Translation commentary on 1 Kings 17:6

Revised Standard Version follows the order of the Hebrew in this verse. Good News Translation has reversed the two parts of this verse, perhaps for stylistic reasons.

Regarding ravens, see the comments on verse 4.

Bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening: The Septuagint reads “bread in the morning and meat in the evening,” and this text is followed by New Jerusalem Bible, Gray, Peregrino, and Osty-Trinquet; but the reading in the Septuagint is probably the result of making this text agree with the one in Exo 16.8, 12. Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament gives a {B} rating to the Masoretic Text, which should be followed. Unlike the unfaithful Israelites in the wilderness, who had only bread in the morning and meat in the evening, the faithful prophet Elijah received both bread and meat twice a day. Good News Translation avoids the repetition of the expression bread and meat, which is found twice in the Hebrew. On this point, translators should feel free to follow whichever style seems most natural in the receptor language.

The Hebrew word for bread often refers to food in general (see the comments on 1 Kgs 13.8), but in this context it is probably to be understood in its more literal sense.

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 .

Leave a Reply