The young man: the term so translated sometimes refers to a warrior or soldier. While it may be translated “the youth” (New American Bible), others prefer “the soldier” (Anchor Bible). Note that it is rendered by the pronoun “him” in Good News Translation, and that the redundant information who told him is left implicit.

In accordance with one fairly common English structure, the quotation appears in Good News Translation before any indication of who said it. The order of Revised Standard Version, however, will be more natural in many languages. It may also be more natural in some languages to transform this question from a direct to an indirect quotation. For example, some languages may prefer to translate “David asked the soldier how he knew that Saul and Jonathan were dead.”

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .