And renders the Hebrew verbal transition that is sometimes translated “And it happened.” Like Good News Translation, most modern versions do not render it explicitly in this case. The same is true at the beginning of the next verse.
He cried: The subject of the verb cried is the prophet. This will have to be made clear in certain languages where there may be a possibility of misunderstanding.
The prophet uses the common way of showing his submission to the king by referring to himself in the third person as Your servant (see the comments on 1 Kgs 1.26). But since this is unnatural in many languages, translators must seek some other way of showing respect. Good News Translation attempts to do this by the use of the address “Your Majesty,” which is followed by the first person singular pronoun “I.” Contemporary English Version is similar. In other languages translators may have to use a word like “Sir.” Still others will begin with a complete sentence like “I am your servant.”
The focusing particle behold directs the reader’s attention to the most important element in the story told by the prophet.
A soldier turned and brought a man to me: Revised Standard Version follows the form of the Hebrew here, but in this context a man may be translated as “a captured enemy” (Good News Translation) or “a prisoner of war.”
If by any means he be missing: The verb rendered be missing is repeated in Hebrew for emphasis. Revised Standard Version expresses this emphasis with the words by any means. Other possible renderings for the whole clause are “if for any reason he is missing” (New American Standard Bible), “If by any chance he gets away” (Revised English Bible), and “if he escapes, yes if he escapes at all.”
The sense of this verse seems to be that the soldier was going to keep the captured enemy soldier as a slave. If the enemy soldier escaped, then the prophet would have to take the enemy soldier’s place as a slave. If this is the intended sense, then the words your life shall be for his life are not a threat of death as in Contemporary English Version, which says “I would … be killed.” Rather, these words are a threat of slavery.
A talent was equivalent to about 34 kilograms or 75 pounds. See the comments on 1 Kgs 9.14.
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 .