Nathan’s words in Hebrew are more naturally understood as a statement than as a question. Compare New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh: “O lord king, you must have said, ‘Adonijah shall succeed me as king and he shall sit upon my throne.’ ” If this understanding is followed, Nathan is accusing David of having already named Adonijah as king without telling his officials of what he had done (verse 27). Most translations, however, translate these words in the form of a question rather than as a statement.

Nathan’s question (or accusation) has two parts: Adonijah shall reign after me and he shall sit upon my throne. The two statements, however, refer to one event, so Good News Translation has combined them into one statement: “Adonijah would succeed you as king.” See the comments on verse 13.

The embedded quotation in this verse will be better handled as indirect discourse in many languages, following the model of Good News Translation. But, in fact, both quotations may have to be treated as indirect discourse in some languages; for example, translators may wish to say:

• Nathan respectfully addressed the king and asked if he had really announced that Adonijah should become king in his place.

But if this is done, adjustments will have to be made at the beginning of the following verse where the direct discourse continues in Hebrew.

As in verse 17, the presence of independent pronouns for you and he in the Masoretic Text may suggest a slight emphasis. As in verse 17, Anchor Bible uses italic font to indicate a slight stress when reading the two pronouns.

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 .