So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day: Revised Standard Version and New Revised Standard Version take the common Hebrew conjunction at the beginning of this verse as a logical connector by rendering it So, but Good News Translation and many other versions consider it sufficient to simply begin a new paragraph here. Since the Israelites of the northern tribes had already met with Rehoboam three days earlier, the verb came is rendered “returned” (Good News Translation, New Century Version) or “came back” (Contemporary English Version) in some versions. The third day may be rendered “Three days later” (Good News Translation) or “on the third day” (Revised English Bible).

As the king said is literally “as the king said saying.” New Jerusalem Bible renders this clause “in obedience to the king’s instructions” (similarly Good News Translation). Another possible model is “as the king had said,” since he had already said this in verse 5. The reference to the king here may be confusing in some languages. For this reason Good News Translation translates Rehoboam as “King Rehoboam” and then the king is expressed by the pronoun “he.”

Come to me again the third day: Good News Translation and Revised English Bible restructure the verse and eliminate this direct quotation since English style tends not to use direct quotations as frequently as Hebrew does. The background for this verse is verses 3-5.

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 exact sense of this verse is not clear. Verse 7 seems to suggest that God would not allow the Egyptians to conquer Jerusalem. Shishak’s own account of this military campaign does not include Jerusalem among the cities conquered. Therefore the meaning may be that Rehoboam went to meet Shishak and bribed him into not destroying the city by giving him the treasures of the Temple and the palace. The sense may equally well be that Shishak and his troops entered the city and plundered the treasures without remaining to occupy it.

So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem: See the comments on 2Chr 12.2. Since Shishak has been identified in verse 2 as king of Egypt, Good News Translation omits the specific reference to Egypt here as redundant.

He took away the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the king’s house; he took away everything: Shishak took away these things as an act of war. For this reason New Living Translation uses the verb “ransacked.” The Hebrew word for treasures can refer to valuable items or the places where they are stored (see the comments on 1 Chr 9.26 and 26.20). The first sense is more likely here. The house of the LORD refers to the Temple in Jerusalem while the king’s house is the royal palace. He took away everything means that anything of value in either place was seized by the invading army and carried away. The Masoretic Text for this whole part of the verse is literally “and he took away the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the king’s house and the all he took.” Revised Standard Version correctly does not translate the conjunction “and” before the words “the all he took,” because the sense of the conjunction here is “indeed” or “that is.”

He also took away the shields of gold which Solomon had made: Of special importance were the shields of gold that had been made during the reign of Solomon (see 2 Chr 9.15-16). Solomon did not actually make these shields himself, so Revised English Bible renders which Solomon had made as “made for Solomon.” This clause may also be expressed as “which Solomon had had made” (La Bible du Semeur, La Sainte Bible: La version Etablie par les moines de Maredsous).

In some languages it will be necessary to reverse the order of the last two sentences in this verse by saying “He took the gold shields that Solomon had made. In fact, he took everything.” A helpful model in English that keeps the original order is “He took everything; he even took the golden shields which Solomon had made” (NASB).

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 commanded Judah: Commanded is literally “said” (Bible de Jérusalem, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible), but the translation of Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation is justified by the context. This verb may also be rendered “ordered” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Bible en français courant, Osty-Trinquet). Judah is singular but its sense is collective here, so it may be translated “the people of Judah” (Good News Translation) or “the Judeans” (Bible en français courant).

To seek the LORD means to try to know and do God’s will in this context (see the comments on 1 Chr 16.10-11 and 2 Chr 11.16). The words “seek” and “sought” occur several times in the account of King Asa, and they imply faithfulness. In some contexts the same Hebrew expression means “to ask for Yahweh’s guidance or help” (see, for example, 2 Chr 16.12).

The God of their fathers may be rendered “the God their ancestors worshiped.”

And to keep the law and the commandment: The Hebrew noun rendered commandment is singular, indicating the general character of the recommendation here. But use of the singular in translation may incorrectly suggest that the reference is to a single specific commandment. Therefore many versions use the plural “commands” (Good News Translation, New American Bible) or “commandments” (Revised English Bible). Since the law and the commandment refers to God’s laws and commandments, translators may make this explicit by saying “his teachings and commands” (Good News Translation) or “his law and commands” ( NET Bible).

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 Asa took silver and gold from the treasures of the house of the LORD and the king’s house: This verse begins in Hebrew with the common conjunction. Revised Standard Version understands the connection with the previous verse to be primarily temporal (Then), but Good News Translation shows Asa’s actions to be a result (“So”) of the blockade by Baasha of Israel. Either translation is possible and both make good sense in this context. The house of the LORD refers to “the Temple” (Good News Translation). The king’s house may be translated “the palace” (Good News Translation) if the receptor language has a special word for the residence of a king.

And sent them to Ben-hadad king of Syria, who dwelt in Damascus: Benhadad (known as Benhadad I) was the king of Syria early in the ninth century B.C. Syria is literally “Aram” (New Revised Standard Version, New International Version; see the comments on 1 Chr 18.5). Damascus was the capital of Syria.

The Hebrew expression translated saying may have to be rendered as a separate sentence in some languages. The simplest way to do this is to follow the model of New Century Version, which has “Asa said.” Others may prefer to say more explicitly “Asa sent the following message.”

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 said to the king of Israel: Since Jehoshaphat was the last speaker in the previous verse, some languages may require a different verb than said here to introduce his additional remark. Good News Translation and New Living Translation use the verb “added,” while New Century Version translates “also said.” Contemporary English Version simply omits this introductory statement and continues the quotation of Jehoshaphat’s words from verse 3.

Inquire first for the word of the LORD means find out first what God’s will is in this matter. Good News Translation changes the focus here somewhat by rendering Inquire as “let’s consult” (similarly Contemporary English Version, New Living Translation, Revised English Bible), which makes the inquiry a joint effort. But it is better to follow Revised Standard Version here, which more closely expresses the sense of the Hebrew in which King Jehoshaphat tells the king of Israel what the latter should do. The Masoretic Text has the Hebrew particle of entreaty following the verb Inquire. This particle is often translated “please” or “I pray” (see the comments on 1 Chr 21.8). Neither Revised Standard Version nor Good News Translation attempts to express the force of this particle. Moffatt renders it by translating this whole clause as “But first of all … pray find out what the Eternal has to say,” but this is archaic-sounding English. A more natural English rendering is “Please, first find out what the LORD has to say.” If there is a natural way of translating this particle in the receptor language, this nuance of meaning should be preserved.

First is literally “as the day.” This expression may be rendered “right now,” “today” (Jewish Publication Version), or “before we do anything else.”

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 .

Nevertheless some good is found in you: Nevertheless translates a relatively uncommon Hebrew particle that marks contrast. In spite of the wrong that Jehoshaphat had done, the prophet sees some good in him. Other contrastive conjunctions used here are “However” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), “Yet” (New American Bible), and “But” (New Century Version). Some good is found in you is more literally “good things [plural] are found in you.” This passive expression will have to be made active in some languages. New Century Version and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh say simply “there is some good in you,” and God’s Word has “you’ve done some good things.” Contemporary English Version uses a negative expression, saying “not everything about you is bad.”

The Hebrew conjunction rendered for in the middle of this verse introduces the specific positive contributions made by King Jehoshaphat. In some languages it may be better left untranslated (so Good News Translation).

You destroyed the Asherahs out of the land: See 2 Chr 17.6. The Hebrew verb rendered destroyed has a range of meanings, including “to sweep away,” “to remove,” and “to devastate.” Regarding the Asherahs, see the comments on 2 Chr 14.3. The land refers to the southern kingdom of Judah.

And have set your heart to seek God: See the comments on 2 Chr 11.16. This clause may be rendered “and made up your mind to worship God” (Moffatt) or “and you have committed yourself to obeying God” (similarly New Living Translation). A rendering that emphasizes even more strongly the habitual nature of this decision is “and have made a practice of obeying God” (similarly Revised English Bible). In languages that have habitual verb forms, such a form will be appropriate here.

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 .

When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take the spoil from them is literally “And he went, Jehoshaphat and his people, to plunder their spoil.” As often happens in the context of war, the Hebrew word translated people refers to soldiers and not to citizens. New Century Version renders his people as “his army,” while others have “his men” (New International Version, Revised English Bible). The Hebrew word rendered spoil refers to the various articles of value that soldiers of a victorious army would take from the defeated enemy (see the comments on 1 Chr 20.2). Other possible technical renderings are “plunder” (New International Version, New American Bible), “booty” (New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible), and “loot” (Good News Translation, God’s Word). Simpler ways of expressing the meaning are “valuables” (New Century Version) and “everything of value” (Contemporary English Version).

They found cattle in great numbers, goods, clothing, and precious things: In the Masoretic Text this clause is literally “And they found among them in great number, goods, dead bodies, and precious things.” There are two significant textual problems here as follows:

(1) Instead of cattle, which is the reading in the Septuagint, the Masoretic Text has “among them.” The Hebrew words for “among them” (bahem) and “cattle” (behemah) are similar, with the word for cattle having an additional final consonant. The Vulgate, which follows the Masoretic Text, translates “among them” as “among the dead bodies.” A number of modern versions also follow the Masoretic Text reading (so New International Version, NASB, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Nouvelle Bible Segond). However, many other modern translations follow the Septuagint here by saying “cattle” (Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, Revised English Bible, Moffatt, Bible en français courant, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible) or “livestock” (New Revised Standard Version, Contemporary English Version). Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament gives a {C} rating for the reading “cattle,” arguing that elsewhere in 2 Chronicles (14.15 and 32.5), a similar construction is found in which the Hebrew word translated in great numbers is preceded by the noun that it qualifies.
(2) Instead of clothing, which is the reading in a few Hebrew manuscripts and the Vulgate, the Masoretic Text has “dead bodies.” The Hebrew words for “dead bodies” (pegarim) and “clothing” (begadim) are similar. If the reading in the Masoretic Text is followed (so King James Version, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Nouvelle version Segond révisée, Nouvelle Bible Segond, La Bible de Jérusalem: Nouvelle édition revue et corrigée), the most likely meaning is that the articles of value were found “among the dead bodies.” But the reading with “clothing,” which is given a {C} rating by Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament, fits the context better. The word for “dead bodies” was probably written by mistake under the influence of the preceding verse, which has that word.

Precious things may be rendered specifically as “precious jewels” (An American Translation) or “precious ornaments” (Knox), or more generally as “valuables” (New Jerusalem Bible) or “articles of value” (Revised English Bible).

Which they took for themselves until they could carry no more: God’s Word renders this relative clause as a separate sentence by saying “They found more than they could carry.”

They were three days in taking the spoil, it was so much: This sentence may be restructured by saying “There were so many valuable things that it took the army of Judah three days just to gather it all.”

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 .