At this point the scene shifts back from David and his men to Ahithophel, whose advice had been rejected. So the beginning of a new paragraph will be essential in most languages. The whole verse is almost parenthetic to the main flow of the story, which goes back to the conflict between Absalom and David in the next verse.

His counsel was not followed: this passive expression may be translated actively by saying something like “Absalom did not follow his advice” or “Absalom rejected his advice.”

Saddled his ass: in some languages there will be no special term for saddled. What is involved is the placing of material on the donkey’s back in order to make the journey more comfortable for the rider. See 16.1 and Gen 22.3.

His own city: readers learned in 15.12 that the home town of Ahithophel was called Giloh. If there is any danger that this expression will be understood to mean that Ahithophel somehow owned the city, it will be better to translate “the town where he had been born” or “the place where he had come from.”

Set his house in order: this same expression is used by the prophet Isaiah speaking to the dying King Hezekiah (2 Kgs 20.1; Isa 38.1). It probably refers to a solemn act in which a person gives directions about what is to happen to his property and his family members after his death (compare Deut 21.16). It is a kind of advance preparation for death. Some possible translations are “he set his affairs in order” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), “left orders concerning his family” (New American Bible), “gave orders for his family and property” (New Century Version), “told his family and servants what to do,” or “he arranged all his affairs.”

Hanged himself: this is the only case in all the Old Testament of suicide, apart from military men taking their lives rather than being killed by the enemy. Some languages that lack specific terminology for this kind of action may require a more graphic description of what happened. Some possibilities are “he tied a rope around his neck and jumped so that he died” or “he killed himself by using a rope around his neck.”

Was buried: this will have to be translated “they [indefinite] buried him” or “his relatives buried him” in languages where the passive is not possible or is unnatural.

In the tomb of his father: this expression most likely refers to a family burial place in general rather than a grave belonging to Ahithophel’s father, or to the specific grave where his father had been buried. At this time in Israelite culture, tombs were cut into rocky hillsides. There were stone shelves on which the body was placed until it decomposed, leaving only the bones. Then the bones were placed into a pit beneath the shelves and the tomb was reused. Such family tombs are intended by the expression the tomb of his father. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh translates “in his ancestral tomb.”

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 .