He said: As in verses 15 and 16, the verb said has no explicit agent in Hebrew. Good News Translation says “the old prophet from Bethel said to him” in order to avoid confusing the reader as to which of the two prophets is speaking.

The Hebrew word translated angel here is sometimes rendered “messenger.” The term is often taken in the sense of a heavenly messenger. Translators will probably have struggled already with the translation of this term both in the Old Testament (Gen 16.7; 21.17) and the New Testament (Matt 1.20; Luke 1.11; Acts 10.3).

By the word of the LORD: See the comments on this phrase in verse 1. Here, however, the old prophet says his message from the LORD came through an angel.

Bring him back with you …: The prophet’s words contain an embedded quotation. Good News Translation provides a good model for those translators who wish to make the embedded quotation indirect.

He lied to him means the old prophet from Bethel was not speaking the truth to the prophet from Judah. In Hebrew there is no conjunction introducing this comment. Yet, in this context, it is important to include a conjunction marking contrast since there is an implicit contrast between what a prophet is expected to do (tell the truth) and what he actually did (lied). Some versions, such as New International Version and God’s Word, place this comment in parentheses to show that it is a comment to the reader.

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 .