After this is literally “And it happened after this.” The Hebrew text begins with the verbal transition that is sometimes translated “And it came to pass” (similarly King James Version). Here it marks the beginning of a new section, but the function of this transition may be fulfilled by placing a section heading before this verse or by beginning with “Some time later” (Contemporary English Version) or “Some time afterward” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch).

The Moabites and Ammonites is literally “the sons of Moab and the sons of Ammon” (NASB), but the meaning is accurately expressed by Revised Standard Version. The origin of these two groups is explained in Gen 19.30-38 (see also the comments on 1 Chr 18.11). Since this verse refers to a large scale military invasion, Good News Translation says “the armies of Moab and Ammon.”

And with them some of the Me-unites: The Me-unites were probably an Arab tribe located east of the Jordan River and south of Edom. Some scholars think they may have been from an area called Maon, but there is no way to be certain. There is a textual problem here. Instead of some of the Me-unites, the Masoretic Text surprisingly reads “from the Ammonites,” that is, some of the Ammonites. This reading seems to make no sense since the Ammonites are already mentioned. How could some of the Ammonites come with the Ammonites? A number of translations attempt to make some sense of the Masoretic Text as follows:

(1) One solution is take the Hebrew preposition for “from” to mean “besides.” King James Version, for example, says “and with them other besides the Ammonites.”
(2) Another solution is to assume that some Ammonites who lived elsewhere came to help. This seems to be the intended sense of the rendering in Nouvelle version Segond révisée, which is “and with them, some other Ammonites.”
(3) New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh has “together with some Ammonim,” but explains in a footnote that “Ammonim” probably should read “Meunites.”

Revised Standard Version follows the Septuagint here by reading the Me-unites (so also Good News Translation, Revised English Bible, Bible en français courant). Since verse 22 refers to the hill country of Seir, it seems likely that the reference here in verse 1 is to an Arabian tribe living east of the Jordan River. Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament is correct in claiming that Me-unites was changed by a scribe to the better known “Ammonites.” In Hebrew the difference in the consonants of these two names is only the reversal of the first and second consonants; that is, the reading in the Masoretic Text may be a result of simple metathesis. Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament gives a {B} rating to the reading of the Septuagint here.

Came against Jehoshaphat for battle: The invading armies were not simply attacking King Jehoshaphat personally, but rather his kingdom of Judah. Here the name of the king stands for the kingdom. This is an example of metonomy, that is, a part represents the whole. Good News Translation avoids this figure of speech by saying “Judah” instead of Jehoshaphat. The expression came against … for battle is a rather awkward way of saying “came to wage war against” (God’s Word) or “made war on” (Moffatt). In some languages the verb “attacked” may 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 .