Under cover of the mountain: the noun rendered under cover comes from a root meaning “to conceal” or “to hide.” As a noun it often means “a hiding place.” As the note in New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh states, the exact meaning of the words here is not certain. Compare the following translations: “into a mountain ravine” (New International Version), “hidden by the hill” (Revised English Bible), “behind a fold in the mountain” (New Jerusalem Bible), and “going down a trail” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh).

Behold: many modern versions do not even translate this Hebrew particle (for example, New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, New American Bible, and Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). Good News Translation attempts to express the force of this particle by saying “when suddenly.”

The final statement in Revised Standard Version, and she met them, may have to be shifted forward if it is unnatural to reserve this information until the conclusion of the verse.

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 .