The beginning of a new paragraph should be adequate to show that a new subject is now under consideration. It is therefore probably unnecessary to provide an overt representation of the Hebrew conjunction as Revised Standard Version does with And.
Translators should consider what will be the most natural order of the following elements used in describing Benaiah: (1) his parentage (the son of Jehoiada); (2) his city of origin (Kabzeel); and (3) his bravery, which is described in two different ways (a valiant man and a doer of great deeds) before giving the details of the particular incident that is described here.
A valiant man: the words in the Masoretic Text read “son of a living man.” But nearly all interpreters agree that a final consonant has been omitted and that the word “living” should be “valiant,” as the marginal note in the Masoretic Text reads. Rather than follow the reading “son of a valiant man,” some translations correct the text to read “a valiant man.” But Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament gives a {B} rating to the marginal reading of the Masoretic Text.
The son of Jehoiada was a valiant man: literally “the son of Jehoiada the son of a valiant man.” Some interpreters understand the words “son of a valiant man” as meaning that Benaiah’s father was valiant (so Segond, Reina-Valera revisada, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). Segond, for example, says “Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, was the son of a valiant man.” But others understand these words to mean that the father of Jehoiada was valiant (Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente “Benaiah, son of Jehoiada and grandson of a valiant soldier”). Though either of these two interpretations is possible, it is probably best to understand the words “son of [a valiant man]” as an idiom meaning “having the quality or character of.” So the meaning is not that the father or grandfather of Benaiah was a brave man, but rather that Benaiah himself was a brave man (so Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation).
Kabzeel: according to Josh 15.21, this was a city in the southern part of the region belonging to the tribe of Judah. It will be important in many languages to supply the classifier term “city” to distinguish it from a region or country.
Ariels: the exact meaning of this word is unknown, as the Revised Standard Version footnote states. It may mean “lion of God,” in which case it probably should be translated as “a champion” or “warrior” (Good News Translation). King James Version translates this phrase as “two lionlike men.” Revised Standard Version, on the other hand, simply transliterates the Hebrew noun. The ancient Greek version, however, has “the sons of Ariel from Moab,” taking the term in question as a name. This is followed by New Revised Standard Version, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, and Anchor Bible. Others, such as New American Bible, have slightly changed the Hebrew text to read “lions,” that is, “slew the two lions in Moab” (New American Bible). Moffatt also adopts this idea. But the most likely meaning is “two of the best fighters from the land of Moab.” This interpretation is followed by New International Version, Revised English Bible, New Century Version, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente, Knox, and Anderson as well as Good News Translation.
A lion: in languages where lions are unknown, a more generic expression such as “a very ferocious animal” may be used without changing the meaning of the text or falsifying the historical facts. It would, however, be unwise to translate lion by using another specific animal, since this would change the culture of the Bible. The Hebrew word translated pit is the same as that translated “well” in verse 16.
Snow: some have suggested that this reference to snow may have been given to indicate the way that the lion was tracked down by the hunter, but it is perhaps more likely that it is used to show that the severe cold drove the lion to the village in search of food. Snow is referred to some twenty times in the Old Testament, most often in the book of Job. It is very frequently used figuratively (for example, Exo 4.6; Psa 51.7). There are also two references to snow in the New Testament (Matt 28.3; Rev 1.14), both of which are figurative. But in this verse it is a question of literal snow. Translators are therefore ill advised to substitute rain or hail. In languages where snow is unknown, there are several possible solutions. Some will simply borrow the term from a world language like French, English, or Spanish, and spell it according to the rules of the receptor language. And in some cases where the word for “rain” is considered as a generic term for anything falling from the sky, it may be used as a kind of classifier term to go with the borrowed word for snow. The translation therefore says “the rain called snow.” Some translators have tried using a descriptive expression like “small cold flakes that fall from the sky like rain,” although in many languages this may become very awkward-sounding. Finally, some feel it adequate in this context to translate “in time of great cold,” although this is a less satisfactory way to resolve the problem. Whatever solution is adopted, it may be a good idea to add an explanatory footnote or include the term used in the glossary.
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 .