He even followed their counsel, and went with Jehoram the son of Ahab king of Israel …: This verse gives one example of how Ahaziah followed the advice of Ahab’s family. He did it by joining forces with King Joram of Israel to fight the Syrians. The verb phrase went with is a literal rendering, but the meaning is better expressed as “joined forces with” or “made an alliance with” (New Living Translation; similarly Revised English Bible).

To make war against Hazael king of Syria at Ramoth-gilead: For Syria, which is literally “Aram” (New International Version), see the comments on 1 Chr 18.5 and 2 Chr 1.17. For Ramoth-gilead, which was a city on the east side of the Jordan River, see the comments on 2 Chr 18.2.

And the Syrians wounded Joram: Syrians is literally “Arameans” (New International Version). Joram is another form of the name Jehoram; both names refer to the same person. Revised Standard Version reflects the form of the names in the Hebrew text, but an exact transliteration may confuse readers and cause them to think that this verse refers to two different persons. Therefore Good News Translation and New International Version use only the name “Joram” in this verse. See the detailed comments about the problem of the two kings with this name at 2 Chr 21.1.

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 .

So the king summoned Jehoiada the chief: So correctly renders the common Hebrew conjunction as a logical connector here. Since Jehoiada was the leader of the priests and Levites, King Joash naturally called for him to find out why the Levites had not done what the Law of Moses required. The verb summoned may be translated “caused to come before him” or “convoked” (La Bible du Semeur). Jehoiada the chief may be rendered “Jehoiada the chief priest” (Revised English Bible, NET Bible, New Jerusalem Bible) or “Jehoiada the high priest” (Contemporary English Version).

And said to him: Since a question follows, the verb said may be rendered “asked” (Contemporary English Version, New Living Translation).

Why have you not required the Levites to bring in from Judah and Jerusalem the tax…?: This rhetorical question may be rendered as a strong statement by beginning with “You should have made the Levites….” Bring in may be rendered “collect” (Good News Translation, NET Bible). Judah and Jerusalem may be expressed as “the people of Judah and its capital, Jerusalem” or “the people of Jerusalem and the rest of Judah.”

The tax levied by Moses, the servant of the LORD, on the congregation of Israel is literally “the tax of Moses, the servant of the LORD, and of the congregation of Israel” (similarly An American Translation). That is, the Masoretic Text seems to indicate that both Moses and the people of Israel instituted the tax, but as the footnote in Good News Translation indicates, the meaning of the Hebrew here is not clear. New International Version and Bible en français courant say “the tax imposed by Moses … and by the assembly of Israel” (similarly New American Bible, Moffatt). But in light of verse 9 and Exo 30.11-16, the meaning is clearly that expressed in both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation (also Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje). The tax was not imposed by both Moses and the assembly of Israel. Rather, Moses required the people to pay for the support of the Tent of the LORD’s presence. The reference to Moses indicates a time several centuries in the past. For the servant of the LORD, see the comments on 2 Chr 1.3.

The tent of testimony refers is to the Tabernacle (see the comments on 1 Chr 6.32). It was the place where the testimony was kept, that is, the two stone tablets on which was the text of God’s covenant with his people (see Exo 31.18). These stone tablets were in the Covenant Box in the Tabernacle (see Deut 10.5). This whole phrase may be rendered “the sanctuary where the covenant document is located” (Bible en français courant) or “the tent containing the tablets of the law” ( NET Bible).

In languages where indirect discourse is preferred, the question of the king may be translated “asked them why they had not made sure that the Levites collected from the people of Jerusalem and the rest of Judah the tax that Moses, the servant of the LORD, required the people to pay for support of the Tent of the LORD’s presence.”

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 the men of the army whom Amaziah sent back …: Instead of the contrastive connector But, the common Hebrew conjunction here may be taken as a temporal transition by using the word “Meanwhile” (Good News Translation, New International Version, Revised English Bible). The men of the army refers to the soldiers of Israel, the northern kingdom (see verse 10). Bible en français courant says “the Israelite soldiers.” Since verse 6 indicates that Amaziah paid these soldiers, New American Bible says “the mercenaries.”

Fell upon the cities of Judah, from Samaria to Beth-horon: The verb fell upon (literally “stripped”) will be more naturally translated in a number of languages as “raided” (Contemporary English Version, New Living Translation, Revised English Bible) or “made incursions into” (Osty-Trinquet) in this context. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh says “made forays against.” Samaria was the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel (see the comments on 2 Chr 18.2), and Beth-horon was to the south, on the border of the southern kingdom of Judah (see the comments on 2 Chr 8.5). The meaning of this verse is not clear since Samaria was not a Judaean city. Some interpreters assume that Samaria here must refer to a town in Judah rather than the capital of the northern kingdom. Others think that the soldiers attacked from the direction of Samaria. Perhaps the best solution is that found in Good News Translation, which renders from Samaria to Beth-horon as “between Samaria and Beth Horon.”

And killed three thousand people in them, and took much spoil: Most versions assume that the subject of the verbs killed and took is the Israelite soldiers of the northern kingdom. But it is possible to understand the subject for these verbs as the people of the Judean cities that were attacked. According to this understanding of the Hebrew, three thousand Israelite soldiers were killed. This interpretation is the basis for the alternative translation in Bible en français courant, which reads “but three thousand of them were killed and much spoil was taken.” For the Hebrew noun rendered spoil, see the comments on 2 Chr 14.14, where it is translated “plunder.” See also the comments on 1 Chr 20.2 and 2 Chr 15.11, where a different Hebrew word occurs.

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 Uzziah was angry: The next sentence indicates that Uzziah was angry with the priests. Some versions make this explicit with the first mention of his anger (so Good News Translation, Bible en français courant).

Now he had a censer in his hand to burn incense: A censer was a small bowl or pan in which incense was burned. It was usually made of metal. It had a handle so that a person could carry it to the incense altar.

Leprosy broke out on his forehead …: Leprosy is the traditional translation of a Hebrew word that refers to a range of chronic and infectious skin diseases which the people of Israel feared greatly (see especially Lev 13–14). For the Israelites this condition was more than a disease; it made a person ritually impure or unclean before God. Scholars today agree that the Hebrew term does not signify what is known today as leprosy (Hansen’s disease). For this reason Good News Translation says “dreaded skin disease,” and New Jerusalem Bible has “virulent skin-disease.” According to Lev 13.40-44, the condition of the forehead was an important criterion for the diagnosis of what Revised Standard Version calls leprosy. Good News Translation highlights the suddenness with which the leprosy struck the king by using the word “immediately.” This idea is suggested in the Hebrew verb translated broke out, which may be rendered “suddenly appeared” (Contemporary English Version).

As in Good News Translation, translators may wish to reorder the elements in this verse to make it sound more natural and simpler in their language. It describes the following:

a. Uzziah emotional state (affirmed twice)
b. Uzziah’s activity
c. The disease that struck Uzziah
d. The presence of the priests
e. Uzziah’s position

Each of these elements must be present in a translation of this verse, but the order in which they appear will depend on what is most natural in the receptor language. New Century Version reorders the verse as follows:

• Uzziah was standing beside the altar for incense in the Temple of the LORD, and in his hand was a pan for burning incense. He was very angry with the priests. As he was standing in front of the priests, a skin disease broke out on his forehead.

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 .

In every city of Judah he made high places to burn incense to other gods: Since the writer has just been discussing Jerusalem, the capital city, the words In every city of Judah may be better translated “In all the other cities of Judah.” For high places, see the comments on 1 Chr 16.39 and 2 Chr 1.3. In this context the Hebrew verb rendered to burn incense may also be translated “to burn sacrifices” (New International Version; see the comments on 1 Chr 23.13 for this verb). Other gods refers to other gods than Yahweh, who was considered the only true God. This phrase may be rendered “false gods” (La Bible du Semeur) or “foreign gods” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, Bible en français courant, Parole de Vie).

Provoking to anger the LORD: Building places to worship other gods would certainly make Yahweh angry according to Deuteronomy (see, for example, 4.25 and 9.18). Provoking to anger renders a causative verb in Hebrew meaning “causing … to become angry.” Moffatt uses the somewhat archaic verb “vexed,” while Knox has “enraged.”

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

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 the priests were too few: But does render not the common Hebrew conjunction but rather an adverb meaning “Only” (Complete Jewish Bible). This adverb is used here to mark a contrast between the preceding and following text. New International Version translates “however.”

And could not flay all the burnt offerings: The Hebrew verb rendered flay means “to strip the skin off an animal” in this context. The same Hebrew word is used in a very different context in 1 Chr 10.8-9, where it refers to “stripping” the dead. The burnt offerings may be rendered “the animals for the burnt offerings” (New Century Version) or simply “these animals” (Good News Translation).

So until other priests had sanctified themselves their brethren the Levites helped them until the work was finished: To remove the skin of an animal requires a great deal of work and the number of animals that needed to be skinned was too great for the priests who were available because they were ritually clean. So while waiting for other priests to be made ritually clean in order to do this work, the Levites, who had remained ritually clean, were allowed to help. For had sanctified themselves, see the comments on 2Chr 29.5. The passive expression until the work was finished may be made active by saying “until they finished this work.”

For the Levites were more upright in heart than the priests in sanctifying themselves: The Levites were available to help in skinning the animals because they were more faithful in keeping themselves ritually pure than the priests. This sentences compares the Levites favorably to the priests. In some versions it is taken as a parenthetical comment through the use of parentheses (so Good News Translation, NET Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) or a long dash (so Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible). Upright in heart is an idiom for obedience. Good News Translation renders more upright in heart as “more faithful,” and God’s Word says “more diligent.”

The structure of this verse is rather complicated in Hebrew and is reflected in Revised Standard Version. It may be simplified according to the following model based on Parole de Vie:

• The priests who were ritually pure were too few in number to skin all the animals for the burnt offerings. So their relatives the Levites helped them to finish the work while waiting for other priests to be made pure. In fact, the Levites purified themselves more willingly than the 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 .

And they shouted it with a loud voice in the language of Judah to the people of Jerusalem: The pronoun they refers to the messengers of King Sennacherib, which is made clear in New Century Version (“the king’s officers”) and New Living Translation (“The Assyrian officials”). Shouted … with a loud voice is a redundant expression, so Good News Translation says simply “shouted.” The language of Judah is “Hebrew” (so Good News Translation, New International Version, New Century Version, Revised English Bible, Moffatt, Bible en français courant). An American Translation says “the Jewish language.” The international language used for politics at that time was Aramaic. This verse assumes readers have knowledge of the story in 2 Kgs 18.26-28. So a footnote referring the modern reader to that passage will be essential; for example, one possibility is “Instead of speaking to them in the international language of Aramaic at that time, they spoke to them in their own ethnic language of Hebrew. See the parallel account in 2 Kgs 18.26-28.”

Who were upon the wall: The writer paints a picture of observers watching from a position on the city wall of Jerusalem as the official representatives of King Hezekiah received the message from Sennacherib’s officials. It was not uncommon for people to stand or sit on the wall around the city to witness important events taking place on the ground below (compare 2 Kgs 6.26-30). The height and thickness of city walls varied, depending on how much protection the citizens of a city thought that they needed. An early seventh-century B.C. wall in Jerusalem was 7 meters (23 feet) thick.

To frighten and terrify them: The Assyrian messengers shouted in Hebrew in order to spread fear throughout the civilian population. As is often the case when synonyms are used, the use of the two verbs frighten and terrify is intended to intensify the meaning. Some may prefer to say “spread panic.”

In order that they might take the city: The pronoun they refers to the Assyrian messengers, who were supported by their entire army.

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 .