And: In order to show the progression toward greater evil, Contemporary English Version translates the common Hebrew conjunction at the beginning of this verse with the words “Even worse.”
The people of Israel did secretly against the LORD their God things that were not right: Since the Hebrew verb translated did secretly is used only here in the Old Testament, its meaning is uncertain. This verb, whose root is chapaʾ, is usually thought to be related to the Hebrew verb chapah, whose meaning is “to cover” or “to conceal”; and this is how the Septuagint translated the Hebrew verb.
Some scholars, however, have assumed that this Hebrew word is related to the Akkadian verb chapu, which means “to utter” or “to speak.” This is the basis for the rendering “uttered blasphemies” in Revised English Bible (also New English Bible, Peregrino) and for the alternate translation “said” in Good News Translation. Compare also New Jerusalem Bible: “spoke slightingly.”
Since the verb chapaʾ is in the intensive form of the verb here, it is possible that it has the same meaning as the intensive form of the verb chapah, which is “to overlay” (2 Chr 3.5, 7, 9). The sense would be that the people overlaid idols with gold. So Provan suggests the following translation: “the Israelites overlaid things that were not right so far as the LORD their God was concerned.”
It must be admitted that the exact sense of this Hebrew verb is not known, but if translators choose to follow the rendering in Revised Standard Version, they should avoid giving the impression that the wrongdoers effectively concealed anything from God. Probably it was intended to indicate that they attempted to hide what they were doing from God, but certainly the writer does not intend to say that they were successful in this attempt. It is worth noting that New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh translates simply “committed.” The following translation for the first sentence in this verse is recommended as a model for other languages: “Even worse, the Israelites tried to hide their sins from the LORD their God” (Contemporary English Version).
In some languages the expression things that were not right may be considered totally redundant in the context. If something is done against … God, it goes without saying that those things are not right. For this reason some translators may choose to leave this information implicit in their renderings. But in other languages the expression may be translated “bad things” as a way of reinforcing the statement against … God.
High places: See 1 Kgs 3.2 and 2 Kgs 12.3. In this context it refers to “pagan places of worship” (Good News Translation).
From watchtower to fortified city: This expression seems to be a way of talking about all the cities of Israel from the least significant village to the most important city. The larger cities were protected by walls, but smaller towns had only a watchtower from which guards could warn the inhabitants of approaching danger. Translators should look for a natural, all-inclusive expression indicating that wherever people lived, they set up these pagan places of worship. Contemporary English Version translates “from small towns to large, walled cities.”
Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .