The king of Israel went to his house … and came to Samaria: Revised Standard Version follows the form of the Hebrew. Such a literal translation may give the wrong impression that the king first went home and then later went to Samaria. The sense is “the king of Israel started back to his home in Samaria … and then arrived there.” Compare New Revised Standard Version: “The king of Israel set out toward home … and came to Samaria.”

The Septuagint omits the words to his house, and this is the basis for Osty-Trinquet‘s rendering “The king of Israel left … and returned to Samaria.” It is possible that the words to his house were not original here but were added by a scribe from 1 Kgs 21.4, but they are securely a part of the Masoretic Text and should be translated.

Resentful and sullen: The same words describe King Ahab again in 1 Kgs 21.4, where Revised Standard Version has “vexed and sullen.” The Hebrew adjective rendered resentful comes from a root whose basic meaning is “stubborn” or “rebellious.” The second Hebrew adjective, rendered sullen, comes from a root meaning “to storm” or “to rage against.” In this context it may be translated “embittered” or “dejected.” Other translations of these two adjectives are “sullen and angry” (Revised English Bible), “Disturbed and angry” (New American Bible), “gloomy and out of temper” (New Jerusalem Bible), and “Dispirited and sullen” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh).

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 .