Next to him: continuing with ranking in order of importance, this expression now refers to the third most famous of the three top fighters. This should be translated in keeping with the way the same expression was handled in verse 9 above.
Son of Agee: the name here is disputed by textual experts. While there is some evidence for “son of Elah” (New Jerusalem Bible), Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament recommends, with a {C} rating, the name “Agee,” as in Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, and most other versions.
Hararite: this may refer either to an otherwise unknown tribe or to a place that is equally unknown. Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente, for example, says “from the city of Harar.” The word may be related to the Hebrew word for mountain (har) and mean something like “mountaineer,” but translators should probably take it as a reference to a place or a clan and translate “from a place called Harar” or “from the clan of Harar.”
Lehi: this place name is found in the story of Samson (Judges 15.9), but here it is uncertain that this reflects the original reading of the Hebrew text. The difficulty is that in Hebrew the words “towards Lehi” and “into a band” are spelled with the same consonants. The vowels in the Masoretic Text make this word read “in a band”; some experts therefore think that the single Hebrew word rendered at Lehi should be translated “in a troop” (Traduction œcuménique de la Bible) or “in force” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). But Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament recommends “at Lehi,” giving a {B} rating to the correction, and this seems to be followed by the majority of modern versions. Probably the reading “in a band” in the Masoretic Text came about through making this word agree with the word for “a band” in verse 13.
Plot of ground: literally “a portion of a field.” The expression used here seems to refer to an area smaller than a complete field but large enough to grow a garden. Compare Gen 33.19, and see also Ruth 2.3; 4.3.
Lentils: this refers to the flat seeds of a small, pea-like plant that grows in the Near East. These seeds are high in protein and carbohydrates and are used to make a stew or soup (Gen 25.34), and as a basis for a kind of bread during difficult times (Ezek 4.9). The same word appears also in 17.28. The parallel passage in 1 Chr 11.13 has “barley” in place of lentils, but the two accounts should be translated without attempting to make them agree in translation.
The men: literally “the people.” This refers to the fighting men of Israel other than the hero of the story. So it may be preferable in some languages to say “the rest of the Israelite soldiers” or “the other warriors of Israel.”
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 .