The Hebrew text of this verse begins with “And it came to pass.” This transition marker is ignored by most modern versions, but it marks a new stage in the story. It may be adequately represented by the beginning of a new paragraph (so Good News Translation).
He rent his clothes: See the comments at 1 Kgs 21.27. As a part of the translation, it is legitimate to furnish the reason why the king of Israel tore his clothes. Good News Translation adds “in dismay,” which would certainly have been a part of the original readers’ understanding of the text.
And said: The Hebrew states that the king said this, but in this context a verb such as “exclaimed” (Good News Translation), “shouted” (Contemporary English Version), or “cried” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) is more appropriate in the receptor language. The Hebrew does not indicate to whom the king was speaking. In languages where this information must be made explicit, a rendering such as “and he exclaimed to his court officials” is acceptable.
Am I God…?: As indicated in the Good News Translation footnote, this may be understood either as “Am I a god…?” (New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, An American Translation, Moffatt) or as “Am I God…?” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, New Revised Standard Version, New International Version, Revised English Bible). See Deut 32.39, where God says “See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal….” In those languages where this rhetorical question is not appropriate in such a context, a possible model is “There is no way that I can possibly heal this man. After all, I am not God!”
Only consider is literally “Yes, only know now.” These words are intended to stress what follows, highlighting the king’s belief that his adversary was somehow trying to trick him into a confrontation. Some modern attempts to show this emphasis are “Listen to this and take note of it” (New Jerusalem Bible), “Take note!” (New American Bible), and “Just look” (New Revised Standard Version).
He is seeking a quarrel with me: Cogan and Tadmor indicate that a literal rendering of this statement would be “he seeks an occasion with me,” while Young’s Literal Translation has “he is presenting himself to me.” The basic meaning of the Hebrew verb here is “to meet” or “to encounter.” The form of the verb is causative, which would yield the meaning “he is causing himself to meet me.” The meaning in modern, idiomatic English is probably “he is setting me up.” The king was convinced that his enemy was trying to arrange a situation in which it would be inevitable not to avoid a military confrontation. New Living Translation says “He is only trying to find an excuse to invade us again.” Hobbs has “he is looking for an excuse to quarrel with me!” Note that there is a slight emphasis on the Hebrew pronoun for he in this clause. In certain languages this emphatic pronoun may be translated by saying “This man is trying to pick a fight with me.” In other languages the Traduction œcuménique de la Bible rendering may be helpful: “For sure, he seeks a quarrel with me!”
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 .