The name that is transliterated as “Elisha” in English means “God the Savior,” “to whom God is salvation,” “God of salvation,” “God is Savior.” (Source: Cornwall / Smith 1997 )
In Finnish Sign Language it is translated with the sign signifying “help + prophet.” (Source: Tarja Sandholm)
In Malay, the pronoun beta for the royal “I” (or “my” or “me”) that is used by royals when speaking to people of lower rank, subordinates or commoners to refer to themselves in these verses. This reflects the “language of the court because the monarchy and sultanate in Malaysia are still alive and well. All oral and printed literature (including newspapers and magazines) preserve and glorify the language of the court. Considering that the language of the court is part of the Malaysian language, court language is used sparingly where appropriate, specifically with texts relating to palace life.” (Source: Daud Soesilo in The Bible Translator 2025, p. 263ff.)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 2 Kings 6:21:
Kupsabiny: “And as soon as the king of Israel saw them he immediately asked Elisha, ‘Shall I kill these people, sir?’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Seeing the Arameans, the King of Israel asked Elisha, "Should I kill them, O my father, What! Should I kill them?"” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “When the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha, ‘What do you think, [lit. What to you], sir? Shall- I -kill them?’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “When the king of Israel saw them, he said to Elisha, ‘Sir, shall I tell my soldiers to kill them? Shall we kill all of them?’” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Some languages do not have a concept of kingship and therefore no immediate equivalent for the Greek, Hebrew, 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.”
When the king of Israel saw them: The pronoun them does not include Elisha, but refers only to the enemy soldiers that the king of Israel saw. This is not because Elisha would not have been visible, but because it would not have been a surprising thing to see him in Samaria. That the king was focusing on the Syrians is proven by the fact that he speaks of killing them in his question to the prophet.
My father: This expression shows the high regard the king had for the prophet Elisha (see the comments on 2 Kgs 2.12 and 5.13). It should probably not be rendered literally although there are a number of languages where the word for “father” is used as a general term of respect. Both Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version use the English word “sir.”
Shall I slay them? Shall I slay them?: The Hebrew verb translated slay is literally “hit” or “strike,” but the meaning is certainly striking a death blow. Scholars debate the vowel pointing of the Hebrew text here. The vowels of the traditional text, followed by Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation, yield a reading that is generally considered poor grammar, but which might, in fact, reflect the kind of thing an excited person would say when suddenly faced with such incredibly good fortune. If the vowel points are altered, the construction would be one that is emphatic, using two different forms of the same verb. For the translator who is trying to put the meaning into another language, the main question is whether or not to repeat the question as in Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation, or to translate it one time only as in New American Bible, Revised English Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, New Jerusalem Bible and American Bible, as well as in several ancient versions.
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 .
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