But sought the God of his father: The Hebrew conjunction here is correctly rendered but since there is a contrast between the rejection of Baal in verse 3 and the worship of the true God in this verse. The verb sought may be rendered “worshiped” (Contemporary English Version) or “served” (Good News Translation).

And walked in his commandments: The verb walked has the same figurative meaning as in the previous verse. But here it is said that Jehoshaphat walked in his commandments (that is, the commandments of God) rather than “in the … ways of his father.” For this reason the translation may be slightly different in some languages. New Century Version, for example, translates the expression in the previous verse as “lived as his ancestor David had lived,” but here it has “obeyed God’s commandments.”

And not according to the ways of Israel: To whom does Israel refer here? Is the reference to the people of the northern kingdom or more specifically to the kings of the northern kingdom? For versions that follow the Hebrew literally in saying “Israel” (for example, Revised Standard Version, New International Version, Revised English Bible, La Bible de Jérusalem: Nouvelle édition revue et corrigée, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible), it is not clear which interpretation the translators followed. Although the Hebrew does not mention the kings of Israel in this verse, the implied contrast may be between Jehoshaphat, who was king of Judah, and “the kings of Israel” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). For the Chronicler the kings of Israel were evil without exception (see 2 Chr 21.6, 13; 28.2). However, it is more likely that the name Israel here refers to people of the northern kingdom and is not limited to their leaders. New Century Version follows this sense by saying “the people of Israel.”

Contemporary English Version restructures verses 3 and 4 and combines them as follows:

• When Jehoshaphat’s father had first become king of Judah, he was faithful to the LORD and refused to worship the god Baal as the kings of Israel did. Jehoshaphat followed his father’s example and obeyed and worshiped the LORD. And so the LORD blessed Jehoshaphat.

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 .