Why then have you not kept your oath to the LORD is literally “And why have you not kept the oath of the LORD.” The oath was made to the LORD. According to verse 42, Shimei swore an oath “by the LORD.” The verb “to keep” used in conjunction with the noun oath means the same thing as “obey,” “respect,” or “observe” (Nouvelle version Segond révisée). Since it occurs with the negative, Good News Translation, as well as Contemporary English Version, uses the common English idiom “broken your promise” along with the verb “disobeyed.”

The commandment with which I charged you is literally “the commandment with which I commanded you.” The noun for “commandment” and the verb for “commanded” are the same root in Hebrew, but it may be more natural in many languages not to use the same term twice.

While most modern translations take the question in this verse as a real one, Contemporary English Version considers it rhetorical and so transforms it into a statement as follows: “You have disobeyed me and have broken the promise you made to the LORD.”

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 .