The king: For reasons of English style, Good News Translation uses the pronoun “he” rather than repeat the words the king.
David refers to himself in both the third person (your lord) and the first person (my). If this change of person will be confusing in the receptor language, it may be best to use first person pronouns throughout, as in Good News Translation. In the Hebrew, lord is plural, which indicates honor and authority in this context.
As in verse 2, the servants may be “court officials,” and not simply domestic servants. But in light of the parallel with verse 38, the reference here appears to be the “bodyguards” of the king (so Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). Another possible translation of the servants of your lord in the present context is “the officials who are loyal to me.”
Cause … to ride: The causative verb form used here may be difficult to translate in some languages. Some other ways of expressing the same idea will be to use the verbs “put … on” (New Century Version), “set … on” (New International Version), or “mount … on” (Revised English Bible). But in other cases translators may have to say something like “tell [my son Solomon] to get on.”
A mule is an animal born of a horse and a donkey, usually a female horse and a male donkey. Although the crossbreeding of animals was forbidden in Israel (Lev 19.19), these animals were apparently imported or taken from other peoples at the time of David and later (see 1 Kgs 10.24-25; Ezek 27.14). Compare Psa 32.9, where the terms “horse” and “mule” are mentioned together. Even in areas where horses are known, people may be unfamiliar with mules. And in other languages the same word is used to speak of a horse, a mule, and a donkey. Some may find it necessary to borrow the word and add a classifier term. But since the precise distinction is unimportant here, it would even be possible to translate “riding animal” or something similar. The Hebrew noun here refers specifically to a female mule. For the ancient Israelites, the mule was a symbol of royal office (Zech 9.9). So having Solomon ride on David’s mule would make a strong statement about David’s choice of a successor even before the other events described in the following verses.
Bring him down to Gihon: In English the verb bring implies that David himself is at Gihon, but since David is in his palace in Jerusalem, it will be better in English to say “Take him down to…” (New Century Version). The Hebrew verb here is literally “cause to go [or, come] down.” Since the Gihon Spring was lower in elevation than the palace, the idea of movement downward is realistic. Translators should feel free to use whatever verb would naturally be used in such a situation in their language.
Gihon was a spring located just outside the wall of Jerusalem on the east side. This spring was the main source of water for the city. As were many other springs, Gihon was probably considered a sacred place. Translators should probably state explicitly that Gihon is a spring, as in Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New Century Version, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, and Bible en français courant. Otherwise, readers are likely to think this name refers to a town.
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 .