Depart from here: The text does not indicate where Elijah is when God gives him instructions to leave that place. So the translation must be somewhat vague or general in the receptor language.

Hide yourself: No reason is given to explain why Elijah should hide. But the context clearly suggests that he needs to hide from King Ahab, who would blame the prophet for the drought (see 1 Kgs 18.10, 17).

The brook Cherith, that is east of the Jordan: Cherith is a “Wadi” (New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, New American Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Nouvelle Bible Segond) on the east side of the Jordan River (a “wadi” is a river bed or stream bed that is dry except during the rainy season). Other renderings for brook include “torrent” (New Jerusalem Bible, Peregrino), “Creek” (Contemporary English Version), and “River” (God’s Word). The Hebrew words translated east of may also be rendered “before” (King James Version, Reina-Valera revisada, Nouvelle version Segond révisée) or “toward,” in which case it is not clear whether this wadi is located east or west of the Jordan River. Some interpreters have understood this to mean west of the Jordan. Peregrino leaves the location ambiguous by saying “near the Jordan.” But since nearly all interpreters today agree that the context suggests that the wadi is east of the Jordan, this should be clearly stated in the receptor language. The reference is probably to the Wadi el-Yubis, located in the highlands of northern Gilead. This wadi empties into the Jordan about eight kilometers (five miles) south of the city of Pella. New Living Translation provides this helpful model: “Kerith Brook at a place east of where it enters the Jordan River.”

Montgomery notes that the name Cherith comes from the Hebrew root that means “to cut.” In his commentary Gray places the name “Cutting” within parentheses after the name Cherith. As will be noted in the discussion on 1 Kgs 18.4, the meaning of the name Cherith contributes to a play on words at the beginning of chapter 18. Since this place name occurs in the whole Bible only here and in verse 5, translators may wish to translate the brook Cherith as “Cut Off Creek,” “Killing Off Creek” or “Massacre Creek” in order to maintain the wordplay, if possible. Alternatively, the wordplay may be pointed out in a footnote. See the further discussion at 18.4.

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 .