So: The common Hebrew conjunction at the beginning of this verse may be taken as a logical connector, as in Revised Standard Version and a number of other versions. The result of the proposition of the previous verse was the agreement to separate from each other and search in different parts of the country.

To pass through it is a literal rendering of the Hebrew. Of course, Ahab and Obadiah were not simply passing through the land; they were searching for water and grass for their animals. Some translations use a more specific expression according to the context. Compare “explore” (Good News Translation, New American Bible) and “for [the purpose of] their survey” (Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible).

Ahab went in one direction by himself …: Good News Translation has simplified the second half of this verse, while Revised Standard Version gives a literal translation.

The words by himself, which occur twice in this verse in the Masoretic Text, probably do not mean that these two men went alone, but rather that they were separated from each other.

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 .