She saddled the ass: It would be quite surprising for the woman to put a saddle on the donkey while her servant stood by and watched—even in view of her anxiety and hurry. So the probable meaning of this expression is that she had the donkey saddled (so Good News Translation; similarly New Jerusalem Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). New American Bible and Revised English Bible avoid the problem by using the passive form “when the donkey was saddled,” but this option will not be possible in many languages.

Urge the beast on: Literally the text says “Drive and go” with no mention of the donkey. This is translated almost word-for-word by King James Version, which has “Drive, and go forward.” Revised Standard Version has transformed the two imperative verb forms into a single imperative sentence that includes the implied information about the donkey. The servant would run behind the donkey with the woman on it and beat it with a stick to encourage it to keep going. In some languages, however, it may be more natural to use a double imperative. New Jerusalem Bible says “Lead on, go!” Other possible models are “Let’s go! Push ahead!” and “Come on, drive hard!”

Do not slacken the pace for me: The Hebrew verb rendered slacken may be understood to mean “slow down” or “stop.” New Jerusalem Bible translates “Do not draw rein,” and New American Bible has “Do not stop my donkey.” But most versions take it to mean “do not slow down.” New Living Translation, for example, says “Don’t slow down on my account.” The woman was afraid that the servant might stop or slow down out of consideration for her, but she wanted to cover as quickly as possible the 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Shunem to Mount Carmel, where Elisha was staying. So she asks him not to do anything for her sake to impede their progress toward Mount Carmel.

Unless I tell you: By adding these words, the woman leaves open the possibility that she might eventually find the intense pace too much for her. If this were to happen, she would still have the option of asking the servant to slow down a bit.

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 .