As the footnotes in both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation show, there are considerable textual problems in this verse. Like the above base and model, several modern versions follow the Septuagint and mention a woman doorkeeper who became so exhausted by her work of sifting wheat that she fell asleep, allowing the assassins to enter. The Septuagint is followed by Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, Osty-Trinquet, Knox, An American Translation, and Moffatt in addition to Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation. This reading seems to present events in a more logical order than the Masoretic Text, since verse 7 will repeat much of verse 6, if the Masoretic Text is followed in verse 6.
Others translations, following the Masoretic Text, have no reference to the doorkeeper at all and speak directly of the two men (using the pronoun “they”) going into the house pretending to look for wheat in order to kill Ishbosheth (so New International Version, New Revised Standard Version, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente, and Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). This rendering ignores some significant problems, including the fact that the third person plural pronoun, “they,” is feminine, and the lack of coherence of this rendering with the following verse. Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament gives only a {D} rating to the Masoretic Text. New Revised Standard Version follows the Masoretic Text in verse 6 and translates the first verb in verse 7 with a pluperfect (past perfect) verb, “Now they had come into the house while he was lying on his couch…” (so also Fox). Such a translation avoids understanding verse 7 as a repetition of verse 6, and rather treats verse 7 as providing additional information about the events of verse 6. New Revised Standard Version is a possible rendering of the Masoretic Text, but translators are advised that there are fewer problems in following the lead of Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation than in doing otherwise. The comments that follow are based on the assumption that this will be done.
Behold: see 1.2 and 1 Sam 2.31. The first word in the Masoretic Text in this verse may be understood differently, depending on what vowels are written with the consonants. It is possible to read this word as the Hebrew particle often rendered Behold in English translations, and that is how the Septuagint translated the Hebrew word. But the vowels in the Masoretic Text give a different meaning: the word may be an adverb of place, or it may be a third person feminine plural pronoun. Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament gives a {C} rating to the word in the Masoretic Text, but it is nearly impossible to make sense of the text, if this is a feminine pronoun. It seems advisable here to correct the vowels of the Masoretic Text to read Behold (so Anderson).
The doorkeeper of the house: the word for doorkeeper in Greek is feminine, so it will be perfectly legitimate to speak of “the woman guarding the door.”
Cleaning wheat: in the Greek translation of Isa 28.27, the verb used here seems to refer to threshing. On the translation of the word “wheat,” see 1 Sam 6.13; 12.17; as well as Ruth 2.23. In some languages cleaning wheat may be translated “selecting wheat,” that is, choosing the good wheat and getting rid of the stones and other things that can not be eaten.
Rechab and Baanah his brother: both of these men were first mentioned in verse 2, where the focus was on the fact that they were both sons of Rimmon. Here the focus in on the fact that they were brothers. In many languages it will be necessary to say “his younger brother” or “his older brother.” The Hebrew does not indicate which is the older brother. Baanah is mentioned first in verse 2, so one may think that Baanah is the older; but Rechab is mentioned first in verses 5, 6, and 9. Since the relationship between Rechab and Baanah has been mentioned in verses 2 and 5, it is possible to leave the words his brother implicit in this verse.
Slipped in: the verb used here implies quietly and secretly sneaking past someone in the hope of not being noticed. While some languages may have a special verb to describe this kind of action, others will have to say something like “walked quietly into the house” or “crept in without making any noise.” It should be noted that, if translators follow the Masoretic Text of this verse, the final verb in Hebrew does not mean slipped in but rather “escaped” (New Revised Standard Version; New International Version has “slipped away”).
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 .