And when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it: And renders the Hebrew verbal transition that is sometimes translated “And it came to pass” (King James Version). But most modern English versions ignore it. For Jeroboam the son of Nebat, see the comments on 2 Chr 9.29. The writer assumes the readers are familiar with the background account about Jeroboam in 1 Kgs 11.26-40. Heard of it is literally “heard” without an object, but Revised Standard Version supplies the direct object it as English usage requires. Similarly, Good News Translation adds “this news.” The news was not primarily that Rehoboam had gone to Shechem but rather that King Solomon had died. New Living Translation makes this explicit by rendering the whole clause as “When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard of Solomon’s death.”

For he was in Egypt, whither he had fled from King Solomon: These words are parenthetical, and for this reason versions set them off from the rest of the verse with parentheses (so Revised Standard Version/New Revised Standard Version, New International Version, An American Translation, Moffatt). Other translations use long dashes for the same reason here (so New Jerusalem Bible, Peregrino. Another way of handling this parenthetical statement is to place it at the beginning of the verse by saying “Jeroboam, son of Nebat, had escaped from King Solomon and run away to Egypt. While he was still there, he heard about Solomon’s death…” (similarly Parole de Vie). Fled from may be rendered “taken refuge from” (New Jerusalem Bible; similarly Revised English Bible). In some languages two verbs may be required to express the meaning here; for example, some may say “run away and hid himself.”

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 .