Obadiah went to meet Ahab: The Hebrew verb rendered to meet often means “to call” or “to meet.” In this context, however, it may be translated “to find” (Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible) since Obadiah did not know exactly where Ahab was, nor did they apparently have a fixed time scheduled when they would meet again.

What is implied in the words told him may have to be made explicit in certain languages. Some may say “told him what had happened,” “told him where Elijah was” (New Century Version), or “to tell Ahab that Elijah had come” (New Living Translation). However, Revised English Bible is probably more accurate in translating “gave him the message,” since this refers implicitly to the message that Elijah had told Obadiah to give to the king (see verses 8, 11, and 14).

Ahab went to meet Elijah: This second occurrence of the expression went to meet in this verse may be taken as slightly different from the first one even though they are the same in Hebrew. Here Revised English Bible says “went to confront,” which fits this context well.

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 .