This verse contains a great deal of repetition, which may prove awkward if imitated in other languages. It begins and ends with the words in this matter and it speaks of the house of Rimmon three times. The phrase the LORD pardon your servant also appears twice. The meaning of the verse may have to be expressed with considerably less repetition in translation.
In this matter may the LORD pardon your servant: In this matter refers forward to the situation that Naaman is about to explain. New International Version refers to it as “for this one thing” and New Revised Standard Version as “on one count.” In some languages it may be necessary to set the stage for what is about to be said by one or more introductory sentences. Possibly translators may wish to say “There is one situation for which I hope the LORD will pardon me” or “One thing is sure to happen in the future. I trust that the LORD will pardon me for it.”
Once again the indirect reference, your servant, should probably be translated by a personal pronoun in most languages (see verses 15 and 17). The imagery of the servant is particularly open to misunderstanding in this context where Naaman speaks of the king of Syria as my master. So it will almost certainly have to be translated by a personal pronoun.
The house of Rimmon: This refers to the building in Damascus where the Syrians worshiped the storm god named Hadad, who also bore the name Rimmon. Compare Zech 12.11, which refers to “Hadadrimmon.” If the receptor language has a special word, like “temple,” for a structure where deities are thought to live, it should be used here. Parole de Vie says “the temple of his god Rimmon.”
For the Hebrew verb rendered worship, see the comments on 1 Kgs 9.6. Later in this verse the same verb is translated bow two times.
Leaning on my arm: Here Naaman refers to being forced to bend down because his arm is being held by the king of Syria, who willingly bows down to his god. New American Bible, however, seems to take this less literally as describing his military position in relation to the king, saying “as his adjutant.”
The repetition of the words I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, like the other repetition in this verse, sounds redundant. But some commentators consider that the clumsiness of Naaman’s plea reflects his bewilderment over the fact that he would be doing something that he knew to be offensive to Yahweh.
Some interpreters think that a scribe accidentally repeated the words when I bow myself in the house of Rimmon. Although there is no support in the ancient versions for omitting these words, Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensiasuggests that they are not original, and a number of translations omit these words, either for textual reasons (La Bible Pléiade, Gray) or for translation reasons (Good News Translation, Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje). Some translations (Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, Moffatt, Osty-Trinquet) follow one version of the ancient Greek translation by reading third person singular for the second occurrence of the verb bow. Revised English Bible, for example, reads “I worship in the temple of Rimmon when he worships there.” Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament, however, gives a {B} rating to the Masoretic Text.
The LORD pardon your servant in this matter: These words repeat the first clause in the verse with the addition of the particle of entreaty. Good News Translation translates this second request as “Surely the LORD will forgive me!” However, Revised Standard Version correctly translates both occurrences as requests.
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 .