For when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel: The text does not indicate how the Syrian captains knew that the person they went to attack was not King Ahab. For renders the Hebrew verbal transition meaning “And it happened.” Here it introduces how God stopped the Syrians from attacking Jehoshaphat. The Hebrew verb translated saw may mean that they saw Jehoshaphat with their own eyes and knew that he was not King Ahab; but this verb is also frequently used in the sense of “to perceive” or “to realize,” with no suggestion of seeing with the eyes. It may well be that the Syrians recognized the voice of Jehoshaphat when he cried out to God. The first half of this verse may be rendered “For when the chariot commanders realized that he was not the king of Israel” (similarly New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh).

The writer of this story was not concerned with providing answers to questions that modern readers may have about historical details. Rather, this incident is necessary for the development of the plot. So unless the receptor language demands that an answer be given to explain how the captains knew that it was not Ahab, the translation should not be more specific than the Hebrew text.

They turned back from pursuing him: A more natural way of expressing the idea here may be “they stopped chasing him” (New Living Translation, New Century Version) or “[they] gave up their pursuit of him” (New American Bible).

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 .