And Ben-hadad hearkened to King Asa: Hearkened is a somewhat archaic verb rendered “listened” by New Revised Standard Version. But the verb “listened” may be misleading since it does not necessarily imply agreement. Benhadad not only accepted Asa’s request, but he went beyond it by sending troops to fight against the army of the northern kingdom. So better renderings for this clause are “Ben-Hadad agreed with King Asa” (New International Version; similarly New American Bible) and “Benhadad did what Asa asked” (Contemporary English Version).

And sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel: Revised Standard Version reflects the form of the Hebrew by saying sent … against. In this context it may be appropriate to say “sent … to attack” (Good News Translation, Moffatt). The commanders of his armies is translated “his generals” by Moffatt.

And they conquered …: Revised English Bible and New American Bible use the verb “attacked” here, but this may leave the reader wondering whether or not the attack was successful. The Hebrew verb for conquered means “to beat” or “to strike.” But the context indicates that the cities mentioned here were “ravaged” (New Jerusalem Bible), and that they were controlled by the forces of Benhadad when the battle was over. New Century Version says they “defeated” these towns.

Ijon, Dan, and Abel-maim are the names of towns and not of people. If there is any danger of readers understanding them as names of people or something else, then it will be advisable to add the qualifier term “towns” (Contemporary English Version, New Century Version) or “cities.” All these towns were located in northern Israel.

Ijon was a town located at the northern end of the Huleh Valley on the main road from Israel to Syria. This town is mentioned elsewhere only in 1 Kgs 15.20 and 2 Kgs 15.29.

The city of Dan is well known as the northernmost city in Israel. It was previously known as Laish (Jdg 18.29).

Abel-maim is the same place called Abel Beth Maacah in 1 Kgs 15.20. Good News Translation uses the same name here as in 1 Kings. If translators wish to retain the form of the Hebrew here, it will be necessary to add a footnote explaining that the two names refer to the same place.

All the store-cities of Naphtali: These storage towns in the territory allotted to the tribe of Naphtali were in addition to the three towns already named. The parallel passage in 1 Kgs 15.20 does not mention them. For store-cities see the comments on 2 Chr 8.4.

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 .