For the whole house of Ahab shall perish: In the Hebrew text this verse begins with the verb shall perish. In place of this verb, however, the Septuagint (followed by New American Bible and New Jerusalem Bible) reads “and by the hand,” and this is connected to the end of verse 7. The Septuagint is the basis for the New American Bible rendering, which reads as follows for verses 7b-8a: “and the blood of all the other servants of the LORD shed by Jezebel, 8 and by all the rest of the family of Ahab.” Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament, however, gives a {B} rating to the Masoretic Text, which should be followed.

The whole house of Ahab refers, of course, to Ahab’s complete family and all his potential descendants (so Good News Translation). If the previous verse has already been translated in such a way as to indicate that the leader must die (as Good News Translation has done), some may find it more natural to translate here “all the rest of Ahab’s family.”

Once again the future tense in Revised Standard Version here (shall perish) is a way of stating something that must happen. New Century Version translates “All of Ahab’s family must die.”

I will cut off from Ahab every male, bond or free, in Israel: This same expression occurs in 1 Kgs 21.21. See the comments there. In this context the meaning of the Hebrew verb rendered cut off is “kill,” “destroy” (Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible), or “get rid of” (Good News Translation). See the comments on 1 Kgs 11.15-16. For the phrases every male and bond or free, see the comments on 1 Kgs 14.10.

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 .