And when they received help against them means the Israelites received help from God against the Hagrites. New Jerusalem Bible says simply “God came to their help.”

The Hagrites and all who were with them were given into their hands: All who were with them refers to the “allies” (Good News Translation, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente, Peregrino of the Hagrites. If the receptor language has a technical term or expression used to refer to political allies, it may be used here. Their hands refers to the power of the Israelites. The passive expression were given into their hands will have to be made active in some languages. Since the implied agent is God, some may translate this whole clause as “He [God] allowed them to defeat the Hagrites and all their allies” (similarly International Children’s Bible). Another possible model is “They were able to subdue the Hagrites and their allies” (Bible en français courant).

For they cried to God in the battle, and he granted their entreaty because they trusted in him: God helped the Israelites to defeat the Hagrites because they trusted him and prayed for his help. In some languages it may be important to restructure the verse by placing this reason for God’s help first. Good News Translation may provide a useful model in this regard. Another possible model is found in New Living Translation, which makes two separate sentences of this verse as follows: “They cried out to God during the battle, and he answered their prayer because they trusted in him. So the Hagrites and all their allies were defeated.” International Children’s Bible is more explicit and uses five sentences, saying “The men from the tribes of Manasseh, Reuben and Gad prayed to God in the war. They asked God to help them. So he helped them because they trusted in him. He allowed them to defeat the Hagrites. And they also defeated all those who were with the Hagrites.”

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 .