And: The Hebrew text has only the common conjunction at the beginning of this verse, but the context shows that the king of Babylonia arrived while the siege was going on. Good News Translation legitimately restructures the verse, placing the words “During the siege” at the beginning.

It may be considered unnecessarily redundant in some languages to repeat the information that Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylon since this information is given in the previous verse as well as in verses 1 and 7.

Came to the city: If there is any doubt about which city is intended, it will be possible to say more clearly “came to Jerusalem” as Good News Translation has done.

His servants: In this case the reference is probably to the Babylonian soldiers in general, although they would, of course, have been led by the officers.

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 .