Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah: Whether the receptor language uses came or “went” (Good News Translation) will depend on the presumed perspective of the writer.

And said to him: Said may be better translated “asked” (Good News Translation) since questions follow.

What did these men say? And whence did they come to you?: Isaiah probably knew the answers to these questions already. He asks them as a means to introduce his message of judgment. Good News Translation reverses the order of the questions since it is more natural in English to ask where people came from before asking what they said. Other languages may find this helpful.

Hezekiah said, “They have come to me from a far country, from Babylon”: Since the king responds to Isaiah here, the verb said may be better rendered “answered” (Good News Translation). He only answers the second question. Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version translate Babylon as “Babylonia” since the country is in view here (see the comments on Isa 39.1).

Several translation examples for this verse are:

• Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah and asked him, “What did these men speak to you about? And where have they come from?”
Hezekiah replied, “They came from a distant land, from Babylonia.”

• Then the prophet Isaiah approached King Hezekiah and asked him what these men had said and where they had come from. Hezekiah told him that they had come from the far-off country of Babylonia.

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .