A still small voice is more literally “a voice/sound of calm soft/quiet.” The Hebrew noun rendered small is better translated “calm,” as when the wind stops blowing. The Hebrew noun rendered voice has a wide range of uses, and the exact meaning depends on the context. It may refer to the noise made by a musical instrument or by sheep, or even refer in the plural to the sound of thunder. It often refers to the sound of a human voice. In this context some interpreters understand this to be a voice (so Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation). Compare “a gentle whisper” (New International Version, New Living Translation). Others understand this to be a sound of nature. Compare “a soft murmuring sound” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) and “a gentle breeze” (Contemporary English Version, Osty-Trinquet). The rendering “a sound of sheer silence” (New Revised Standard Version; similarly Anchor Bible) seems to express the sense of the Hebrew and also attempts to capture the repetition of sound found in the Hebrew.

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 .