The order of the two main elements in the Masoretic Text of this verse may need to be reversed in order to provide a more logical presentation. The fact that the battle went beyond Bethaven is a relatively minor detail and may sound very much like an afterthought if left at the end of the verse. The real conclusion to the whole section is more logically the fact that the LORD delivered Israel that day. Compare Good News Translation.

Passed beyond: in some languages it will be unnatural to use such a verb with a word like battle as its subject. Some may have to say “people were fighting as far away as Bethaven.”

Beth-aven: see the comment on 13.5. Since Beth-aven was so close to Michmash (see 13.5), some interpreters follow a few Greek manuscripts and read “Beth-horon,” which was about sixteen kilometers to the west (see 13.18). New American Bible and New Jerusalem Bible therefore read “Beth-horon.” But the Masoretic Text should be followed.

In addition there is a textual difficulty at the end of this verse and at the beginning of verse 24. The Septuagint has a longer text, which is followed by New Revised Standard Version, New American Bible, Anchor Bible, and La Bible Pléiade. New Revised Standard Version says “The battle passed beyond Beth-aven, and the troops with Saul numbered altogether about ten thousand men. The battle spread out over the hill country of Ephraim.” Those translations that follow the Septuagint here begin a new paragraph with the words “And the battle passed beyond Beth-aven.” Hebrew Old Testament Text Project does not discuss this textual problem. Translators should follow the Masoretic Text, as do Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .