As soon as Jezebel heard: This verse begins with the Hebrew verbal transition meaning “And it happened” (King James Version “And it came to pass”). But it is ignored by most modern versions. The words translated As soon as Jezebel heard are literally “as to hear Jezebel,” but the meaning is clearly stated in Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation.

That Naboth had been stoned and was dead: What Jezebel heard is given in detail in the Hebrew text. It states the means of execution and the fact that Naboth had been successfully killed. Good News Translation summarizes the meaning by saying simply “the message.”

The verb Arise does not mean that Ahab had been sitting down. See the comments on this verb in 1 Kgs 1.50 and 2.40.

It is considered awkward in English style to keep repeating the words the Jezreelite, so Good News Translation omits them, as it does also in previous verses.

The words give you for money will be better translated “sell to you” (Good News Translation) in many languages.

Naboth is not alive, but dead is more emphatic than saying simply “Naboth is dead” (Good News Translation). If it is natural to do so, this emphasis may be retained in the receptor language. In some languages this sentence may be shifted forward to the beginning of the quotation from Jezebel as Good News Translation has done.

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 .