A cry went through the army: Since there were two armies involved in this battle, Good News Translation makes it explicit that the cry came from the Israelite army. The Hebrew noun rendered cry may refer to a cry of joy or a cry of sorrow, depending on the context. Here, of course, it is a cry of sorrow, caused by fear or alarm. It should be noted that the Hebrew noun for cry is feminine in form, but the Hebrew verb rendered went through is masculine singular. Because of this grammatical inconsistency, some interpreters follow the ancient versions in reading “a crier [a herald] went through the army” (so Revised English Bible, Gray). But the Masoretic Text does not need correcting; it is common in biblical Hebrew for a verb standing at the beginning of a clause to be written in the third person masculine singular form, even when the following subject is feminine in form. However, a literal rendering of the Hebrew may be quite unnatural in some languages. If this is the case, this clause may be rendered “the soldiers heard the following shout,” “the officers issued the following order,” or “someone commanded the troops.”

Every man to his country: The Israelite army consisted of men from both the northern kingdom and the southern kingdom. Their safe return is in agreement with Micaiah’s prophecy in verse 17, which is “let each return to his home in peace.”

According to both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation, which follow the Masoretic Text, the quotation closes at the end of this verse (also New Revised Standard Version, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). Some interpreters, however, make a small correction of the Hebrew on the basis of the Septuagint with the result that the words “So the king died” at the beginning of verse 37 are part of the quotation. Compare “Every man back to his town, every man back to his country! 37 The king is dead.” (New Jerusalem Bible; similarly Parole de Vie, Osty-Trinquet, Peregrino) and “Every man to his city, every man to his land, 37 for the king is dead!” (New American Bible; similarly Bible en français courant, La Bible Pléiade, Moffatt, Gray). However, the Masoretic Text makes good sense here as it is and should be followed.

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 .