So all the people of the land rejoiced: So correctly renders the common Hebrew conjunction as a logical connector by Revised Standard Version, but it may be left untranslated as in Good News Translation, Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, and New American Bible. For all the people of the land, see the comments on verse 13. The Hebrew verb rendered rejoiced may be taken as referring to an inward feeling of joy or an outward expression of it. Following the latter interpretation, it may be translated “celebrated” (Contemporary English Version) or “were celebrating” (God’s Word). The first interpretation may be expressed by saying “were filled with happiness” (Good News Translation) or “were very happy” (New Century Version).

And the city was quiet: After the people rejoiced in Jerusalem, the city became calm. The common Hebrew conjunction rendered and may be translated “after that” to express the temporal relationship here clearly. New Century Version renders the city as “Jerusalem,” which other languages may find helpful. For the Hebrew word rendered was quiet, see the comments on 2 Chr 20.30.

After Athaliah had been slain with the sword: See the comments on verse 14. The rejoicing of the people and the subsequent calm in the city were both the result of Athaliah’s execution. The passive verb had been slain will have to be made active in some languages. The Hebrew actually uses an active verb since this clause is literally “and Athaliah they killed with the sword.” God’s Word provides a helpful model, saying “because they had killed Athaliah with a sword.”

This whole verse may be restructured as follows:

• After the death of Athaliah, all the people of the land rejoiced and then the city was quiet.

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 .