All is well: This response is literally “Peace,” but what is implied is “There is peace”; that is, in response to the question in the previous verse, “There is nothing wrong” or “Everything is well.”
My master has sent me to say …: Here there is a quotation within a larger quotation, which may be problematic for translators. If so, it may be made indirect discourse as in Good News Translation. Or the first part of Gehazi’s words could be made indirect, leaving only the alleged words of Elisha as direct speech by saying “Gehazi responded that everything was all right and that his master had sent the following message….”
There have just now come to me from the hill country of Ephraim two young men …: The Hebrew text here begins with the focusing particle, often translated “Behold” (so King James Version), to introduce the words that Gehazi reports to be those of his master. The sentence here may be rearranged in such a way as to make the two young men the subject as follows: “… two young men … have just arrived….” In many languages this word order will be much more natural. The Hebrew noun rendered young men covers a wide range of age groups, from an unborn child to someone thirty years old. Often in the books of 1-2 Samuel and 1–2 Kings, the focus of this Hebrew noun is not on age but on the status of the person as a servant or subordinate. For this reason Good News Translation says simply “members.” The hill country of Ephraim refers to the central mountainous area of Palestine where the tribe of Ephraim had settled (see the comments on 1 Kgs 4.8).
The sons of the prophets: See the comments at 1 Kgs 20.35 and 2 Kgs 2.3.
The word pray translates the Hebrew particle of entreaty.
A talent of silver: This would be one-tenth of the amount of silver prepared for the voyage in verse 5 (see the comments there). Here International Children’s Bible and New Living Translation have “75 pounds of silver.” This would be about 34 kilograms using the metric system. This is rounded off to “thirty kilos” in Bible en français courant but is given as “thirty-five kilos” in La Bible du Semeur.
Two festal garments: This would presumably be one set of clothes for each of the supposed visitors from Ephraim. See the comments on verse 5 concerning the meaning of festal garments.
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 .