And he burned incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom: For the Hebrew verb rendered burned incense, see the comments on 1 Chr 23.13. Here it refers to burning incense. In the modern world some people burn incense for the pleasant smell. But in the Old Testament world it was burned as a good-smelling sacrifice to certain gods. Bible en français courant renders burned incense as “presented offerings of incense,” and Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente says “burned incense to the idols.”
The valley of the son of Hinnom was located to the southwest of Jerusalem. Later King Manasseh sacrificed his sons in this valley (2 Chr 33.6). Jeremiah prophesied that God would judge the people because of the pagan sacrifices made in this valley (Jer 7.31-32; 19.6). Hinnom is apparently the name of a person. Revised English Bible transliterates the Hebrew word for son (ben), and renders the valley of the son of Hinnom as “the Valley of Ben Hinnom” (similarly New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). Some Old Testament passages call this place simply “the valley of Hinnom” (Josh 15.8; 18.16; Neh 11.30), which Good News Translation uses here also. The Hebrew expression for “the valley of Hinnom” is geʾ-hinnom, which is the basis of the New Testament word “Gehenna,” the place of punishment in the afterlife.
And burned his sons as an offering is literally “and he made his sons pass through the fire” (similarly New Revised Standard Version). New Jerusalem Bible says “caused his sons to pass through the fire of sacrifice.” The Hebrew text does not actually have the words as an offering. Such a translation reflects the widespread interpretation that child sacrifice is intended here. Other passages in the Old Testament reveal that children were burned in the worship of the god Molech, a god of the Ammonites (see 2 Kgs 23.10; Jer 32.35). Sacrifices of children were strictly forbidden by the Law of Moses (see Lev 20.2-5; Deut 12.31; 18.10).
According to the abominable practices of the nations …: Ahaz was “copying” (New Jerusalem Bible) or “imitating” (Good News Translation) the disgusting habits of these other peoples. The Hebrew expression rendered abominable practices is common in the book of Deuteronomy (18.9, 12; 20.18; 32.16). Here it refers to something that is felt to be disgusting or unusually offensive. Behind this idea is the notion of ritual and/or ethical impurity. Anything in shameless violation of what is considered ritually pure or ethically wholesome could be labeled an abomination. Some modern translations are “disgusting things” (God’s Word), “detestable practices” (New Living Translation), and “disgusting practices” (New Jerusalem Bible).
The nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel refers to the time several centuries earlier when the Israelites invaded the Promised Land under the leadership of Joshua and drove out the Canaanites and other people who lived there (see Exo 33.2 for a list of the people expelled). A possible model for this clause is “the nations whom the LORD had forced out of the land long ago as the Israelites advanced.”
As in the previous verse, it is not likely that King Ahaz alone performed the actions described in this verse. Therefore some versions such as Bible de Jérusalem use a causative form of the verbs with the king as the grammatical subject.
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 .