While Ahab did not believe what the prophet Micaiah had told him, he nevertheless took certain precautions. He attempted to hide his true identity so that his enemies would not recognize him.

And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat: Depending on the receptor language, in this context it may be more natural to refer to the king of Israel as “Ahab” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, La Bible du Semeur) or “King Ahab” (New Century Version).

I will disguise myself and go into battle: The Hebrew verbs rendered disguise myself and go may be read as either infinitives or second person singular imperatives. If they are read as imperatives, then the Masoretic Text for this sentence may be translated “Disguise yourself and go into the battle.” New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh translates the parallel text in 1 Kgs 22.30 this way. But such a translation makes no sense with the rest of this verse. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh states in a footnote to 1 Kgs 22.30 that the Targum and Septuagint read “I will disguise myself and go.” Walsh attempts to make sense of the Masoretic Text of 1 Kgs 22 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.” In his commentary on 1 Kings, De Vries also reads these verbs as infinitives and translates “With respect to girding for combat and entering into battle.” The best solution seems to be that 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. They may be rendered “Let me disguise myself and enter the battle!”

The Hebrew verb translated disguise myself may present problems in some languages. The basic meaning of the verb is “to change.” The idea here is that of changing one’s appearance to deceive other people about one’s identity. Possible translation models are “change my clothes” (Parole de Vie) and “make myself look like someone else.”

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 9.

And they went into battle: The parallel text in 1 Kgs 22.30 says “and he went into battle,” referring only to King Ahab. Some of the ancient and modern versions have the singular here in 2 Chronicles also (so Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, La Bible Pléiade). However, there is no reason to change the plural here in the Masoretic Text.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Chronicles, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2014. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .