Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it: Since these people were only about 700 meters (2,300 feet) south of Gihon at the spring of Rogel, they were close enough to hear the trumpets and the other noises of celebration. Instead of saying simply heard it, some languages will require something more specific; for example, “heard the noise” (New Jerusalem Bible; similarly Revised English Bible) or “… the cries of the multitude” (Knox). The pronoun it is not in the Masoretic Text but is added in Revised Standard Version for reasons of English style.

The guests who were with him is literally “those called who were with him,” that is, the people that Adonijah had invited to his own celebration (verse 9). In some languages there is no special word for guests, so it will be necessary to translate “the people who had been invited by him” or “the ones that he had called together.”

What does this uproar in the city mean?: The Hebrew word translated city is not the usual Hebrew word for “city,” but there does not seem to be any distinction in meaning.

Instead of the direct quotation at the end of this verse, some languages will prefer to express the same idea using indirect discourse; for example, “Joab asked what was the meaning of the sound of tumult coming from the city.”

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .