When you arrive, look there …: The adverb there occurs twice here in the Hebrew text, which is literally “when you arrive there, then look there….” The placement of the adverb there in Revised Standard Version seems odd in English. It goes more logically with the verb arrive (New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, New International Version). This may well be the case in many other languages.

Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi: It is Jehoshaphat who was the son of Nimshi. It may be more natural to maintain the focus on the primary character, Jehu, by translating son of Nimshi as “grandson of Nimshi” (so Good News Translation, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, Contemporary English Version). Jehoshaphat, the father of Jehu, should not be confused with King Jehoshaphat of Judah (1 Kgs 15.24; 22.41-50).

Go in and bid him rise from among his fellows: Elisha assumes that Jehu would be found in a place with several other people. The words go in probably mean to go among Jehu and his group of fellow officers rather than to go inside a building. The context (especially verse 6) indicates that this group of military leaders was probably meeting in an open courtyard rather than inside an enclosed building. The young prophet was to ensure privacy by requesting that Jehu get up and follow him inside the building there to a room where others would not be present. His fellows is literally “his brothers,” but the sense is “his fellow-officers” (Revised English Bible), as verse 5 makes clear.

An inner chamber is literally “a chamber in a chamber.” See the comments on 1 Kgs 20.30, where the same expression occurs. The Hebrew term for chamber usually refers to something like a bedroom, which would be considered one of the most private locations possible. The word is used in the story of Samson (Jdg 15.1; 16.9, 12) and the account of the murder of Ishbosheth (2 Sam 4.7). Compare also 1 Kgs 1.15; 22.25; 2 Kgs 6.12. Since privacy is the most important consideration here, the rendering of Contemporary English Version may be a good model for certain languages: “a place where the two of you can be alone.”

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 .