Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Kings 20:16:
Kupsabiny: “Then at midday, those soldiers went to war/raid. The two hundred and thirty two young warriors led/went in front. During this time Ben-hadad was drinking with those 32 rulers. When Ben-hadad sent his people to go and check it out, they returned coming to say to him, ‘The people of Samaria are coming.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “At noon they went out, while Ben-hadad and the 32 kings meeting with him were getting drunk in his tent.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “They attacked at noon/midday, while Ben Hadad and the 32 kings who were his allies were-getting-drunk in their tents.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “They started to attack at noon, while Ben-Hadad and the other rulers were getting drunk in their temporary shelters.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Some languages do not have a concept of kingship and therefore no immediate equivalent for the Greek, Hebrew, Ge’ez, Aramaic, and Latin that is translated as “king” in English. Here are some (back-) translations:
Ninia Yali: “big brother with the uplifted name” (source: Daud Soesilio in Noss 2007, p. 175)
Nyamwezi: mutemi: generic word for ruler, by specifying the city or nation it becomes clear what kind of ruler (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Ghomála’: Fo (“The word Fo refers to the paramount ruler in the kingdoms of West Cameroon. He holds administrative, political, and religious power over his own people, who are divided into two categories: princes (descendants of royalty) and servants (everyone else).” (Source: Michel Kenmogne in Theologizing in Context: An Example from the Study of a Ghomala’ Christian Hymn))
Faye Edgerton retells how the term in Navajo (Dinė) was determined:
“[This term was] easily expressed in the language of Biblical culture, which had kings and noblemen with their brilliant trappings and their position of honor and praise. But leadership among the Navajos is not accompanied by any such titles or distinctions of dress. Those most respected, especially in earlier days, were their headmen, who were the leaders in raids, and the shaman, who was able to serve the people by appealing for them to the gods, or by exorcising evil spirits. Neither of these made any outward show. Neither held his position by political intrigue or heredity. If the headman failed consistently in raids, he was superceded by a better warrior. If the shaman failed many times in his healing ceremonies, it was considered that he was making mistakes in the chants, or had lost favor with the gods, and another was sought. The term Navajos use for headman is derived from a verb meaning ‘to move the head from side to side as in making an oration.’ The headman must be a good orator, able to move the people to go to war, or to follow him in any important decision. This word is naat’áanii which now means ‘one who rules or bosses.’ It is employed now for a foreman or boss of any kind of labor, as well as for the chairman of the tribal council. So in order to show that the king is not just a common boss but the highest ruler, the word ‘aláahgo, which expresses the superlative degree, was put before naat’áanii, and so ‘aláahgo naat’áanii ‘anyone-more-than-being around-he-moves-his-head-the-one-who’ means ‘the highest ruler.’ Naat’áanii was used for governor as the context usually shows that the person was a ruler of a country or associated with kings.”
And they went out at noon: These words refer to the same event mentioned at the beginning of verse 17; that is, verses 16a and 17a both refer to the servants of the district governors. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch and Parole de Vie combine verses 16 and 17 in order to avoid the repetition and any possible confusion, and this may be a good approach in other languages also.
They went out is a literal rendering of the Hebrew. Good News Translation translates it according to the context as “The attack began,” that is, “they attacked.” Compare “They marched out” (Revised English Bible, New American Bible).
Drinking himself drunk: See the comments on this same phrase in 1 Kgs 16.9, where it refers to King Elah of Israel. Other idiomatic renderings in English include “drinking themselves into insensibility” (Revised English Bible) and “drinking himself senseless” (New Jerusalem Bible). It should be clear in the receptor language that both Benhadad and the other thirty-two kings were all becoming drunk.
Booths: See the comments on verse 12. The Septuagint translates this as the place name “Succoth” here in verse 16.
He and the thirty-two kings who helped him is literally “he and the kings thirty-two king who helped him.” See the comments on verse 1 regarding these kings. Revised English Bible stays closer to the form of the Hebrew than Revised Standard Version does, saying “Ben-hadad and his allies, those thirty-two kings.”
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 .
They marched out ⌊of Samaria⌋ in the middle of the day. -or-
When the sun was high in the sky, ⌊King Ahab and⌋ his/the army attacked.
20:16b while Ben-hadad and the 32 kings allied with him were in their tents getting drunk.
Ben-Hadad was in his tent/booth then, drinking and becoming drunk. The thirty-two kings who were helping him were doing the same. -or-
At that time, Ben-Hadad and the thirty-two rulers/chiefs supporting him were in their temporary shelters. They were ⌊all⌋ drinking and becoming drunk.
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