I will disguise myself and go into battle, but you wear your robes: The forms of the Hebrew verbs rendered disguise and go may be read as either infinitives or second person singular imperatives. If they are read as imperatives, then the Masoretic Text reads “Disguise yourself and go into battle.” New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh follows this reading of the Masoretic Text and says “Disguise yourself and go into the battle; but you, wear your robes.” But such a translation makes no sense with the rest of this verse. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh states in a footnote that the Targum (ancient Aramaic translation) and Septuagint read “I will disguise myself and go.”

Walsh attempts to make sense of the Masoretic Text by arguing that these verbs should be read as infinitives and that Ahab is thinking through his plans. Walsh translates as follows: “To disguise oneself and to go into battle…, but you wear your own robes.” De Vries also reads these verbs as infinitives and translates “With respect to girding for combat and entering into battle: you dress in your robes.”

The best solution seems to be that the Masoretic Text should be read as it is without correction. These two verbs should be read as infinitives, which are sometimes used in exclamatory and excited speech when the action in itself is vividly expressed (Burney, page 256; Gibson, page 127). Compare “Let me disguise myself and enter the battle!” (Burney) and “Disguise myself [will I] and go into battle!” (Gibson).

Regarding the translation of the verb disguise, see the comments at 1 Kgs 14.2, where a different Hebrew verb is used but the sense is the same.

But you wear your robes: You renders an independent pronoun that is emphatic in Hebrew. It serves to highlight the contrast between the actions of Ahab and Jehoshaphat. However, translating the common Hebrew conjunction that precedes it as but may serve the same purpose in some languages.

The robes that Jehoshaphat is to wear are his “royal garments” (Good News Translation), mentioned earlier in verse 10.

And the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle: Parole de Vie translates “So, the king of Israel put on other garments so that no one would recognize him, and he went into battle.”

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 .