complete verse (2 Chronicles 24:26)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 2 Chronicles 24:26:

  • Kupsabiny: “The people who plotted against Joash were Zabad who was the son of a daughter of the Ammonites who was called Shimeath and Jehozabad who was the son of a daughter of the Moabites who was called Shimrith.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Jehozabad, son of the Moabite woman Shimrith, and Zabad, son of the Ammonite woman Shimeath were the ones who plotted against him.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Those who killed him were Zabad the child of one of the Ammonhon woman which is Shimeat, and Jehozabad the child of one of the Moabnon woman which is Shimrit.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Those who conspired to kill him were Zabad the son of Shimeath, who was a woman from the Ammon people-group, and Jehozabad the son of Shimrith, who was a woman from the Moab people-group.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on 2 Chronicles 24:26

This verse is a parenthetical statement. To show that it is not a part of the main storyline, Good News Translation and Moffatt place it within parentheses, and Bible en français courant sets it off by the use of long dashes.

Those who conspired against him were Zabad … and Jehozabad …: The two officials who plotted against King Joash are also mentioned by name in the parallel text of 2 Kgs 12.21. But there are differences between the two accounts. Zabad is called “Jozacar” (or, “Jozabad” in some Hebrew manuscripts) in 2 Kings. And Jehozabad is said to be “the son of Shomer” in 2 Kings instead of the son of Shimrith. Possibly the writer of 2 Chronicles mistook the father’s name, Shomer, for the mother’s name and then changed the name to Shimrith, which is a woman’s name. Regardless of the reasons for the differences between the names here and in 2 Kings, translators should follow the Masoretic Text here.

In the Hebrew text the words translated Ammonitess and Moabitess are feminine forms, clearly indicating that Shime-ath and Shimrith were women. A translation such as “Shimeath the Ammonite … Shimrith the Moabite” (New Revised Standard Version, English Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible) misleads readers of English since such a translation suggests that these two women were in fact men. More accurate renderings are “Shimeath, a woman from the land of Ammon … Shimrith, a woman from the land of Moab” (Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje) and “Shimeath an Ammonite woman … Shimrith a Moabite woman” (Revised English Bible). For the countries of Ammon and Moab, see the comments on 1 Chr 18.11.

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 .