This verse actually begins with a form of the verb “to be,” sometimes translated “And it came to pass” (King James Version). American Bible translates “So it happened.” Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation both leave this implicit.

About the time of offering the sacrifice: For the sacrifice, some versions speak of “the meal offering” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, American Bible). While it is true that the Hebrew term used here very often refers to a cereal offering rather than to an animal sacrifice, this is not always the case in the Old Testament. The regular pattern at the time when the books of 1–2 Kings were written seems to have been to make a burnt offering early every morning at dawn and an evening cereal offering at the close of the day (compare 2 Kgs 16.15). A similar time reference based on the evening sacrifice is given in the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal (1 Kgs 18.29). In any case, the author refers to the time of offering the sacrifice as a way of indicating the time of early morning when this event occurred.

Behold renders the Hebrew focusing particle. It is expressed by the adverb “suddenly” in New Revised Standard Version, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, and Contemporary English Version, and by an exclamation mark at the end of the sentence in New International Version.

From the direction of Edom: The three armies were probably in the region called the Arabah, the low-lying area to the south of the Dead Sea. Water would have naturally flowed from the higher Edomite territory to the place where they were camped.

The country was filled with water: The image is one of the whole area where the three armies were located being filled by flash floods with water from heavy rains in the surrounding higher ground. The Hebrew word translated country is elsewhere rendered “earth” or “land.” The idea here is clearly that “the land was covered by the water” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). New Jerusalem Bible says “the whole terrain was flooded.”

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 .