He was afraid: The Hebrew verb here does not have an explicit subject. Good News Translation inserts the proper name “Elijah” at the beginning of this verse, so that readers will not incorrectly think that Ahab (verse 1) is the subject. The verb in most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text is “saw” (so Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Nouvelle Bible Segond, La Bible Pléiade, Chouraqui), but most interpreters change the vowels in this Hebrew verb to read was afraid, which agrees with the reading in the ancient versions.

Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament gives a {B} rating to the reading he was afraid and suggests that scribes changed the text to read “he saw” in order to avoid saying that Elijah was afraid of the pagan queen Jezebel. If the verb “saw” was original, then the sense may be that Elijah “saw” the danger from Jezebel’s threat.

For arose see the comments at 1 Kgs 1.50.

Went for his life means went to save his life.

Beersheba, which belongs to Judah: The city of Beersheba was located at the southern border of Judah at the edge of the desert there (see 1 Kgs 4.25). The words which belongs to Judah indicate that Elijah was no longer in the northern kingdom ruled by Ahab. Since many readers will not know where Beersheba was located within the territory of Judah, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch may provide a helpful model with “Beersheba on the southern border of Judah.”

In some languages it will be necessary to make explicit that Elijah took his servant with him (so Good News Translation, Parole de Vie) before saying that he left his servant in Beersheba.

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 .