Instead of going on to consult with the god of the city of Ekron, the messengers who had been sent by Ahaziah returned to their king immediately after their encounter with Elijah. Because they returned so quickly, Ahaziah knew that they had not done what he told them to do.

Returned to the king is literally “returned to him.” Since the prophet Elijah was the last person mentioned by name in verse 4, both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation have substituted the noun phrase the king for the pronoun “him” in order to avoid confusion for the reader.

The verb said may be more naturally translated as “asked” in the context of the question that follows.

Why have you returned?: Since the reader will expect that the messengers of King Ahaziah eventually will return to him, the real question implied is “Why have you returned so soon?” It was clear to the king that these messengers had not been gone long enough to go all the way to Ekron and return. In some languages it will be necessary to include words like “so soon” in order to avoid misunderstanding. Contemporary English Version has “Why are you back so soon?” (similarly Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch).

In languages where indirect discourse is preferred in such a context as this, the last part of the verse may be translated “The king asked them why they had come back so quickly.”

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 .