The transition word therefore is based on the ordinary Hebrew conjunction that is often legitimately left untranslated, as in New International Version and many others.

Besought God for the child: while the verb here is often translated simply “prayed…” (Good News Translation and New Century Version), it usually carries the idea of seeking something or searching for something or someone. It is used in these ways in 3.17 and 5.17. In this case the idea is probably that of “begging” God (Contemporary English Version) or “pleading” with him (New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible, New Revised Standard Version).

Fasted: see 1.12, as well as 1 Sam 7.6; 31.13.

Went in: there is no explicit mention of what place David entered. The context, however, makes it reasonably certain that what the writer had in mind was David’s going into the room where he normally slept. It may even be legitimately rendered as “retiring for the night” (New American Bible).

The verb forms used in this verse suggest that the actions of pleading with God, fasting, and lying on the ground were repeated often during the illness of the child. They should therefore probably be translated by habitual verb forms or expressions that convey the idea of repeated or continuous actions.

Both the ancient Greek translation and a manuscript among the Dead Sea Scrolls have the additional words “in sackcloth,” showing that David was mourning even before the death of the child. Although this textual problem is not discussed in Hebrew Old Testament Text Project or Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament, the additional words are translated by New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, and Revised English Bible. They are therefore worthy of some consideration.

Upon the ground: see also 13.31. Both Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version use the word “floor,” which may give readers a mistaken idea about the nature of Old Testament dwellings. The word really means “earth” (An American Translation) or “ground” (so New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible). The ground floor in most houses at that time was made essentially of earth. Yet even Revised Standard Version translates the same word as “floor” in Judges 3.25.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .