Now translates the common Hebrew conjunction. It is often omitted in translation, but since this is the beginning of a new story, some translations use an introductory formula here. For example, Bible en français courant and Parole de Vie begin this verse with the words “One day.”
The wife of one of the sons of the prophets is literally “one wife from among the wives of the sons of the prophets.” Since the immediate context shows that this woman’s husband had died, it will be possible and in some cases more natural to call her a “widow” from the beginning of the story (so Good News Translation, La Bible du Semeur).
One of the sons of the prophets refers to one of the members of the prophetic guild (see the comments at 1 Kgs 20.35 and 2 Kgs 2.3).
The Hebrew verb rendered cried usually involves calling out with a very loud voice as if addressing a crowd or speaking to someone some distance away. Perhaps it is used here to highlight the distress of the desperate woman. The same verb is also used in 2 Kgs 2.12 and 3.21 (where Revised Standard Version has “were called out”). This detail does not come through in translations like Good News Translation and New Century Version, which have only the verb “said,” but most versions use something like “cried out” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, New International Version), “complained” (New American Bible), or “appealed” (Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible).
Your servant: This expression, which is used twice in this verse, is intended to show the submissive position of the member of the prophetic group with respect to Elisha, his leader. Translators should seek equivalent ways of showing such respect in their own languages. This is done in Good News Translation by the use of the respectful address “Sir.” But the expression also indicates that the woman’s husband was a disciple of Elisha before he died. For this reason Contemporary English Version translates “he was a follower of yours.”
Feared the LORD: The woman’s husband had been a person who stood in awe of Yahweh and had great respect for his power and holiness. Compare Exo 14.31 and 1 Sam 12.18.
The creditor refers to a person who had loaned money or something else to the husband before he died. A creditor usually requires the payment of interest, which is forbidden in Exo 22.25 and in Neh 5 (verses 7, 10 and 11). Other requirements concerning lending are found in Deut 24.10-13, where the same root word for creditor occurs in Hebrew. New Century Version provides a helpful model with “the man he owes money to” although the tense seems wrong since the prophet was now dead. In some languages it may be necessary to say “a person we owe money to” since the woman was responsible to repay the debt even though her husband had died. Knox even goes so far as to say “a creditor of mine.”
To take my two children to be his slaves: The Law in the Old Testament allowed for the selling of a man’s children and even his wife into slavery in payment of his debts (compare Exo 21.7; Isa 50.1; Amos 2.6; 8.6) and this apparently continued after the Exile (as seen in Neh 5.5). According to one non-biblical source, this obligation to serve was not to last any longer than three years. In Jewish Law it was required that such persons be freed in the Year of Jubilee (Lev 25.39-42). The fact that the two children in question were “sons” is not revealed here, but that detail appears in verse 4. There will probably be no reason to provide this information at this point in most languages although Hobbs does so.
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 .