He cried to the LORD is literally “he cried to the LORD and he said.” There should be no doubt that it is Elijah who is speaking here and not the boy. The sense of the verb cried is that of crying out in prayer and not simply weeping. New American Bible “called out” is a possible model for some languages.

Hast thou brought calamity even upon the widow…?: Regarding the use of the archaic language in English here (Hast thou), see 1 Kgs 3.6. Another rendering for the Hebrew adverb translated even is “also.” The sense seems to be that God has caused this woman suffering because of the drought, and now he is also causing additional suffering by killing her son.

Elijah’s words to God are in the form of a question in Hebrew, but the question is perhaps not asking for information or an answer. Rather, this may be only an expression of Elijah’s deeply felt anguish and sorrow.

With whom I sojourn: The Hebrew verb translated sojourn has the meaning “to live as a foreigner” or “to be a visitor.” New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh has “whose guest I am.” New Century Version tries to convey the meaning in a separate sentence, which says “this widow is letting me stay in her house.”

By slaying her son is literally “to cause her son to die.” This renders the same Hebrew infinitive used at the end of verse 18. As noted there, the Hebrew infinitive “to cause to die” may be understood as expressing result (so Good News Translation) or as expressing intention. Gray follows the second interpretation.

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