The gatekeepers called out: The verb here is singular in the Masoretic Text, but the context requires a plural verb. In those languages that require a direct object, it is obviously the news about the abandoned Syrian camp that was announced. Some may even need an indirect object with this verb. So translators may add “to the people inside the city.” Some versions, however, take the verse as a whole to mean that the gatekeepers reported the news directly to the palace (so New Revised Standard Version, New Living Translation, Revised English Bible). The wording of the Hebrew seems to imply an intermediate step. It seems logical that the gatekeepers first shouted the good news to the people of the city, who in turn passed it on to the palace personnel. For the whole verse compare em>Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente “The gatekeepers shouted out toward the center of the city and the news arrived at the palace” (similarly New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible), and Bible en français courant “The sentinels immediately called someone to take this message inside the royal palace.”

The passive construction it was told … is more literally “they told…” with an indefinite subject, but as noted above, the subject may well be the people of the city. The passive idea may be made active by saying “some people told the news to those in the king’s palace.” Or, the same idea may be conveyed by saying “the people in the king’s house heard the news” or “the king’s people learned of the report.”

The king’s household refers to “the people in the palace,” as in verse 9.

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 .