When they rose early in the morning: It should be made clear to all readers that the subject pronoun they refers to the soldiers of Moab. Good News Translation leaves implicit the fact that the Moabite army got up early.

Opposite them; that is, in front of them or in the direction in which they were looking. New Century Version has “across from them.”

As red as blood: It is possible that a miracle is intended. It is also possible that this was an illusion seen by the Moabites, which resulted from their observing the rising sun reflected from the red sandstone in the area on the water left by the flash floods. The redness made them think that it was blood. The Hebrew text contains a play on words that will not be possible to translate in most languages. The Hebrew name Edom (ʾedom) has the same consonants as the Hebrew word for red (ʾadom).

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