Jehoiada got for him two wives: The text does not say when Jehoiada got the two wives for Joash, but since Joash was only seven years old when he began to rule, the sense is probably that Jehoiada did this some years later. It is probably for this reason that some versions, such as God’s Word and Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, make a separate paragraph of this verse. The limitation to two wives was in keeping with the law that a king was not to have many wives (Deut 17.17). Most versions understand the pronoun him to refer to Joash (so Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation). But the Hebrew pronoun for him may be reflexive and refer to Jehoiada himself. An American Translation, for example, renders this clause as “Jehoiada took for himself two wives.” However, the majority view is better here. Alternative models for this clause are “Jehoiada arranged two marriages for King Joash” and “… provided him with two wives” (New American Bible).

And he had sons and daughters: It is implied that the two wives just mentioned gave birth to these children of King Joash. The common Hebrew conjunction rendered and may be translated “later” to indicate that the children were born some time after Joash was married. Wives, sons, and daughters were considered a sign of God’s blessing.

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 .