The sister of Tahpenes bore him …: Regarding the name Tahpenes, see the comments on verse 19. Here, instead of referring to Hadad’s wife a second time as the sister of Tahpenes, the pronoun “she” may be used if it is considered more natural (so Good News Translation).

Weaned translates the Masoretic Text. The Septuagint reads “reared.” By changing one letter only in the Hebrew verb for weaned, the verb may be corrected to read “reared.” It is difficult to know whether the Greek translator misread the Hebrew or whether the Masoretic Text contains an error. A number of translations read “reared/raised” (La Bible Pléiade, Osty-Trinquet, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Bible en français courant, Good News Translation), but it is not always clear whether they are following the Septuagint (so New Jerusalem Bible, Osty-Trinquet) or whether they are free renderings of the Hebrew word for weaned. “Reared” seems to fit the context better. However, the verse seems to say that she both weaned him and “reared” him in the palace with the king’s sons. So either translation is acceptable.

House in this context may appropriately be translated “palace” (Good News Translation, Revised English Bible, New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente).

That Genubath was … among the sons of Pharaoh means that he was treated as a member of Pharaoh’s family.

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 .