So: In some languages a logical connector like that of Revised Standard Version will be appropriate here, but in other cases the common Hebrew conjunction here does not need to be translated at all.

They laid hands on her: While the laying on of hands has a very different meaning elsewhere in Scripture, here the meaning is something like “they grabbed her,” “they took hold of her,” or “They took her away by force” (American Bible). The same expression is used in 1 Kgs 20.6 with the sense of “take and carry away.”

She went: Since Athaliah had already been apprehended at this point, this was probably not something that she did willingly or cheerfully. Therefore the verb used in translation might show that some coercion was required. Some may say “she was forced to go.” But it would also be possible to make the guards the subject of this verb and say something like “they made her go” or “they compelled her.” New American Bible has “She was led out forcibly.” Where this passive expression is not helpful, translators may consider this model provided by Contemporary English Version: “the commanders dragged her.”

The horses’ entrance to the king’s house: While the Hebrew word translated entrance is not the same word rendered “gate” in verse 6, it must refer to something similar to a gate. This entrance is sometimes identified as the Horse Gate mentioned in Jer 31.40 and Neh 3.28 (so Good News Translation, La Bible Pléiade footnote). The Horse Gate was a gate on the eastern side of the wall surrounding Jerusalem. More likely, however, the reference here is to a gate or entrance into the stables of the royal compound and not the Horse Gate in the city wall. This entrance appears to have been located between the royal palace and the Temple area. In some languages it will be rendered “the place where horses enter the royal courtyard” or “the passage way where horses go into the yard around the king’s house.”

There she was slain: This statement can be made active by saying “it was there that they killed her” or “they killed her in that place.”

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .