Then Hezekiah commanded that the burnt offering be offered on the altar: The burnt offering refers to the sacrifice of the seven bulls, seven rams, and seven lambs (see verse 21). The passive verb be offered renders an active verb in Hebrew. It may be made active by rendering this clause as “Then Hezekiah commanded the priests to sacrifice the burnt offerings on the altar.”

And when the burnt offering began may be translated “When the priests started burning the offerings.”

The song to the LORD began also: The song to the LORD may be an abbreviation for “the song of the house of Yahweh” (see 1 Chr 6.31; 25.6), which refers to Temple music. Although the noun song is singular, the sense may well be plural, so New Jerusalem Bible says “hymns.” These songs were sung by the Temple musicians. In some languages it will be appropriate to make this information explicit by rendering this clause as “the musicians began singing praises to the LORD” (Contemporary English Version).

And the trumpets, accompanied by the instruments of David king of Israel: See the comments on the previous two verses.

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 .