But: The common Hebrew conjunction here marks contrast between the expected submissive behavior of a vassal king and the actual rebellion described in this verse. It will probably be important to mark this contrast in the receptor language. Since the payment of tribute was an annual occurrence, Good News Translation is justified in adding “one year” here. Other versions add something more general; for example, Bible en français courant begins with “But later on.” But note that the idea of paying tribute year by year is specifically mentioned later in the verse.

Found treachery in Hoshea: The Hebrew word rendered treachery is elsewhere translated “Treason” (2 Kgs 11.14) or “conspiracy” (1 Kgs 16.20). It indicates deception or trickery in dealing with another person or group of persons. New Jerusalem Bible attempts to get at the meaning in the idiomatic English expression “discovered that Hoshea was playing a double game with him.” Some other possible models are “found out that Hoshea had made plans against him” (New Century Version) and “discovered that Hoshea was being disloyal to him” (Revised English Bible).

For he had sent messengers: What follows is a more detailed explanation of Hoshea’s betrayal. The connecting word for is therefore important. Some languages may require a word like “since” at this point. The explanation has two parts: in addition to sending messengers to Egypt, Hoshea also stopped paying tribute to the Assyrian emperor.

To So, king of Egypt: New Revised Standard Version and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh are similar. But the problem with this rendering is that there is no evidence of any Egyptian king during this period who had a name similar to So. Some scholars consider the name So to be an abbreviated form of the name Osorkon. Osorkon IV (730–715 B.C.) was the last pharaoh (king) of the twenty-second dynasty, and this name fits the time period when Hoshea ruled in Israel.

But the identification with Osorkon IV is not certain, and scholars have proposed a wide variety of other possible meanings for the text at this point. In the past some interpreters have tried to identify the person in question as a military ruler, named Sewe (An American Translation, La Bible Pléiade) or Sibe, who was not a pharaoh but a commander of the Egyptian army whose name is known from ancient documents. But this has been rejected by more recent scholarship.

Others have taken So as a place name rather than the name of a person. The resulting translation would then be “to the king of Egypt at So” (Revised English Bible), “to So, to the king of Egypt” (Hobbs), or possibly “to Sais, to the king of Egypt” (New Jerusalem Bible, Bible en français courant, Osty-Trinquet, Peregrino, American Bible). Pharaoh Tefnakht I, who ruled in the West Delta of Egypt 727–720 B.C., had his capital city at Sais, so his reign also fits with the time when Hoshea ruled. If the Hebrew is to be understood as a personal name, then the reference is most likely to Osorkon IV, but if the Hebrew is a place name, then the reference is probably to the city of Sais. Translators may choose to transliterate the name So and indicate the possible meanings in a footnote. New Living Translation, for example, reads “by asking King So of Egypt” in the text, with a footnote that reads “Or by asking the king of Egypt at Sais.”

Some versions of the ancient Greek translation have different readings, including “to Segor king of Egypt” and “to Adrammelech the Ethiopian who lived in Egypt.” Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament, however, considers these readings to be assimilations to other names in the Old Testament and therefore gives an {A} rating to the Masoretic Text.

Offered no tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year: This is simply the negative of the idea expressed in the previous verse as “paid him tribute,” although different verbs are used in the two cases. Here it is possible to translate “refused to pay his usual assessment” or “withholding the annual tribute which he had been paying” (Revised English Bible).

Therefore: While the Hebrew has only the common conjunction here, there is a logical connection between Hoshea’s failure to pay tribute and the action of the king of Assyria. So a transition word similar to the one in Revised Standard Version may be required in other languages.

The expressions shut him up and bound him in prison really speak of the same event, although the first expression may be understood to refer to the initial act while the second one would have to do with the long-term consequence. The resulting translation might therefore be something like “arrested and imprisoned Hoshea” (New American Bible) or “seized and imprisoned him” (Revised English Bible).

Bible en français courant provides a possible model for restructuring the verse as a whole:

• But later on, Hoshea plotted against him: he sent messengers to the king of Egypt at Sais, and refused to pay his tribute to the king of Assyria; when Shalmaneser discovered this, he had Hoshea arrested and put in prison.

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 .