Following the verb arrived, the Hebrew text has the focusing particle often rendered “behold” (King James Version “lo”), but in this case Revised Standard Version, like most other modern versions, leaves it untranslated. Nevertheless, in languages that have a particle that fulfills a similar function, it may be used here. Translating with the word “here,” Fox attempts to capture the sense of the Hebrew as follows: “When he came, here: Eili was sitting on a throne.”
By the road watching: Hebrew Old Testament Text Project suggests that the original text probably said “beside the road of Mizpah.” In Hebrew the place name “Mizpah” and the participle “watching” are spelled with the same consonants. However, since no manuscripts contain the reading “beside the road of Mizpah,” Hebrew Old Testament Text Project and Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament give a {B} rating to the Masoretic Text; translators are urged to follow this text, as Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation have done. Revised English Bible, however, states that “Eli was sitting on a seat by the road to Mizpah.” Other translations (New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, Osty-Trinquet) follow the Septuagint in saying that Eli “was sitting on his seat beside the gate watching the road.” See also verse 18.
The word his seat is the same as that in 1.9, where it is stated that Eli was sitting on his seat at the door of the temple. Osty-Trinquet therefore suggests that this be rendered “sitting upon his seat [by the door of the temple] watching the road.”
The word watching is not necessarily to be taken literally in the sense that Eli was looking for someone to come down the road, since verse 15 states that he could not see. A blind person, however, could sit and listen in anticipation of someone coming toward him. The verb may also be translated “waiting” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Contemporary English Version). Both New American Bible and New Jerusalem Bible are misleading when they state that Eli was “watching the road.”
For the ark of God: the meaning is most likely that he was afraid of what bad thing may have happened to the ark (so Good News Translation). He was afraid “for” the sake of the ark, or “for” the safety of the ark. A less likely interpretation is that the Hebrew preposition should be rendered “because” instead of for (see verse 18). The sense would then be that he was afraid “because of” the judgment that would come upon his sons, who were responsible for the care of the ark.
His heart trembled: the emotion felt by Eli will be expressed in a wide variety of ways, depending on the receptor language. Some English models are “he was worried” (New Century Version) or simply “Eli was afraid” (Contemporary English Version). Other languages may say something like “terror filled his heart” or “fear seized his heart.” In languages where the seat of the emotions is thought to be some other organ, such as the liver, that organ should probably be used here in place of the word for heart.
All the city cried out means that “all the people in town cried” (New Century Version). Another way of saying this is “put the whole city in an uproar” (New American Bible). In order to make it perfectly clear what kind of emotion was expressed in the cry, some versions add “in horror” (Revised English Bible) or “in fear” (Good News Translation).
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 .