Obadiah refers here to his actions that are mentioned in verse 4.

Has it not been told my lord …: This passive construction may have to be restated in some languages to read “Haven’t you heard…” (Good News Translation), “Haven’t people told you…,” or “Has no one told my lord…” (New Jerusalem Bible).

My lord here refers to Elijah. Good News Translation changes this reference to the second person singular pronoun “you.” This will be a helpful model for many other languages where indirect reference like that of Revised Standard Version is unnatural. But Good News Translation fails to express the respect indicated by the words my lord. New Living Translation says “you, my lord.” While this sounds somewhat archaic in modern English, it does capture the idea of respect contained in the text. In other cases translators will prefer a more modern equivalent like “sir.”

I hid a hundred men … by fifties in a cave, and fed them with bread and water: See the comments on verse 4.

Contemporary English Version provides a helpful model for this verse by changing the long rhetorical question here into two affirmations as follows:

• I even hid one hundred of the LORD’s prophets in caves when Jezebel was trying to kill them. I also gave them food and water.

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 .