1 Raja-raja 9:6-9

9:6 “But if you or your sons ever turn away from me, fail to obey the regulations and rules I instructed you to keep, ¹  and decide to serve and worship other gods, ²  9:7 then I will remove Israel from the land ³  I have given them, I will abandon this temple I have consecrated with my presence, ⁴  and Israel will be mocked and ridiculed ⁵  among all the nations. 9:8 This temple will become a heap of ruins; ⁶  everyone who passes by it will be shocked and will hiss out their scorn, ⁷  saying, ‘Why did the Lord do this to this land and this temple?’ 9:9 Others will then answer, ⁸  ‘Because they abandoned the Lord their God, who led their ancestors ⁹  out of Egypt. They embraced other gods whom they worshiped and served. ¹⁰  That is why the Lord has brought all this disaster down on them.’”

[9:6]  ¹ tn Heb “which I placed before you.”

[9:6]  ² tn Heb “and walk and serve other gods and bow down to them.”

[9:7]  ³ tn Heb “I will cut off Israel from upon the surface of the land.”

[9:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “and the temple which I consecrated for my name I will send away from before my face.”

[9:7]  sn Instead of “I will send away,” the parallel text in 2 Chr 7:20 has “I will throw away.” The two verbs sound very similar in Hebrew, so the discrepancy is likely due to an oral transmissional error.

[9:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “will become a proverb and a taunt,” that is, a proverbial example of destruction and an object of reproach.

[9:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “and this house will be high [or elevated].” The statement makes little sense in this context, which predicts the desolation that judgment will bring. Some treat the clause as concessive, “Even though this temple is lofty [now].” Others, following the lead of several ancient versions, emend the text to, “this temple will become a heap of ruins.”

[9:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “hiss,” or perhaps “whistle.” This refers to a derisive sound one would make when taunting an object of ridicule.

[9:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “and they will say.”

[9:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “fathers.”

[9:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and they took hold of other gods and bowed down to them and served them.”