The king of Israel: Hebrew does not identify the king by name, but Good News Translation reintroduces the name “Ahab.” Contemporary English Version and New Century Version do the same.

Went out: As in verse 19 where the plural of this verb in Hebrew is used of the young officers, this very general term has a military meaning in this context and may be translated “attacked” (Bible en français courant) or “advanced” (Revised English Bible, New International Version).

Captured the horses and chariots: The Masoretic Text says that the king “struck the horses and chariots,” just as he “struck” the Syrians. But since the Hebrew verb for “struck” in this context seems to mean “killed,” it makes no sense to say that Ahab killed the Syrian horses and chariots. For this reason Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation both follow the Septuagint here, which says that the king “took all the horses and chariots” (also New Jerusalem Bible, Revised English Bible, New American Bible, La Bible Pléiade, Osty-Trinquet). Bible en français courant and Parole de Vie solve the difficulty by saying “he killed the horses, destroyed the chariots.”

However, the Masoretic Text makes sense when one realizes that horses and chariots here are used in a collective sense to mean “the mounted horsemen and the mounted charioteers with their horses.” The words horses and chariots have this same usage in verse 25. As in Josh 15.16 (where Revised Standard Version has “smites”), the Hebrew verb for “struck” in this context means that the Israelite army defeated the Syrian army and not necessarily “killed” or “destroyed.” Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament gives a {C} rating to the Masoretic Text, which is translated “attacked” by New Revised Standard Version, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, and Anchor Bible. New International Version says “overpowered.”

The first edition of Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch combines the information in verses 19-21 and restructures it by placing the events in a logical order as follows:

• It came to a hand-to-hand fight, and the men of the regional government cut down everyone who placed himself in the way.

• Behind them the entire Israelite army marched out of the city. Then it set about into combat under the command of King Ahab and finished the defeat of the Syrians. King Ben-Hadad escaped on a horse, and also a multitude of war chariots were able to be saved. All of the remaining war chariots were destroyed.

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 .