You call on the name of your god: In verse 23 Elijah was speaking in the third person about the prophets of Baal. Now, in verse 24, he shifts to second person plural. Good News Translation understands Elijah to be speaking now directly to the prophets of Baal, and in order to show this in translation, Good News Translation says “let the prophets of Baal pray to their god.” But the Hebrew may well be understood as telling the Israelite people to call on the name Baal. Because the people have not sided with Elijah, Elijah considers them to be worshipers of Baal.
The expression call on the name of is used twice in this verse and is to be understood as referring to prayer addressed to the deity in question.
And the God who answers by fire: And is literally “and it shall be.” New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh takes this to mean “and let us agree.”
By fire is translated “by sending fire” (Good News Translation), “by setting fire to the wood” (New Living Translation), or “by starting the fire” (Contemporary English Version) to burn up the sacrifices. A footnote in Nouvelle Bible Segond points out that lightning was one of the attributes of Baal.
The meaning of he is God is clearly expressed by Moffatt: “he is the real God.” Others may prefer to translate “let us all acknowledge that he is the true God” or “it will be known that he is the true God.”
And all the people answered, “It is well spoken.”: The end of the Hebrew text of verse 21 says “And the people did not answer him a word.” Now, the writer literally says “And all the people answered and said, ‘The word is good.’ ” New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh ends this verse with “And all the people answered, ‘Very good!’ ” Instead of a direct quotation, some languages may prefer to translate simply “And all the people agreed” or something similar.
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 .