Answered is literally “answered and said.”

Tell him means tell King Benhadad. Good News Translation has again changed the embedded quotation into an indirect quotation.

Let not him that girds on his armor boast himself as he that puts it off: These sixteen words in Revised Standard Version render only four words in Hebrew. Because of the short expression here in Hebrew, some interpreters think that Ahab is quoting a well-known saying or proverb. This interpretation is reflected in the following translations of Tell him: “Remind Ben Hadad of this proverb…” (Parole de Vie; similarly Bible en français courant) and “Tell him of the saying…” (Revised English Bible).

Translators must decide whether a literal rendering of the king’s words will express the intended meaning. Good News Translation restructures them to express the meaning clearly in English, but relies on the use of italics to convey meaning. The soldier who is going into battle may boast of his bravery, but that kind of boasting should not be compared to the kind of boasting of a soldier who has fought in battle and has earned the right to boast. Some possible models are “The strength of a soldier is not known before the fighting, but only after he wins” and “The one who leaves for battle must not boast as if he were returning as a conqueror” (Bible en français courant). See also New Living Translation: “A warrior still dressing for battle should not boast like a warrior who has already won.” The thought is similar to that in Eccl 7.8, which states “Better is the end of a thing than its beginning.” A footnote in Nouvelle Bible Segond gives the modern French equivalent as “You shouldn’t sell the skin of the bear before you kill it,” which is roughly equivalent to the English saying “Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.” It is better to place such equivalent proverbs in a footnote rather than in the text since there is a danger that proverbs in the receptor language are not really equivalent to the original meaning.

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 .