One: this refers to the Amalekite messenger who came to David at Ziklag with the news of the death of Saul and Jonathan (see 1.2). Note that Good News Translation shifts the geographical reference to Ziklag forward in the verse. Note also that the direct quotation within the larger discourse of David may be better rendered as indirect speech in many languages. Good News Translation has “told me of Saul’s death.”

Behold: see verse 8 and 1.2.

Thought: literally “he was in his own eyes.”

Good news: the messenger was under the false impression that the news he brought would make David happy.

Slew: the Hebrew verb means “to kill, slay.” The meaning in some contexts seems to be “to cause to kill.” Here Revised Standard Version says I … slew him. But since 1.15 says that David had one of the young men kill the Amalekite, the translation in Good News Translation (also Bible en français courant) is better: “I had him put to death.”

Reward: the word on which this translation is based is a very general term having to do with something “given.” In English the word “reward” is usually thought of as something positive—something good given in return for a good deed. But it is used ironically by Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation translators in this context. It may be better translated in other languages as “punishment” or “recompense.” New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh captures the idea by rendering the last part of this verse as “But instead of rewarding him for the news, I seized him and killed him.”

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 .