She went up; that is, the woman went up the stairs with her child in her arms to the upper room that had been built for Elisha. The meaning is more clearly conveyed by New American Bible “The mother took him upstairs.”

Laid him on the bed of the man of God: In verses 18-31 the Hebrew text consistently has the man of God instead of “Elisha.” Good News Translation often simply has “Elisha,” which is more natural in English. However, the author uses the man of God instead of “Elisha” since he is giving the woman’s point of view. Here translators may use both the name and the title by saying “she laid the child on the bed of Elisha the prophet.” The following verses make it clear that Elisha was not staying with the family at the time this incident occurred.

Shut the door upon him: This indicates that the dead child was left alone in the upper room where the prophet normally stayed during his visits to Shunem (see the comments on verse 4).

Went out: In view of what happens next, it is very likely that this means she went out to the field where the harvest was taking place and where she could find her husband. Parole de Vie makes this explicit with “Then she went out to the field.”

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

Elisha sent a messenger to him: Presumably Elisha was inside the house, so the messenger did not have very far to go. This may have some bearing on the verb selected in some languages. Even in English, some translations find it is preferable to say “Elisha sent … out…” (Good News Translation, Revised English Bible, Moffatt).

The direct quotation of Revised Standard Version, which reflects the Hebrew, is changed to indirect discourse in Good News Translation. For some languages this may be a more natural rendering.

The Jordan refers, of course, to a river and this would have been well known to the original readers and hearers. But for readers in other languages it may be wise to add the classifier term, “river” (so Good News Translation, Parole de Vie).

Seven times: The number seven is often used in rituals involving “leprosy.” But it usually has to do with the period of confinement for people having the disease (see Lev 13–14). Here, however, it becomes the number of times the ritual washing must be performed.

Your flesh shall be restored: While this clause comes out as a passive construction in Revised Standard Version, it may be literally rendered “your flesh shall return” or “your flesh shall come back” (similarly Jewish Publication Version). A person suffering from this skin disease finds his flesh eaten away. Healing would restore the tissue that had been destroyed by the disease.

You shall be clean: This seems to focus on ritual purity in addition to the physical healing already mentioned. La Bible Pléiade, therefore, reads “you will be purified” (also in verses 12-14). So it will be better not to summarize the last two statements of this verse in a single clause. In some languages it is difficult to express the concept of ritual purity. In most languages it will be helpful to have an entry in the glossary which explains the concept of purity. Bible en français courant has a glossary entry discussing the terms pure, purity, and purify as follows: “In the Jewish religion, it was necessary to be in a state of purity in order to remain in communion with God and to be able to participate in worship. A person became impure, from a ritual point of view, by eating certain foods, touching certain objects, or by contracting certain diseases; or from a moral point of view, by departing from the commandments of God. Persons, places or objects that became impure could be purified by practicing the rites of purification established for this purpose (see, for example, Lev 12.6-8; 14.1-32).”

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

He said: The receptor language translation should make it clear that in this verse it is Elisha who is responding to the concern expressed by his servant in the previous verse.

Fear not: Compare 1 Kgs 17.13.

For: The conjunction used here introduces the reason for not being afraid. In some cases it may be translated “because” (Hobbs). In other languages the whole structure of Elisha’s statement will have to be reversed, saying something like “We have more soldiers on our side than they do on their side. Therefore, don’t be afraid.”

Those who are with us are more than those who are with them: It will be essential in some languages to specify what the word those refers to. The next verse shows clearly that what is intended is military might, which may be expressed either as “soldiers” or “horses and chariots.” So it will be better in certain languages to say “we have more horses and chariots than those who surround us” or “There are more troops on our side than on theirs” (Contemporary English Version).

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

Many modern versions begin a new paragraph already at verse 16 (Revised Standard Version/New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, Osty-Trinquet) and La Bible du Semeur even starts a new section at that point. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch begins a new section with verse 15b. Others, however, include verse 16 in the previous paragraph and begin the new paragraph at this point (Good News Translation, New International Version, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). Since verses 17-18 show what happened to the king’s adviser (who was introduced in verse 2), it seems better to make verses 17-18 (or verses 17-20) a separate paragraph.

Now the king had appointed: Now renders the common Hebrew conjunction. In Hebrew the normal order of subject and verb is reversed here to indicate that the appointment made by the king took place earlier than the looting of the Syrian camp by the people of Samaria. The past perfect tense of had appointed shows this in English.

The captain on whose hand he leaned: See the comments at verse 2.

The meaning of the words to have charge of the gate is made clear in Bible en français courant: “to go watch over what was taking place in the market, at the city gate.” See the comments on the gate at verse 1.

The people trod upon him in the gate, so that he died: Translators should be careful to avoid giving the impression that the people intentionally killed this officer by trampling him to death. His death was rather accidental insofar as the people were concerned. In order to show the unintentional nature of his death, Nouvelle Bible Segond says “this one was trampled by the people who were pressing at the gate, and he died.”

As the man of God had said: Even though the people accidentally killed this man, his death is seen by the writer as God’s judgment on him because of his unbelief. This was in fulfillment of the words of Elisha in verse 2, who had stated that this man would not live to enjoy the promised bounty because of his doubt. In Hebrew the end of this verse is literally “just as the man of God had said, which he said when the king came down to him.” The repetition of the verb “said” will be redundant in many languages, so its second occurrence may be omitted.

As in verse 2, the expression the man of God may be replaced by the proper name “Elisha” (so Good News Translation).

When the king came down to him; that is, “when the king visited him” (Revised English Bible). This seems to be a reference to 6.33, where it says “the king came down to him.” This would therefore be the setting for the officer’s refusal to believe Elisha’s prophecy in verses 1-2.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

So renders the common Hebrew conjunction, which is used here to show the logical connection between the orders given by Elisha and the obedience of the younger prophet. Some languages may use a transition word like “Therefore.”

The young man, the prophet is literally “the young man, the young man, the prophet.” Some modern versions take this to mean “the young man, the prophet’s young man” (Hobbs), “The young prophet, the emissary of Elisha” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch), or “the attendant, the prophet’s attendant” (American Bible). Others take it to mean “the young man, the young prophet” (New Revised Standard Version) with the two expressions being in apposition with each other. If this is the case, it may be more natural in some languages to say something like “the young man who was a prophet.” Others may wish to follow the example of Good News Translation and Revised English Bible by saying simply “the young prophet.” Perhaps the best rendering is “The young man, the servant of the prophet” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) since the Hebrew word for “young man” sometimes refers to young men and sometimes more specifically to servants or attendants.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

The command of Jehu is given here. Those to whom the letter is addressed are instructed to determine which one of Ahab’s descendants would be best suited to be their leader and then they must be prepared to fight in order to protect him.

The Hebrew verb translated select is literally “see” (Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, New Jerusalem Bible), but it is used here in the sense of “find out” or “decide” (New American Bible). The leaders must “determine” who is best qualified to be king on the basis of an examination of the facts. So the translation select is a good choice of words for the meaning here.

Best and fittest: The two Hebrew words used together here are elsewhere rendered in terms of what is “good and right” (Deut 12.28; Josh 9.25; 1 Sam 12.23; Jer 26.14). In this context the emphasis is on finding the best possible person to become king and to fight Jehu for the position.

Set him on his father’s throne: This literal rendering may not be the best way of speaking of the installation of a king in some languages. Good News Translation and New Century Version translate in more general terms, saying “make him king.” Others may say “crown him king” or “accept him as your ruler.”

Fight for your master’s house: The leaders in Samaria are then instructed to prepare for battle in defense of the kingdom of Ahab’s descendants. There is no question here of defending a palace or any sort of literal house. New Jerusalem Bible and Peregrino capture the meaning with “fight for your master’s dynasty.”

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

They did not ask an accounting: Many versions translate the beginning of this verse with a passive expression. Revised English Bible, for example, says “No account was asked” (similarly New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). In Hebrew the verb rendered ask is third person plural. If translators use an active form of the verb, then it may be helpful to decide to whom the pronoun they refers. They probably refers to the king’s secretary and the high priest (verse 10), who were responsible for ensuring that the money was indeed used for the repair of the Temple. Other possible renderings for the whole expression here are “They did not demand to know how the money was spent” (New Century Version) and “They did not insist on finding out how they [the construction supervisors] spent the money.”

The men into whose hand they delivered the money to pay out to the workmen: This expression refers to the construction supervisors (verse 11). Good News Translation refers to them with a more general expression, saying “The men in charge of the work.” Once again, the pronoun they probably refers to the king’s secretary and the high priest.

For they dealt honestly: This provides the reason why no accounting was necessary. The relationship of cause and effect should be clearly understood in translation even though the sentence may be restructured as in Good News Translation so that this element appears earlier in the verse. The pronoun they refers to the construction supervisors, not the workmen. The idea of “honest persons” may be translated in some languages as “people of truth.” The same claim of honesty is made later for the men in charge of Temple repairs during the reign of Josiah (2 Kgs 22.7).

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .