Elisha responds with a price list of his own, forecasting what good food would cost just a day later. Since his response is quite contrary to normal expectations, Revised Standard Version translates the common Hebrew conjunction with the contrastive But. Most versions, however, leave it untranslated.

Hear the word of the LORD: thus says the LORD: These two clauses have been collapsed into a single statement by Good News Translation. But unless the repetition is unnatural, it should be retained for emphasis. Says renders a Hebrew verb form that may be translated in English with a verb in the past, present, or future tense, as the context requires. For this reason some translations use the past or perfect tense here: “said” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, American Bible) or “has … declared” (Hobbs). For thus says the LORD, see the comments at 1 Kgs 11.31.

The Hebrew word for measure is seʾah, and this is transliterated into English by some translations as seah (New International Version, New American Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, American Bible). But such transliteration serves no useful purpose in a common language translation. Although it is not absolutely certain, a seah was probably the equivalent of about one-third of a bushel or seven and a half liters. Translations that provide contemporary equivalences vary somewhat since the exact size of a seah is uncertain. Good News Translation, for example, says “ten pounds,” but La Bible du Semeur has “ten kilos.”

Fine meal refers to the best or choicest flour available. It was made from wheat and although less finely ground than the kind of meal mentioned in Num 5.15, it was considered the most desirable. See the comments on “fine flour” at 1 Kgs 4.22 since this is a rendering of the same Hebrew term here.

The passive expression shall be sold is not found explicitly in the Hebrew, but this is what is implied. In languages where the passive form presents problems, the idea may be rendered actively as “you will be able to buy” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version), “people will sell,” or “the price of … will be.”

The translation of shekel in this verse should correspond to “shekels” in 2 Kgs 6.25.

Two measures of barley: This would be double the amount of fine meal above. In many languages the word barley has to be rendered by a borrowed term since this type of grain is unknown (see the comments on 1 Kgs 4.28).

Since it is not known what prices were before the siege and famine in Samaria, it is impossible to know whether these prices are back to normal, even lower than normal, or higher than normal. But in any case, the sense clearly seems to be that the prices are going to be considerably lower within a period of twenty-four hours (see the Contemporary English Version translation, quoted below).

At the gate of Samaria: In Old Testament times, the gate was at the same time the normal marketplace for the inhabitants of the city and the place where legal cases were considered. Here the focus is on the fact that it is the marketplace. New Living Translation reads “in the markets of Samaria.” At a later stage of development of the Hebrew language, the word translated gate came to mean “rate of exchange.” Whether it was used with that meaning when 1 Kings was written is uncertain, but that is the basis for the rendering “at the market price of Samaria” in American Bible. The traditional interpretation is followed by all other translations.

Contemporary English Version provides the following helpful model for this verse:

• Elisha answered, “I have a message for you. The LORD promises that tomorrow here in Samaria, you will be able to buy a large sack of flour or two large sacks of barley for almost nothing.”

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 .