Translation commentary on 1 Kings 21:5

But: The common Hebrew conjunction at the beginning of this verse is taken as a marker of contrast by Revised Standard Version, but it is ignored by Good News Translation and many other modern versions. There seems little reason to mark contrast here since the conjunction simply serves to connect the events of the story.

Jezebel his wife: Jezebel was introduced in 1 Kgs 16.31; and her pagan ways are described in 1 Kgs 18.4 and 19.1-2. Revised Standard Version follows the Hebrew in giving the name before the description his wife, but Good News Translation reverses this order. Translators should follow whichever order seems most natural in their own language.

Your spirit is translated “you” in Good News Translation and New Revised Standard Version.

Vexed, as in verse 4, translates the same Hebrew adjective rendered “resentful” in 1 Kgs 20.43. Other translations here include “depressed” (New Revised Standard Version), “sullenness” (Revised English Bible), “angry” (New American Bible), and “dispirited” (New Jerusalem Bible).

If the receptor language prefers indirect speech, it will be possible to translate this verse as follows:

• His wife Jezebel went to him and asked him why he was so upset and why he refused to take food.

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 .

respectful form of "do" (nasaru)

Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between. One way to do this is through the usage of lexical honorific forms, i.e., completely different words, as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.

In these verses, nasaru (なさる), the respectful form of suru (する) or “do” is used. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )