In many cultures graves are dug into the ground and dirt is thrown back into the hole after the body is lowered into the grave. If this story is read from this perspective, it seems that Elisha’s body must have been left uncovered in the grave. It is possible, however, that the grave in this instance was a cave cut into stone. In any case, Elisha had been dead for some time since only his bones remained.

In Hebrew this verse begins with the verbal transition that is sometimes rendered “And it happened” or “And it came to pass” (King James Version). But most modern versions choose to ignore this transition. However, it is rendered in Good News Translation by the words “One time,” which serve to introduce a story in much the same way as the Hebrew transition. Contemporary English Version accomplishes the same purpose with the word “Once.”

As a man was being buried: The name of the man who was being buried is unimportant, but translators should ensure that readers understand that this does not refer to the burial of Elisha. Languages that have special terms for a person whose name is unknown should probably use them here. The passive verb was being buried will have to be made active in many cases. So the following models may be appropriate for certain languages: “when people were about to bury a certain person” and “while some Israelites were burying a man” (New International Version; similarly New Living Translation).

Lo renders the Hebrew focusing particle. Here it highlights the suddenness and unexpectedness of what happened during the funeral. In some languages it may be translated “suddenly” (New American Bible, New International Version).

A marauding band was seen and the man was cast into the grave of Elisha: The marauding band in this case refers to one of the “bands of Moabites” introduced in the previous verse, although in this case the Moabites are not mentioned by name. As in verse 20, this may be rendered “raiders” (Revised English Bible) or something similar.

Since the same agent is implied in the passive verbs was seen and was cast, it will be quite natural to translate them actively, saying “they [the Israelites] saw … and they threw….” Although the Hebrew says that the man was thrown into Elisha’s grave, it will be required in some languages to say “the body” or “the corpse.”

The traditional Hebrew text includes an additional word meaning “and he went” following the grave of Elisha. But this is omitted by Revised Standard Version and New International Version, perhaps because it does not make good sense. As indicated in the Good News Translation footnote, the ancient Greek translation of this verse has “and ran off,” which would make much better sense. This is the meaning adopted by New American Bible, which says “and everyone went off” (similarly Revised English Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Bible en français courant). Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament shows convincingly, as in verse 6 also, that a scribe omitted the final letter of this verb, which makes the verb plural. Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament, therefore, recommends that the text be corrected to read “they walked” (that is, “they went off”) and gives a {B} rating to the corrected text.

As soon as the man touched the bones of Elisha is literally “and the man touched the bones of Elisha.” Some will have to translate the text as “When the body/corpse touched….”

He revived: The pronoun he could refer to either Elisha or the unnamed dead person whose body had been thrown into Elisha’s grave. But there is no indication that Elisha is intended. Translators should therefore make it clear that it was the man who had just died who came back to life. The verb revived is translated “came to life” by several modern versions (New International Version, Revised English Bible). But in many languages it will be better to say “came back to life” (Good News Translation, New American Bible, New Century Version). The context may also require the presence of an adverb like “immediately.” Even after his death, Elisha was believed to have supernatural power (see Sirach 48.13-14).

Stood on his feet will be considered strange and unnecessarily redundant in some languages since the verb “stand” already implies that the person is on his feet. It will be better in such cases to say simply “stood up” (so Good News Translation).

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