One of the young men: that is, one of his own soldiers.

Fall upon him: the verb so translated has a variety of meanings in the Old Testament, including “meet” (1 Sam 10.5) or “touch.” In this context, however, as in 1 Sam 22.17-18, it is a command to attack and destroy the Amalekite. New Revised Standard Version says “Come here and strike him down.”

So that he died: the translation of this phrase is linked to the beginning of the following verse. The idea here is that the blow struck by David’s soldier eventually caused the death of the Amalekite messenger. But if this is rendered in such a way as to indicate that the man was already completely dead before David spoke to him in the following verse, the resulting translation may seem strange. See the Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente translation cited in verse 16.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .