For the details of the war between Abijah and Jeroboam, see 2 Chr 13.3-21.

This verse is almost identical in Hebrew to 1 Kgs 14.30. Some Greek manuscripts omit this verse, and a number of translations follow the Greek, thinking that a scribe copied 14.30 here (so Revised English Bible, New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, Osty-Trinquet). But Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament correctly argues that verses 5b-6 have been accidentally omitted in the Septuagint.

Some Hebrew manuscripts read “Abijam” here instead of Rehoboam, and this is followed by a number of modern versions, including New Century Version, New Living Translation, and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh; but Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament gives a {B} rating to the Masoretic Text, which should be followed. The author states that the war between Abijam and Jeroboam (verse 7) already had its beginnings in the war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam.

Some other translations follow the Hebrew by keeping this verse in the translation, but they have restructured the text by taking the information about war between Abijah and Jeroboam at the end of verse 7 and moving it forward to the end of verse 6 as follows: “[the war] continued throughout Abijah’s lifetime” (so Good News Translation, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente). The first edition of Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch combines verses 6-7.

Another possible way of conveying the meaning of this verse may be seen in the following model:

• During the entire lifetime of Abijah, the soldiers of Rehoboam kept on fighting the soldiers of Jeroboam.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .