The king of Israel is “Ahab” (so Good News Translation).

The prophets: Some interpreters suggest that these are prophets of Baal who were not killed by Elijah and are not true prophets of the LORD. Others suggest they were prophets who combined worship of Yahweh with idol worship. The way in which translators understand the identity of these prophets will have a direct bearing on the translation of the next verse.

About four hundred men: Some modern translations, such as Good News Translation, New Revised Standard Version and Contemporary English Version, omit any reference to men, implying that perhaps there were some female prophets. The Hebrew word for men allows for this.

Forbear is a somewhat archaic term that is better rendered “hold back” (New Jerusalem Bible). The same verb in Hebrew is translated “stopped” in the context of 1 Kgs 15.21. Others here translate “refrain” (New International Version, New Revised Standard Version) or “wait” (International Children’s Bible).

The Hebrew verb rendered Go up probably has a military meaning in this context, so the movement in an upward direction is not important to the story. For this reason it is translated “Attack” by Good News Translation and Revised English Bible. Other versions translate it without the military connotation but also without any reference to upward movement; for example, “Go ahead” (New Jerusalem Bible), Go right ahead! (New Living Translation), and simply “Go” (New International Version, New Century Version).

The Hebrew word translated Lord is ʾadonai and not YHWH. For this reason most English versions do not use all uppercase letters as they do for YHWH. In those languages that distinguish the two Hebrew terms, translators must be careful to use the word for ʾadonai here. Refer to the discussion on “Translating Lord and LORD” in “Translating 1–2 Kings,” pages 11-12.

Will give it into the hand of the king is literally “will give into the hand of the king.” Revised Standard Version adds the direct object it as English style requires. Hand is used figuratively here to mean “power” or “control.” In some languages translators may say “give you control over it” or “cause you to take command of it.” Note that these models and Good News Translation change the third person reference to the king to a second person reference since King Ahab is being addressed. The prophets speak to Ahab in this way in order to show respect. But this may be confusing to readers in the receptor language. It will therefore be necessary to use a second person reference and some other way to indicate respect. In some cases this will mean using a term of address like “sir” or “your Majesty” (so New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh).

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 .