But he himself …: The common Hebrew conjunction at the beginning of this verse is rendered by Revised Standard Version to mark contrast. It shows contrast between the actions of Elijah and what his servant did. This would be supported by the use of he himself, which renders an emphatic pronoun in the Masoretic Text following the conjunction. This ensures that the reader does not understand the pronoun to refer to Elijah’s servant. It clearly refers to the prophet, and certain versions substitute the name “Elijah” (Good News Translation, New Century Version).
Wilderness translates a Hebrew noun that is usually translated “wilderness” in Revised Standard Version (see the comments at 1 Kgs 2.34). But the Hebrew noun here refers to the wide stretch of level, unforested land in southern Judah located between the agricultural and desert areas. This land received 10-20 centimeters (8-16 inches) of rain each year and had some vegetation. In this context some English translations use the technical geographical term “steppe” (Anchor Bible), which refers to this semiarid territory where animals can graze.
The broom tree is a desert shrub that could grow as tall as 3.5 meters (12 feet). New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Revised English Bible, and Bible en français courant call it “broom bush,” while New Jerusalem Bible uses the difficult technical term “furze bush.” Where this particular shrub is not known, a general expression such as “large bush” (Contemporary English Version) or “small tree” (Parole de Vie) may be used. The Hebrew construction rendered a broom tree is literally “one broom tree.” It is possible to understand this to mean “a solitary broom tree” (New Living Translation), but the Hebrew word for “one” is sometimes used to show indetermination. The second understanding is probably intended here, in which case the reference is not to any specific broom tree but simply to “a broom tree.”
Asked that he might die (literally “asked his soul to die” or “asked for his life to die”) is translated in more idiomatic English as “wished he were dead” by New Jerusalem Bible. Good News Translation is quite similar.
It is enough translates a single word in Hebrew. It is an adverb meaning “much” or “many.” There may be a variety of idioms in other languages indicating that a person is “fed up” with the situation in which he finds himself. One English idiom is “I’ve had it.” Others may say “I can’t take it any more.”
For I am no better than my fathers: My fathers refers to the ancestors of Elijah (New Jerusalem Bible, Contemporary English Version). At first glance this part of the verse seems to be left untranslated by Good News Translation. But it is actually translated by the words “I might as well be dead.” Elijah feels that he is no better off than his ancestors who were dead.
The prophet Jonah prayed a similar prayer (Jonah 4.3).
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 .