The rebellion in view here was a continuation of tension between the tribes of the north and the south. Earlier, at Sheba’s urging, the northern tribes had rebelled against David, and the words of the people here are nearly the same as those of Sheba in 2 Sam 20.1.

All Israel in this context clearly refers to the people of the northern kingdom. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch correctly says “the men of the northern tribes,” and Bible en français courant and Parole de Vie say “the Israelites of the North.” In a footnote on this phrase, La Bible du Semeur says “That is, the Israelites of the North.” But readers often do not read such footnotes, and those who only hear the text read cannot see the footnote, so it will be better to follow the model of Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch or Bible en français courant.

The verb saw may be translated “realized” (Contemporary English Version) or “became aware” since the reference here is not so much to a literal seeing as to an awareness of a fact.

Answered the king is literally “returned [to] the king a word saying.”

As noted above, the words of the people are nearly the same as those of Sheba in 2 Sam 20.1. This suggests that these words are traditional material. For this reason they are placed in poetic format in some modern translations (for example, Revised Standard Version/New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, Peregrino, De Vries).

What portion have we in David?: The first words of the people are in the form of a rhetorical question. But they may be better translated as an emphatic statement in certain languages, such as “We have no portion in David” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) or “David is none of ours” (Knox).

We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse: The words in the son of Jesse are parallel to in David in Hebrew. A literal translation may give the false impression that two distinct persons are referred to here. Modern translations provide several different models that avoid this problem. Good News Translation replaces the words the son of Jesse with the pronoun “they.” But another solution is followed in Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente, which says “we have nothing to do with that son of Jesse.” The words “that son of Jesse” obviously refer to David.

The first person plural pronouns (we) in this quotation are clearly to be rendered as exclusive in those languages that distinguish inclusive and exclusive pronouns. The people of the northern tribes have no kinship ties to David, and therefore they have no obligations to him or any claims to benefits from him.

To your tents, O Israel! may be taken as a call to the tribes of northern Israel to go back home or to go to war. The same kind of expression occurs again at the end of the verse where it describes what the people actually did (Israel departed to their tents). So it probably has the same meaning. Good News Translation takes the first expression as a call to return home and the second one as a statement about rebellion. It is probable that the meaning in both cases has to do with going home rather than going to war.

Look now to your own house, David: Several things need careful attention here. The verb Look and pronoun your are second person singular; and the people were, of course, not addressing David, but are rather speaking to Rehoboam and by implication, to his descendants. Good News Translation omits any reference to David by saying “Let Rehoboam look out for himself!” Contemporary English Version is similar with “Rehoboam can rule his own people.” However, the reference to David may be kept, while the meaning is made clear. Compare “And you descendant of David, take care of your kingdom” (Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente) and “Let David’s son rule his own people!” (New Century Version).

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