When he came to Samaria, he …: The focus is still on Jehu, as indicated by the continued use of the singular pronoun he, but in some languages the context may require the plural pronoun “they” (so Good News Translation), since Jehu and Jonadab were riding together. However, the second occurrence of the pronoun he in this verse should be shown to refer to Jehu and not to Jonadab.

All that remained to Ahab refers to all the people in Samaria who were related to Ahab. Some may prefer to say “all the people who belonged to Ahab’s family.” Bible en français courant translates “all the survivors of the family of Ahab.”

Till he had wiped them out: This emphasizes what was already said with the use of the word all. As in 1 Kgs 16.12, the verb wiped … out may be rendered “destroyed” (so New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible). Other versions prefer “blotted … out” (Revised English Bible) or “doing away with … completely” (New American Bible).

According to the word of the LORD which he spoke to Elijah: It may prove to be more natural for certain languages to make a separate sentence of this last part of the verse. Possible models are “It all happened just like the LORD had told Elijah it would,” and “Just as the LORD had told Elijah, that is exactly how it happened.”

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 .