And Isaiah said …: The direct quotation in this verse may sound more natural as an indirect expression in certain languages. Isaiah is not addressing Hezekiah here since the verbs in the quotation are plural. For this reason Good News Translation adds “the king’s attendants.” The Hebrew leaves implicit the fact that Isaiah had returned to the king’s palace; in some languages this information will need to be stated. For example, some languages will begin this verse with “Then Isaiah went back [to the palace] and said….”

Bring a cake of figs: Fig trees are discussed at 1 Kgs 4.25. But it should be noted that the Hebrew word translated cake has nothing to do with something baked from flour. It means rather a “lump” (New Revised Standard Version) or something pressed together (see 1 Sam 25.18; 30.12). In this context the cake of figs is obviously something used for medicinal purposes. In the ancient world people thought that figs had healing properties. New International Version and New American Bible talk about “a poultice of figs,” but “poultice” is a rare word that is unknown even to many native speakers of English. Some more common language ways of communicating the whole clause here are “Bring some mashed figs” (Contemporary English Version) and “Make a paste from figs” (New Century Version).

And let them take and lay it on the boil: Some versions follow the Hebrew text more closely and take the verb forms here as indicative rather than as imperative like the verb Bring. The meaning in Hebrew is “and they took and laid it on the boil.” Versions translating the indicative meaning include New International Version, Revised English Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, and New Jerusalem Bible. In the light of the following verse, the imperative meaning seems more logical. But the indicative is more faithful to the Hebrew text.

Translators must also decide to whom the pronoun them refers. The Revised Standard Version rendering seems to suggest that the people who applied the figs to the boil were not the same as the people who brought the figs. However, it probably refers to the people Isaiah addressed when he ordered that the fig paste should be made.

The nature of King Hezekiah’s illness has not been disclosed previously. But the use of the definite article with boil seems to imply that the writer already had a specific problem in mind. The Hebrew word rendered boil is the same one that is used to describe the plague on the people of Egypt (Exo 9.9). The book of Leviticus (13.18-23) treats this kind of problem in its section on skin diseases. In addition to the word boil, the term has also been rendered “open sore” (Contemporary English Version), “rash” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), “inflammation” (Revised English Bible), and “ulcer” (New Jerusalem Bible). The word “tumor” in Traduction œcuménique de la Bible is misleading and should probably be avoided.

That he may recover: Revised Standard Version, which follows the Septuagint, is worded in such a way as to indicate that the purpose of the action of placing the paste made of figs on the sore place is to bring healing. Other modern translations, however, follow the Hebrew text, which indicates that this was the actual result by saying “and he got well.” The difference lies in the understanding of which vowels were intended for the word here in the Hebrew text. The parallel text in Isa 38.21 clearly has vowels that make the word mean that he may recover, but the vowels used here in the Hebrew text suggest rather “and he recovered” (New International Version). The Hebrew text states that Hezekiah was healed at this point, but this does not fit logically with the context in which Hezekiah goes on to ask for a sign that the LORD will heal him (verse 8). So in addition to Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation, other versions translating a purpose clause are New Revised Standard Version and New American Bible. But most other versions translate the most obvious meaning of the Hebrew text, which gives a statement of fact that the king did indeed recover.

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 .