One of his servants refers to one of the high-ranking officials who had heard the king’s outline of what he believed to be the enemy plot.

Said is literally “answered and said.” Bible en français courant and Peregrino translate this verb according to the context as “proposed.”

The structure of the official’s quotation is altered by Good News Translation, which begins with the statement about the welfare of those in the city and then goes on to the proposition that agents should be sent out to investigate the situation. The structure of the original contains this proposition both at the beginning and at the end of the quotation in different forms. So it may be more logical in other languages to follow the structure of Good News Translation.

Revised Standard Version has simplified a rather complicated text by doing away with the repetition found in the official’s quotation. In Hebrew the words “who are left here, behold, they as all the multitude of Israel” occur twice in succession in this verse, but the second occurrence is omitted in all the ancient versions and in some Hebrew manuscripts. Most textual experts consider this repetition a scribal error that should not be included in modern translations, and Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament gives a {C} rating to the shorter text. A number of translations, nevertheless, include the duplicated material (New International Version, Revised English Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Nouvelle Bible Segond).

Let some men take is literally “And let them please take.” The Hebrew conjunction here may be an error. In any case, it may be left untranslated.

Five of the remaining horses: The number five is taken by some scholars as meaning simply “a few” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, American Bible) or “some” (Revised English Bible) rather than as a specific number. But most modern versions retain the number five.

Seeing that those who are left here: In the Masoretic Text these words seem to refer to the horses and not to the people. Good News Translation seems to suggest that they refer to the people.

Will fare like the whole multitude of Israel is rendered “will suffer the fate of…” in New Revised Standard Version. The Hebrew text does not have a verb but reads “behold, they as all the multitude of Israel.” However, Revised Standard Version and New Revised Standard Version have added a verb according to the sense of the verse. Some other translations are “will be as well off as all the other Israelites” (Revised English Bible), “are not better off than all the throng” (New American Bible), and “would die in any case like all the rest” (New Jerusalem Bible).

The Hebrew verb translated have already perished is ambiguous and can mean either “to perish” or “to be in good condition.” Gray, who accepts the meaning “to be in good condition,” corrects the text by omitting the Hebrew words translated seeing that those who are left here and by omitting the second occurrence of the words “behold, they as all the whole multitude of Israel.” Gray, therefore, translates the official’s suggestion as follows: “Let them take then five of the remaining horses—see! they are all which are left here of the multitude of Israel which are sound—and let us send and see.”

Let us send and see: This repeats the proposal made at the beginning of the official’s discourse. What is therefore implied is “let us send some men with the five horses to find out what the situation really is.”

As the note in Good News Translation indicates, the Hebrew of this verse is not at all clear. One commentator writes concerning this verse: “The textual problems of the servant’s comment are impossible to solve. The advice, however, seems plain: ‘Send someone to see!’ ” (Hobbs, page 91). New Jerusalem Bible (also American Bible) omits the words like the whole multitude of Israel and says “Five of the surviving horses still left us had better be taken—they would die in any case like all the rest. Let us send them and see.” For the whole verse Revised English Bible reflects an interpretation that is quite different:

• One of his staff said, “Send out a party of men with some of the horses that are left; if they live, they will be as well off as all the other Israelites who are still left; if they die, they will be no worse off than all those who have already perished. Let them go and see what has happened.”

Bible en français courant provides still a different way of understanding the verse:

• One of the officers proposed to the king: “Let us take five of the horses still living—in any case, they risk dying like all the people of the city—and let us send some men with these horses to see what happens.”

Since the exact meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain, translators must simply choose one of these possible translations.

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 .