And when Baasha heard of it: And renders the Hebrew verbal transition that is sometimes translated “And it came to pass” (King James Version). The purpose of this transition seems to be to change the focus from the actions of Asa to the reaction of Baasha. But it may be unnecessary to include any overt representation of this transition in most languages. New Living Translation shows the immediacy of Baasha’s action here by beginning with “As soon as….” The pronoun it is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied by Revised Standard Version for reasons of English style. This pronoun refers to the military activity of King Benhadad described in the previous verse. La Bible du Semeur translates this whole clause as “When Baasha learned about this news.” King Baasha had to turn back to the north to defend his kingdom against the Syrian forces, thus leaving his southern border unprotected against the southern kingdom.

He stopped building Ramah, and let his work cease: As in verse 1, the Hebrew verb translated building is better rendered “fortifying” (Good News Translation, NET Bible). And renders the common Hebrew conjunction. But using the connector and here may possibly suggest that his work differs from building Ramah, while in fact both expressions refer to the work of fortifying Ramah. Helpful models for these two clauses are “he abandoned his project of fortifying Ramah” (New Living Translation) and “he discontinued the fortifying of Ramah and stopped all work on it” (Revised English 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 .