When the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel: The text does not indicate how the Syrian captains knew that the person they went to attack was not King Ahab. The Hebrew verb translated saw may mean that they saw Jehoshaphat with their own eyes and knew that he was not Ahab; but this verb is also frequently used in the sense of “to perceive” or “to realize,” with no suggestion of seeing with the eyes. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh says “when the chariot officers became aware that he was not the king of Israel.” It may well be that the chariot captains recognized the voice of Jehoshaphat since he is said to have “cried out” at the end of the previous verse (so Good News Translation, New Living Translation).

The writer of this story was not concerned with providing answers to questions that modern readers may have about historical details. Rather, this incident is necessary for the development of the plot. So unless the receptor language demands that an answer be given to explain how the captains knew that it was not Ahab, the translation should not be more specific than the Hebrew text.

They turned back from pursuing him: Good News Translation seems to overstate the meaning of these words. This clause does not indicate that the battle was completely over, but rather that the captains stopped chasing Jehoshaphat. The following verse shows that the battle continued.

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 .