When it was told Saul: literally “When they told Saul.” The literal rendering of the Hebrew will provide a much better model for languages that do not naturally use a passive here. Others may say “some people told Saul.” Another way of handling this problem is to make Saul the subject of the verb “heard,” as in Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version. This conveys the same meaning and may be more natural.

Prophesied: see verse 20 and 10.5.

As in earlier verses the word translated messengers here may be better translated “another group of soldiers” (Contemporary English Version) or something similar.

Instead of repeating the words they also prophesied at the end of the verse, Good News Translation says simply “the same thing happened to them.” This avoids a threefold repetition, which some consider stylistically inappropriate in English. Such repetition, however, may be perfectly acceptable in some other languages.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .