Then: The common Hebrew conjunction is found here, but some kind of temporal connector seems to be required by the context in order to introduce the next phase of the story.

I pray thee renders the Hebrew particle of entreaty (see the comments at 1 Kgs 1.12).

Open his eyes that he may see: Elisha prays to Yahweh that he would allow the attendant to see what he had failed to see previously. For this request some languages may require something like “open the eyes of my servant to see” or “help my attendant to see.” Other languages will use the causative form of the verb “to see,” saying “cause my servant to see.” Here and in verse 20, some languages may require an object with the verb see. If this is the case, a general term as the object will be appropriate in these contexts; for example, translators may say “see something” or “see things.”

The young man is another way of referring to the servant of Elisha first mentioned in verse 15 (although see the discussion in verse 15 regarding whether that verse refers to one or two servants). In some cases it will be necessary to translate “the servant” or “that servant” in order to avoid confusion.

Here the Hebrew focusing particle rendered behold is used to direct attention to what Elisha’s servant saw. In some cases it will be omitted altogether, but even in languages that have a corresponding particle, it will probably not be placed in the middle of the sentence as in Revised Standard Version, separating the verb saw from its object. It will rather go before the verb.

The mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire …: The Hebrew term translated mountain seems to refer to the hill on which the city of Dothan stood. The divinely appointed horses and chariots would therefore be placed between the Syrian forces and Elisha. While the term used is clearly singular in Hebrew, it is translated by the plural “hills” in several versions (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, New International Version, Revised English Bible). This is probably because of what is known of the topography of Dothan since the modern discovery of the site of this city in 1851.

There is some question as to whether the qualifying expression of fire goes only with the word chariots (New American Bible “fiery chariots”) or with both horses and chariots (New Jerusalem Bible and American Bible “fiery horses and chariots”). The latter interpretation seems less likely since 2 Kgs 2.11 expresses this idea in a different way, repeating the word for fire for both the chariot and the horses (see the comments there).

Round about Elisha: The protective shield of divinely appointed horses and chariots would, of course, also have been around Elisha’s attendant who was observing them. But Elisha is the center of their attention since he was the person that the Syrian soldiers wanted to attack and capture.

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 .