It was a common belief in the biblical period that sickness and death were God’s punishment because of sins, so the widow assumes that her son’s death has been caused by her sin and that Elijah’s presence in her house has drawn God’s attention to her.
What have you against me…? is literally “What to me and to you…?” The nearly identical idiom occurs in 2 Sam 16.10, where Revised Standard Version renders it “What have I to do with you [plural]…?” This Hebrew expression indicates mild reproach. Compare Revised English Bible: “What made you interfere…?”
O man of God: This address to the prophet may be shifted forward to the beginning of the direct quotation if it is more natural in the receptor language to do so. For man of God, see the comments on 1 Kgs 12.22.
You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance: In light of verse 20, this expression may be understood in the sense of reminding God of the woman’s sins (so Good News Translation, Bible en français courant, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). But others take it in the sense of reminding the woman of her sins. International Children’s Bible, for example, has “Did you come here to remind me of my sin?” New International Version is similar in meaning. If possible, a translation that leaves the ambiguity may be chosen; for example, Revised English Bible says “You came here to bring my sins to light.”
And to cause the death of my son: The Hebrew word translated to cause the death is an infinitive. The Good News Translation rendering of this infinitive may be understood as expressing result; that is, the boy has in fact died as a result of God’s having remembered the mother’s sin. It is, however, also possible to understand the infinitive as expressing intention, in which case it will be translated “and to bring death upon my son” (Gray; similarly New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible). Either interpretation is possible, but whichever one is chosen here must be maintained in the following verses.
The punctuation difference between Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation in the last sentence of this verse is striking. Revised Standard Version takes this sentence as an exclamation that answers the initial question asked by the woman. Good News Translation, on the other hand, takes it as a continuation of her question. Other translations that understand the text in the same way as Good News Translation are New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, and New Century Version. The Hebrew may be translated either way. The meaning is basically the same since the woman’s second question in Good News Translation is rhetorical.
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 .