And the battle grew hot that day: The common Hebrew conjunction rendered And may be translated “But” (God’s Word, New Jerusalem Bible, Bible en français courant, La Bible du Semeur) to express contrast. The battle grew hot is literally “the battle went up.” In other languages translators may say “the fighting became more violent” or “the fight grew fiercer” (Moffatt; similarly An American Translation).

And the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening: The text does not indicate why Ahab held himself up in his chariot. Perhaps this was an attempt to keep the Israelite soldiers from knowing that he had been seriously wounded. But any suggested reason is only speculation and must not be inserted into the translation of this verse. Once again, it may be more natural to speak of Ahab by name rather than translating literally the king of Israel (so Good News Translation). Propped himself up renders a causative participle in Hebrew that is literally “causing himself to stand.” New Jerusalem Bible translates “had to be held upright.” Facing the Syrians may be rendered “in front of the Syrians.”

Then at sunset he died is literally “and he died at the time of the going of the sun.” Some may prefer to translate “As the sun was going down, he died.” In some languages the words for evening and sunset may be similar or closely related.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Chronicles, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2014. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .