Instead of making the word the subject of the sentence in this verse, it may be more natural to have the LORD in that position and use the verb “spoke” or “said” (so Good News Translation; see the comments on 1 Kgs 6.11). Since only the following verses make it clear that the pronoun him refers to Elijah, Good News Translation substitutes the proper name for the pronoun here.

Neither Revised Standard Version nor Good News Translation translates the final Hebrew word of this verse, which is literally “saying.” The use of quotation marks at the beginning of verse 3 serve the same function as this Hebrew word.

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 .