fast (verb)

The Aramaic, Hebrew, Latin and Greek that is translated as “fast” in English is translated in Isthmus Mixe as “going without food to worship God” and in Lacandon as “leaving eating in order to talk to God.” (Source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.)

In Vidunda it is translated as “resting to eat.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

Translation commentary on 1 Kings 21:12

Proclaimed a fast: See verse 9.

Set Naboth on high among the people: See verse 9. The Hebrew verb form translated set is unusual in the context, and for this reason some scholars correct it to the expected form. But the form of the verb here is the same as in verse 9. Walsh argues that the writer may have deliberately used the same verb form here, even though it does not fit grammatically, in order to show that the men of Jezreel did exactly, word-for-word, what Jezebel ordered in verse 9. Even if Walsh is correct, this kind of subtle use of verb forms in Hebrew cannot be expressed in translation in most languages.

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 .