2Chr 23:17 – TIPs

altar

The Greek, Latin and Hebrew that is translated as “altar” in English is translated in a number of ways:

Obolo: ntook or “raised structure for keeping utensils (esp. sacrifice)” (source: Enene Enene)
Muna: medha kaefoampe’a or “offering table” (source: René van den Berg)
Luchazi: muytula or “the place where one sets the burden down”/”the place where the life is laid down” (source: E. Pearson in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 160ff. )
Tzotzil: “where they place God’s gifts” (source: John Beekman in Notes on Translation, March 1965, p. 2ff.)
Tsafiki: “table for giving to God” (source: Bruce Moore in Notes on Translation 1/1992, p. 1ff.)
Noongar: karla-kooranyi or “sacred fire” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Uma: “offering-burning table” (source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “place for sacrificing” (source: Yakan Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “burning-place” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tibetan: mchod khri (མཆོད་ཁྲི།) or “offering throne” (source: gSungrab website )
Bura-Pabir: “sacrifice mound” (source: Andy Warrren-Rothlin)
Kalanga: “fireplace of sacrifice” (source: project-specific notes in Paratext)
Cherokee: “fire nurturing place” (source: Bender / Belt 2025, p. 26) (note that the Jewish priest is “fire feeder” in Cherokee)

The Ignaciano translators decided to translate the difficult term in that language according to the focus of each New Testament passage in which the word appears (click or tap here to see the rest of this insight

Willis Ott (in Notes on Translation 88/1982, p. 18ff.) explains:

Matt. 5:23,24: “When you take your offering to God, and arriving, you remember…, do not offer your gift yet. First go to your brother…Then it is fitting to return and offer your offering to God.” (The focus is on improving relationships with people before attempting to improve a relationship with God, so the means of offering, the altar, is not focal.)
Matt. 23:18 (19,20): “You also teach erroneously: ‘If someone makes a promise, swearing by the offering-place/table, he is not guilty if he should break the promise. But if he swears by the gift that he put on the offering-place/table, he will be guilty if he breaks the promise.'”
Luke 1:11: “…to the right side of the table where they burn incense.”
Luke 11.51. “…the one they killed in front of the temple (or the temple enclosure).” (The focus is on location, with overtones on: “their crime was all the more heinous for killing him there”.)
Rom. 11:3: “Lord, they have killed all my fellow prophets that spoke for you. They do not want anyone to give offerings to you in worship.” (The focus is on the people’s rejection of religion, with God as the object of worship.)
1Cor. 9:13 (10:18): “Remember that those that attend the temple have rights to eat the foods that people bring as offerings to God. They have rights to the meat that the people offer.” (The focus is on the right of priests to the offered food.)
Heb. 7:13: “This one of whom we are talking is from another clan. No one from that clan was ever a priest.” (The focus in on the legitimacy of this priest’s vocation.)
Jas. 2:21: “Remember our ancestor Abraham, when God tested him by asking him to give him his son by death. Abraham was to the point of stabbing/killing his son, thus proving his obedience.” (The focus is on the sacrifice as a demonstration of faith/obedience.)
Rev. 6:9 (8:3,5; 9:13; 14:18; 16:7): “I saw the souls of them that…They were under the table that holds God’s fire/coals.” (This keeps the concepts of: furniture, receptacle for keeping fire, and location near God.)
Rev. 11:1: “Go to the temple, Measure the building and the inside enclosure (the outside is contrasted in v. 2). Measure the burning place for offered animals. Then count the people who are worshiping there.” (This altar is probably the brazen altar in a temple on earth, since people are worshiping there and since outside this area conquerors are allowed to subjugate for a certain time.)

Baal

The Hebrew, Ge’ez, and Greek that is typically transliterated as “Baal” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with the sign for “idol.” (Source: Steve Parkhurst)

“Baal” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España

In the English translation by Goldingay (2018) it is translated as Master.

complete verse (2 Chronicles 23:17)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 2 Chronicles 23:17:

Kupsabiny: “Then, all the people went to the house of Baal and tore the house down. They also tore down all the altars and the idols and (they) killed Mattan who was priest in the house of Baal. That man was killed by the altar.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “All the people tore down the temple of Baal. They broke to pieces the altar and the idols that were on it. Then they killed Mattan the priest of Baal in front of the altar.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Then all the people went to the temple of Baal and they destroyed it. They smashed the altars and its false-gods, and they killed Matan the priest of Baal before/[lit. in front of] the altars.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “Then all the people who were there went to the temple of Baal and tore it down. They smashed the altars of Baal. They also killed Mattan, the priest of Baal, in front of those altars.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on 2 Chronicles 23:17

Then all the people went to the house of Baal, and tore it down: Then correctly renders the common Hebrew conjunction as a temporal connector here. All the people includes Jehoiada and Joash as well as the other people of Judah. The house of Baal refers to the temple where the pagan god Baal was worshiped. This temple may have been in Jerusalem, perhaps near the LORD’s Temple itself or the royal palace. Or it may have been outside of Jerusalem in the nearby countryside. For the pagan god Baal, see the comments on 2 Chr 17.3.

His altars and his images they broke in pieces: The pronoun his refers to Baal. The first half of this verse may be rendered “Then all the people went to the place where they worshiped Baal and they destroyed it, demolishing the altars and idols.”

And they slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars: The archaic verb slew has been appropriately replaced by “killed” in New Revised Standard Version. Mattan is described as the priest of Baal. But the definite article may be misleading since there were many priests of Baal. Some interpreters think that Mattan may have been Baal’s chief priest.

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 .

SIL Translator’s Notes on 2 Chronicles 23:17

23:17a So all the people went to the temple of Baal and tore it down.

Then the people all went to the temple of Baal and tore it down.
-or-
Then all the people went to the temple of the god Baal and broke it apart.

23:17b They smashed the altars and idols to pieces

They smashed the altars and the idols of Baal
-or-
They broke in pieces the idols of Baal and the sacrifice platforms where people worshiped him.

23:17d and killed Mattan the priest of Baal in front of the altars.

and killed Mattan the priest of Baal in front of the altars.
-or-
They killed Mattan, Baal’s sacrificer, in front of the sacrifice platforms.

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Verse: 2 Chronicles 23:17