenant” (New Jerusalem Bible). Before the LORD is a literal rendering that usually means “in the presence of the LORD,” but in this case the agreement was actually made “with the LORD” (Good News Translation).

To walk after the LORD: For the use of the verb walk in the sense of “behave” or “live,” see the comments on 2 Chr 6.14. Here the verb seems to have the more precise meaning of “obey” (Good News Translation).

And to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes: The synonyms commandments, testimonies, and statutes are problematic for some languages. These same three terms are used together in 1 Chr 29.19 (see the comments there). It may be possible to find a different noun in the receptor language for each of the Hebrew nouns here, but it is not necessary to do so since a clear distinction does not seem intended. Good News Translation says simply “laws and commands.”

With all his heart and all his soul: See the comments on 2 Chr 15.12. In the Old Testament the heart is the center of one’s desires and intentions. The Hebrew noun translated soul refers to the self, the entire person. The whole expression here is very common in the book of Deuteronomy and is also found in Joshua (22.5; 23.14) and 1 Kings (2.4; 8.48). It is a way of speaking of a complete and unswerving devotion to accomplish a particular task. If a literal translation does not convey this meaning, translators may wish to use an adverbial expression such as “absolutely thoroughly” or “completely faithfully.”

To perform the words of the covenant: The Hebrew verb translated perform is literally “cause to arise,” but the meaning is “establish.” Words should be understood here in the sense of the conditions or provisions of the agreement. New Jerusalem Bible translates this whole clause as “to carry out the terms of the covenant” (similarly Revised English Bible), and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh says “to fulfill all the terms of the covenant.”

That were written in this book may be rendered “that were in the book.”

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 .

And the king of Egypt made Eliakim his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem: The king of Egypt is again referred to without his name, but his name is given later. Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version insert the proper name “Neco” here for the sake of clarity. His brother refers to the brother of Joahaz, not the brother of Neco. Eliakim was perhaps two years older than Joahaz (see the comments on 2Chr 36.1). Judah and Jerusalem may be rendered “Jerusalem and the rest of Judah.”

And changed his name to Jehoiakim: Neco did this to show that the king of Judah was subject to him. But the Hebrew names Eliakim and Jehoiakim are very similar in meaning. Eliakim means “God raises up,” and Jehoiakim means “Yahweh raises up.”

But Neco took Jehoahaz his brother and carried him to Egypt as Jeremiah had prophesied (Jer 22.11-12). See also Ezek 19.1-4. The translation should avoid the possible misunderstanding that Jehoahaz was the brother of Neco. He was the brother of Jehoiakim. The verb carried should not be taken too literally. New Living Translation provides a helpful model for this whole sentence, saying “Then Neco took Jehoahaz to Egypt as a prisoner.”

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 .