2 Raja-raja 10:6

10:6 He wrote them a second letter, saying, “If you are really on my side and are willing to obey me, ¹  then take the heads of your master’s sons and come to me in Jezreel at this time tomorrow.” ²  Now the king had seventy sons, and the prominent ³  men of the city were raising them.

2 Raja-raja 23:8

23:8 He brought all the priests from the cities of Judah and ruined ⁴  the high places where the priests had offered sacrifices, from Geba to Beer Sheba. ⁵  He tore down the high place of the goat idols ⁶  situated at the entrance of the gate of Joshua, the city official, on the left side of the city gate.

[10:6]  ¹ tn Heb “If you are mine and you are listening to my voice.”

[10:6]  ² sn Jehu’s command is intentionally vague. Does he mean that they should bring the guardians (those who are “heads” over Ahab’s sons) for a meeting, or does he mean that they should bring the literal heads of Ahab’s sons with them? (So LXX, Syriac Peshitta, and some mss of the Targum) The city leaders interpret his words in the literal sense, but Jehu’s command is so ambiguous he is able to deny complicity in the executions (see v. 9).

[10:6]  ³ tn Heb “great,” probably in wealth, position, and prestige.

[23:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “defiled; desecrated,” that is, “made ritually unclean and unusable.”

[23:8]  ⁵ sn These towns marked Judah’s northern and southern borders, respectively, at the time of Josiah.

[23:8]  ⁶ tc The Hebrew text reads “the high places of the gates,” which is problematic in that the rest of the verse speaks of a specific gate. The translation assumes an emendation to בָּמוֹת הַשְּׁעָרִים (bamot hashÿ’arim), “the high place of the goats” (that is, goat idols). Worship of such images is referred to in Lev 17:7 and 2 Chr 11:15. For a discussion of the textual issue, see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 286-87.