Jehu met the kinsmen of Ahaziah king of Judah: The expression the kinsmen of Ahaziah (literally “brothers of Ahaziah”) occurs twice in this verse. It refers to people who were related to King Ahaziah of Judah, who had died. The translation of New Jerusalem Bible, “the brothers of Ahaziah,” is probably too restricted in English, but may be acceptable in other languages where the word “brother” has a broader meaning. If the definite article is used in the phrase the kinsmen, this will incorrectly suggest in some languages that all of Ahaziah’s relatives are included here. The next chapter makes it clear that not all of Ahaziah’s relatives were killed by Jehu. Therefore it will be better in many languages to use an indefinite reference here, for example, “some relatives” (Good News Translation, New International Version, New Living Translation, Bible en français courant). Instead of saying king of Judah, many languages will have to say “the former king of Judah” or “the king of Judah who had been killed.”

The relationship between these relatives of Ahaziah (from the southern kingdom of Judah) and Jezebel (queen mother of the northern kingdom of Israel) may be explained by the fact that Athaliah, a daughter of King Ahab of the northern kingdom (2 Kgs 8.26), married Jehoram, the king of Judah. There was, therefore, kinship between members of the two kingdoms.

He said: The verb said probably should be translated “asked” in many languages since a question follows it.

Who are you?: This question is addressed to the whole group of Ahaziah’s relatives since the pronoun you is plural.

We came down: While the movement toward Jezreel may have involved going toward a lower elevation, it will not be natural to translate the verb here literally in certain languages. It will be better to say simply “We are going” (Good News Translation) or “we are on our way” (New Jerusalem Bible).

The royal princes and the sons of the queen mother: This seems to refer to two different groups: “the families of the king and of the queen mother” (Revised English Bible). But Contemporary English Version summarizes all this by saying simply “his [Ahaziah’s] family.” The royal princes is literally “the sons of the king” and probably refers to the royal family in general. The sons of the queen mother refers to the children of Jezebel and Ahab. It may be desirable in other languages to state clearly that the queen mother is Jezebel. Good News Translation provides a good model for this part of the verse, saying “the children of Queen Jezebel and … the rest of the royal family.”

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .