He brought out is literally “he caused to go out.” Some other possible translations are “He removed” (Good News Translation, New Century Version) and “he expelled.”

The Asherah refers here to “the symbol [or, idol] of the goddess Asherah” (Good News Translation). See the comments on 1 Kgs 14.15.

The brook Kidron: See verse 4, where the text speaks of “the fields of the Kidron.” Here the reference is more specifically to “the Wadi Kidron” (New Revised Standard Version, Nouvelle Bible Segond) or “the Kidron Valley” (New American Bible, New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible), where water flowed during the rainy season, but which would have been dry during other times of the year. Instead of brook, some languages use an expression like “place of water” to refer to such a site. See the comments on brook at 1 Kgs 8.65.

Beat it to dust: After burning this sacred object of pagan worship, what remained was beaten until there was nothing left but powder. The subject of the verb is grammatically still the king; but since he probably did not do the actual work himself, some may prefer to translate a causative idea, such as “He then had its ashes ground into dust” (Contemporary English Version).

The graves of the common people: The common people is literally “the sons of the people.” The reference seems to be to the ordinary people who had no special burial place. In certain contexts a similar expression seems to mean “countrymen” (Jdg 14.16-17). But here and in a number of other passages, it seems to refer to “lay people” (2 Chr 35.5), that is, people who were neither priests nor members of royalty. The whole expression here is translated in La Bible du Semeur and Osty-Trinquet as “the common pit,” while Contemporary English Version and New Living Translation have “the public cemetery.”

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 .