2 Raja-raja 8:7-15
Konteks8:7 Elisha traveled to Damascus while King Ben Hadad of Syria was sick. The king 1 was told, “The prophet 2 has come here.” 8:8 So the king told Hazael, “Take a gift 3 and go visit the prophet. Request from him an oracle from the Lord. Ask him, 4 ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’” 8:9 So Hazael went to visit Elisha. 5 He took along a gift, 6 as well as 7 forty camel loads of all the fine things of Damascus. When he arrived, he stood before him and said, “Your son, 8 King Ben Hadad of Syria, has sent me to you with this question, 9 ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’” 8:10 Elisha said to him, “Go and tell him, ‘You will surely recover,’ 10 but the Lord has revealed to me that he will surely die.” 8:11 Elisha 11 just stared at him until Hazael became uncomfortable. 12 Then the prophet started crying. 8:12 Hazael asked, “Why are you crying, my master?” He replied, “Because I know the trouble you will cause the Israelites. You will set fire to their fortresses, kill their young men with the sword, smash their children to bits, and rip open their pregnant women.” 8:13 Hazael said, “How could your servant, who is as insignificant as a dog, accomplish this great military victory?” 13 Elisha answered, “The Lord has revealed to me that you will be the king of Syria.” 14 8:14 He left Elisha and went to his master. Ben Hadad 15 asked him, “What did Elisha tell you?” Hazael 16 replied, “He told me you would surely recover.” 8:15 The next day Hazael 17 took a piece of cloth, dipped it in water, and spread it over Ben Hadad’s 18 face until he died. Then Hazael replaced him as king.
2 Raja-raja 9:1-13
Konteks9:1 Now Elisha the prophet summoned a member of the prophetic guild 19 and told him, “Tuck your robes into your belt, take this container 20 of olive oil in your hand, and go to Ramoth Gilead. 9:2 When you arrive there, look for Jehu son of Jehoshaphat son of Nimshi and take him aside into an inner room. 21 9:3 Take the container of olive oil, pour it over his head, and say, ‘This is what the Lord says, “I have designated 22 you as king over Israel.”’ Then open the door and run away quickly!” 23
9:4 So the young prophet 24 went to Ramoth Gilead. 9:5 When he arrived, the officers of the army were sitting there. 25 So he said, “I have a message for you, O officer.” 26 Jehu asked, “For which one of us?” 27 He replied, “For you, O officer.” 9:6 So Jehu 28 got up and went inside. Then the prophet 29 poured the olive oil on his head and said to him, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says, ‘I have designated you as king over the Lord’s people Israel. 9:7 You will destroy the family of your master Ahab. 30 I will get revenge against Jezebel for the shed blood of my servants the prophets and for the shed blood of all the Lord’s servants. 31 9:8 Ahab’s entire family will die. I 32 will cut off every last male belonging to Ahab in Israel, including even the weak and incapacitated. 33 9:9 I will make Ahab’s dynasty 34 like those of Jeroboam son of Nebat and Baasha son of Ahijah. 9:10 Dogs will devour Jezebel on the plot of ground in Jezreel; she will not be buried.’” 35 Then he opened the door and ran away.
9:11 When Jehu rejoined 36 his master’s servants, they 37 asked him, “Is everything all right? 38 Why did this madman visit you?” He replied, “Ah, it’s not important. You know what kind of man he is and the kinds of things he says.” 39 9:12 But they said, “You’re lying! Tell us what he said.” So he told them what he had said. He also related how he had said, 40 “This is what the Lord says, ‘I have designated you as king over Israel.’” 9:13 Each of them quickly took off his cloak and they spread them out at Jehu’s 41 feet on the steps. 42 The trumpet was blown 43 and they shouted, “Jehu is 44 king!”
2 Raja-raja 13:14-19
Konteks13:14 Now Elisha had a terminal illness. 45 King Joash of Israel went down to visit him. 46 He wept before him and said, “My father, my father! The chariot 47 and horsemen of Israel!” 48 13:15 Elisha told him, “Take a bow and some arrows,” and he did so. 49 13:16 Then Elisha 50 told the king of Israel, “Aim the bow.” 51 He did so, 52 and Elisha placed his hands on the king’s hands. 13:17 Elisha 53 said, “Open the east window,” and he did so. 54 Elisha said, “Shoot!” and
he did so. 55 Elisha 56 said, “This arrow symbolizes the victory the Lord will give you over Syria. 57 You will annihilate Syria in Aphek!” 58 13:18 Then Elisha 59 said, “Take the arrows,” and he did so. 60 He told the king of Israel, “Strike the ground!” He struck the ground three times and stopped. 13:19 The prophet 61 got angry at him and said, “If you had struck the ground five or six times, you would have annihilated Syria! 62 But now, you will defeat Syria only three times.”
[8:7] 1 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[8:7] 2 tn Heb “man of God” (also a second time in this verse and in v. 11).
[8:8] 3 tn The Hebrew text also has “in your hand.”
[8:8] 4 tn Heb “Inquire of the
[8:9] 5 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[8:9] 6 tn The Hebrew text also has “in his hand.”
[8:9] 7 tn Heb “and.” It is possible that the conjunction is here explanatory, equivalent to English “that is.” In this case the forty camel loads constitute the “gift” and one should translate, “He took along a gift, consisting of forty camel loads of all the fine things of Damascus.”
[8:9] 8 sn The words “your son” emphasize the king’s respect for the prophet.
[8:10] 10 tc The consonantal text (Kethib) reads, “Go, say, ‘Surely you will not (לֹא, lo’) recover” In this case the vav beginning the next clause should be translated, “for, because.” The marginal reading (Qere) has, “Go, say to him (לוֹ, lo), ‘You will surely recover.” In this case the vav (ו) beginning the next clause should be translated, “although, but.” The Qere has the support of some medieval Hebrew
[8:11] 11 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[8:11] 12 tn Heb “and he made his face stand [i.e., be motionless] and set [his face?] until embarrassment.”
[8:13] 13 tn Heb “Indeed, what is your servant, a dog, that he could do this great thing?” With his reference to a dog, Hazael is not denying that he is a “dog” and protesting that he would never commit such a dastardly “dog-like” deed. Rather, as Elisha’s response indicates, Hazael is suggesting that he, like a dog, is too insignificant to ever be in a position to lead such conquests.
[8:13] 14 tn Heb “The
[8:14] 15 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Ben Hadad) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[8:14] 16 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Hazael) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[8:15] 17 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Hazael) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[8:15] 18 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Ben Hadad) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[9:1] 19 tn Heb “one of the sons of the prophets.”
[9:2] 21 tn Heb “and go and set him apart from his brothers and bring him into an inner room in an inner room.”
[9:3] 23 tn Heb “and open the door and run away and do not delay.”
[9:4] 24 tc Heb “the young man, the young man, the prophet.” The MT is probably dittographic, the phrase “the young man” being accidentally repeated. The phrases “the young man” and “the prophet” are appositional, with the latter qualifying more specifically the former.
[9:5] 25 tn Heb “and he arrived and look, the officers of the army were sitting.”
[9:5] 26 tn Heb “[there is] a word for me to you, O officer.”
[9:5] 27 tn Heb “To whom from all of us?”
[9:6] 28 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jehu) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[9:6] 29 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the prophet) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[9:7] 30 tn Or “strike down the house of Ahab your master.”
[9:7] 31 tn Heb “I will avenge the shed blood of my servants the prophets and the shed blood of all the servants of the
[9:8] 32 tc The LXX has the second person, “you.”
[9:8] 33 tn Heb “and I will cut off from Ahab those who urinate against a wall, [including both those who are] restrained and let free [or, ‘abandoned’] in Israel.” On the phrase וְעָצוּר וְעָזוּב (vÿ’atsur vÿ’azur, translated here “weak and incapacitated”) see the note at 1 Kgs 14:10.
[9:10] 35 sn Note how the young prophet greatly expands the message Elisha had given to him. In addition to lengthening the introductory formula (by adding “the God of Israel”) and the official declaration that accompanies the act of anointing (by adding “the
[9:11] 36 tn Heb “went out to.”
[9:11] 37 tc The MT has the singular, “he said,” but many witnesses correctly read the plural.
[9:11] 38 tn Heb “Is there peace?”
[9:11] 39 tn Heb “He said, ‘You, you know the man and his thoughts.’” Jehu tries to deflect their question by reminding them that the man is an eccentric individual who says strange things. His reply suggests that the man said nothing of importance. The translation seeks to bring out the tone and intent of Jehu’s reply.
[9:12] 40 tn Heb “So he said, ‘Like this and like this he said to me, saying.’” The words “like this and like this” are probably not a direct quote of Jehu’s words to his colleagues. Rather this is the narrator’s way of avoiding repetition and indicating that Jehu repeated, or at least summarized, what the prophet had said to him.
[9:13] 41 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Jehu) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[9:13] 42 tn Heb “and they hurried and took, each one his garment, and they placed [them] beneath him on the bone [?] of the steps.” The precise nuance of גֶרֶם (gerem), “bone,” is unclear. Some suggest the nuance “bare” here; it may be a technical architectural term in this context.
[9:13] 43 tn Heb “they blew the trumpet.” This has been translated as a passive to avoid the implication that the same ones who shouted had all blown trumpets.
[13:14] 45 tn Heb “Now Elisha was ill with the illness by which he would die.”
[13:14] 46 tn Heb “went down to him.”
[13:14] 47 tn Though the noun is singular here, it may be collective, in which case it could be translated “chariots.”
[13:14] 48 sn By comparing Elisha to a one-man army, the king emphasizes the power of the prophetic word. See the note at 2:12.
[13:15] 49 tn Heb “and he took a bow and some arrows.”
[13:16] 50 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[13:16] 51 tn Heb “Cause your hand to ride on the bow.”
[13:16] 52 tn Heb “and he caused his hand to ride.”
[13:17] 53 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[13:17] 54 tn Heb “He opened [it].”
[13:17] 55 tn Heb “and he shot.”
[13:17] 56 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[13:17] 57 tn Heb “The arrow of victory of the
[13:17] 58 tn Heb “you will strike down Syria in Aphek until destruction.”
[13:18] 59 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[13:18] 60 tn Heb “and he took [them].”
[13:19] 61 tn Heb “man of God.”
[13:19] 62 tn Heb “[It was necessary] to strike five or six times, then you would strike down Syria until destruction.” On the syntax of the infinitive construct, see GKC 349 §114.k.
