He built Elath and restored it to Judah: The pronoun He is emphatic in Hebrew. It is taken by most commentators as referring to King Uzziah (Azariah) and, if this is the case, in many languages it will be wise to substitute the proper name “Uzziah” as in Good News Translation and New Living Translation. But it is also possible to understand the emphatic Hebrew pronoun as referring to Amaziah (see the comments on the end of this verse).
The order of the verbs built and restored may have to be reversed in many languages since the city would have to be recaptured before it could be rebuilt (so Good News Translation). Because the city already existed, it will be more natural to translate the verb built as “rebuilt” (Good News Translation, New Revised Standard Version, New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Contemporary English Version).
Elath was an important port city on the north end of the Gulf of Aqaba (the eastern finger of the Red Sea) which served as a trading center connecting Judah with the rest of the world. It is also mentioned in 2 Kgs 16.6 and Deut 2.8 as well as in 1 Kgs 9.26 (see the comments there); 2 Chr 8.17 and 26.2, where it is spelled “Eloth.” The same spelling should be used in all cases in order to avoid confusing the reader. It will be important in some cases to add the classifier term “city” or “town.”
After the king slept with his fathers: See the comments on 1 Kgs 2.10. The Hebrew reads literally “after [that] the king slept with his fathers.” All interpreters understand the reference to the king as Amaziah, and some translations make this explicit (Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, New International Version, New Revised Standard Version). Biblia Dios Habla Hoy (similarly Good News Translation) says “after the death of his father.” According to the more common interpretation for this verse, Uzziah reconquered and rebuilt Elath after his father Amaziah had died. But it is also possible to understand this verse to mean that Amaziah (not Uzziah) reconquered and rebuilt Elath, and after that Amaziah died. The Nouvelle Bible Segond footnote here gives this possibility: “The text is not clear: neither the builder-king nor the one who slept with his fathers is named. From the connection with the account of Amaziah’s victory over Edom (verse 7), some scholars have deduced that the notice concerning Elath was an appendix to the description of the reign of Amaziah rather than to the account concerning his son….” The question for translators is whether the final part of the verse is translated “after the king slept with his fathers” or “after that, the king slept with his fathers.”
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 .