This verse functions as a concluding paragraph for 2.1–8.15.

Thus was accomplished all the work of Solomon: Thus renders the common Hebrew conjunction as a logical connector, which is its function here. New Living Translation is similar with the connector “So.” It is also possible to leave this conjunction implied at the beginning of a new paragraph (so Good News Translation). The passive verb was accomplished will have to be made active in a number of languages. The subject is clearly Solomon and all the workers under his supervision. A model that uses an active verb for this clause is “Solomon had now completed all his work,” which leaves implied that he was assisted by numerous others under his supervision.

From the day the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid: The Masoretic Text says “to the day….” Revised Standard Version here follows the ancient versions in Greek, Syriac, and Latin (so also New Revised Standard Version). The context requires that the Hebrew be translated from the day (so nearly all versions). Was laid is another passive verb that will need to be made active in many languages. Depending on how the earlier passive verb is handled, it may be possible to render the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid as “they laid the foundation of the Temple” or possibly “the workers laid the foundation of the Temple.” The Hebrew is literally “the founding (or, laying of the foundation stone) of the house of Yahweh.”

Until it was finished: This passive construction may be rendered “until they finished it [the Temple].”

So the house of the LORD was completed: Was completed translates a Hebrew verb that has the same root as the name “Solomon.” It is possible to understand this verb to mean that the work on the Temple “was perfect.” But virtually all modern versions take it to refer to the completion of the work, expressing the same idea as was accomplished earlier in this verse. The passive verb was completed may be rendered actively by making Solomon with his workers the agent, saying “So Solomon, with the help of his workers, completed all the work on the Temple.”

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 .

Rehoboam went to Shechem: Shechem was about 65 kilometers (40 miles) north of Jerusalem. It was located in the territory settled by the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh and was the first religious center of the twelve tribes in Canaan (see Josh 24.1). It became the first capital of the northern kingdom (1 Kgs 12.25), whose first king, Jeroboam, was from the tribe of Ephraim (1 Kgs 11.26).

For all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king: The words all Israel occur frequently in the historical texts but usually refer only to the northern tribes as distinct from the tribe of Judah. Good News Translation makes this information explicit in the text itself by translating Israel as “northern Israel.” Compare also “the northern tribes of Israel” (Bible en français courant, Parole de Vie, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). The Hebrew verb here may be rendered had come or “had gone” (Revised English Bible), depending on the location of the writer. Good News Translation and New Living Translation avoid the matter of direction by saying “had gathered.” Revised Standard Version reflects the Hebrew by repeating the phrase to Shechem, but this is awkward in English. New International Version and Revised English Bible replace this second occurrence of the phrase with the adverb “there” for naturalness.

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 .

Rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and concubines: The fact that Rehoboam loved Maacah more than any of his other wives or concubines may be expressed in a variety of ways in other languages. One English translation has “Maacah was Rehoboam’s favorite wife.” The Hebrew repeats here that Maacah was the daughter of Absalom. Some versions omit that information here for reasons of style (so Good News Translation, New Living Translation, Revised English Bible). If it is retained, it should be translated in the same way as in the previous verse.

Concubines were servant women who, although not wives, had sexual relations with their masters. They had important legal rights, and their masters were referred to as their husbands. Contemporary English Version defines concubines in a footnote as “women who were legally bound to a man, but without the full privileges of a wife.” Contemporary English Version calls them “other women,” which is a rather weak translation of the Hebrew noun here. New Century Version has “slave women,” which is somewhat better. They are referred to in Bible en français courant as “wives of second rank.” In some other languages they have been called “servant-wives.”

He took eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and had twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters: Large families were a sign of God’s blessing (see also 2 Chr 13.21).

The structure of this verse is fundamentally changed by Good News Translation and some other modern versions. The material that Revised Standard Version takes as parenthetical at the end of the verse is moved to the beginning and sets the stage for what is said about Maacah. Such restructuring may provide a more reasonable model for other languages.

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 the men of Judah raised the battle shout: Then properly translates the common Hebrew conjunction here because it introduces the next event in the story. However, some languages may prefer to omit it (so Good News Translation). The men of Judah refers to the army of the southern kingdom and may be translated “the soldiers of Judah” (Parole de Vie) or “the army or Judah” (Bible en français courant).

And when the men of Judah shouted is literally “and it happened when the men of Judah shouted.” This clause begins with the Hebrew verbal transition that is sometimes translated “and it came to pass” (so King James Version). While this expression is ignored in most modern versions, it may be kept in languages that have a natural equivalent for it. Good News Translation adds the implied words “they attacked,” which other languages may find helpful.

God defeated Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah: The Hebrew verb translated defeated means “to injure by striking.” When God is the subject, sometimes he strikes with a plague, with death, or with illness. Here he strikes with defeat through the army of Judah. All Israel in this context refers specifically to “the Israelite army” (Good News Translation, New Living Translation).

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 .

They were gathered at Jerusalem …: The Hebrew passive verb rendered were gathered may be translated as an active verb without great difficulty in most languages by saying “gathered” (New Living Translation, New Century Version), “assembled” (Good News Translation), or “met” (Contemporary English Version).

The third month was named Sivan in the Jewish calendar. This month went from mid-May to mid-June. In some languages where the months of the year are counted rather than named, the third month may be misunderstood as referring to March. Translators should avoid this misunderstanding by including a footnote or a glossary entry clarifying the situation (see Ellington’s article on the Jewish calendar in The Bible Translator).

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 Jehoshaphat grew steadily greater: The common Hebrew conjunction rendered And may be translated “So” (Good News Translation, New Living Translation, God’s Word, NASB), since it functions as a logical connector here. But many versions leave it untranslated (so New International Version, Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible). Jehoshaphat grew steadily greater in this context means that he became “more powerful” (Good News Translation, Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, An American Translation) militarily. Translators should take care not to give the impression that his physical growth is intended.

He built in Judah fortresses and store-cities: The Hebrew noun rendered fortresses is translated “forts” in 2 Chr 27.4. In 1 Chr 29.1 this noun refers to the Jerusalem Temple (see the comments there), but in 2 Chronicles it refers either to fortified towns or to forts. For store-cities see the comments on 2 Chr 8.4.

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 Israel said: Good News Translation renders the king of Israel as “King Ahab” for clarity. Contemporary English Version uses only the proper name.

Seize Micaiah and take him back to Amon … and to Joash …: Seize Micaiah is literally “Take Micaiah.” Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation have translated this clause according to the context. The Hebrew verbs rendered Seize and take … back are second person plural here but they are singular in the parallel text of 1 Kgs 22.26 (see also the comments on the next verse). The Good News Translation rendering here seems to follow the text in 1 Kings by saying Ahab gave this order to “one of his officers.” According to the context, Micaiah had just finished speaking and was standing in front of Ahab. So in some languages it may be more natural to render Seize Micaiah as “Arrest this man” instead of using the proper name Micaiah as in the Hebrew text.

The Hebrew expression rendered take him back suggests that Micaiah had previously been with Amon and Joash. New Revised Standard Version says “return him.” The renderings “take him” (Good News Translation) and “hand him over” (New Jerusalem Bible) fail to express this sense.

Amon the governor of the city: This is the only mention of Amon (other than in 1 Kgs 22.26, the parallel text), who was the ruler of the city of Samaria. The Hebrew noun rendered governor has a wide range of meanings depending on the context. It may refer, for example, to a representative of a king, an important person, a military commander, or a civilian administrator (see the comments on 1 Chr 21.2, where it is rendered “commanders”). The context here seems to suggest a city official. For the governor of the city, a general translation, such as “the city official” ( NET Bible) or “the city leader,” is recommended. Since Samaria has not been mentioned since verse 9, the city may be explicitly identified in translation as “Samaria” (so Parole de Vie).

Ahab refers to his own son as Joash the king’s son. A number of translations say “Prince Joash” (Good News Translation, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Moffatt, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Peregrino. However, it is possible to understand the reference to the king’s son in a different way. There is some archaeological evidence that the expression the king’s son was an official title given to one of the king’s officials, perhaps the person in charge of prisoners and state security (as in Jer 36.26; 38.6). Therefore it may be that Joash was not the king’s biological son, but was rather an official in the royal court. Even if he was a biological son, it may be his function that is in focus here rather than his biological relationship to the king. In a footnote Revised English Bible gives “deputy” as an alternative translation of the Hebrew word for son. In light of the difficulties in knowing for certain the identity of Joash, the best solution may be to translate the text literally and then indicate in a footnote that the king’s son may be a title of a royal official rather than a reference to one of the king’s own sons.

According to Revised Standard Version, the sentence begun in this verse continues in verse 26. But it may be wise to bring the sentence to an end here and begin a new one in the following verse.

If indirect discourse is preferred at this point, the model of Revised English Bible may prove to be helpful. It reads:

• The king of Israel ordered Micaiah to be arrested and committed to the custody of Amon the governor of the city and Joash the king’s son.

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 Spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel … in the midst of the assembly is literally “And Jahaziel son of Zecharyahu son of Benaiah son of Jeiel son of Mattaniah the Levite of the sons of Asaph, the spirit of the LORD was on him in the midst of the assembly.” Revised Standard Version has restructured the order of words in this verse. The common Hebrew conjunction rendered And may be taken as a temporal connector (so New International Version with “Then”), if it is translated at all. For the Spirit of the LORD, see the comments on 2 Chr 18.23. The Hebrew expression translated came upon refers to a rather dramatic revelation in this context. For this reason Contemporary English Version translates “suddenly spoke to.” New Century Version says simply “entered,” but this translation is not recommended.

The son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Je-iel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph: This long genealogical statement and its position in the sentence may present problems to translators. The order of the elements in this genealogy may have to be changed in order to be more natural in the receptor language. For example, the fact that Jahaziel was a Levite from the clan of Asaph may fit more logically before the names of his ancestors. And the listing of his ancestors may be reversed in some languages, naming the most distant ancestor first, even though the Hebrew moves from the closest ancestor to the most distant one. On the other hand, La Bible du Semeur simplifies the construction, stating only that Jahaziel was “a son of Zechariah, a descendant of Benaiah, Jeiel and Mattaniah, a Levite from the lineage of Asaph.” The descendants of Asaph were singers in the Temple (see 1 Chr 16.7; 2 Chr 5.12; 35.15).

The phrase in the midst of the assembly at the end of this verse may fit better elsewhere in some languages; for example, Revised English Bible begins this verse with “there, in the midst of the assembly, the spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel….”

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 .