Since this is the first time that Hazael is introduced in this story, some translators may feel the need for some kind of explanation as to who this person was. For this reason Good News Translation adds “one of his officials.” Hazael is previously mentioned in 1 Kgs 19.15-18.
Take a present with you: The singular form of present is collective in meaning and should probably be translated as a plural in many languages. Certainly the following verse shows that there were many different gifts involved.
Inquire of the LORD through him: Some other ways of saying this are “ask him to ask the LORD” and “appeal to him to find out the will of the LORD.”
Shall I recover from this sickness?: According to the Hebrew text, the king gave Hazael the actual words that he was to say to Elisha. But the presence of the first person singular pronoun makes it unlikely that these were to become the actual words of Hazael. Further, a quotation within a larger quotation may prove to be unnatural in many languages. If this is the case, it may be made indirect as in Good News Translation and most other modern versions (New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, New American Bible, New Century Version, New Jerusalem Bible).
Instead of this sickness, some manuscript evidence indicates that the original text may have read “my sickness/illness” (New Century Version, New Jerusalem Bible). But since the meaning is the same, translators should feel free to use whichever form is most natural in their language regardless of textual considerations. This question is very similar to the one that King Ahaziah of Israel asked (2 Kgs 1.2). But the contrast with that story is striking. In this case the question is asked of the prophet of God by a non-Israelite. In the earlier story it is a king of Israel who asks the same question of a non-Israelite god, the god of Ekron. Some commentators see this implicit contrast as intentional. In any case, the wording of the question is almost identical in the two stories.
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 .