2 Raja-raja 2:16

2:16 They said to him, “Look, there are fifty capable men with your servants. Let them go and look for your master, for the wind sent from the Lord ¹  may have carried him away and dropped him on one of the hills or in one of the valleys.” But Elisha ²  replied, “Don’t send them out.”

2 Raja-raja 3:13

3:13 Elisha said to the king of Israel, “Why are you here? ³  Go to your father’s prophets or your mother’s prophets!” The king of Israel replied to him, “No, for the Lord is the one who summoned these three kings so that he can hand them over to Moab.”

2 Raja-raja 3:25

3:25 They tore down the cities and each man threw a stone into every cultivated field until they were covered. ⁴  They stopped up every spring and chopped down every productive tree.

Only Kir Hareseth was left intact, ⁵  but the slingers surrounded it and attacked it.

2 Raja-raja 4:31

4:31 Now Gehazi went on ahead of them. He placed the staff on the child’s face, but there was no sound or response. When he came back to Elisha ⁶  he told him, “The child did not wake up.”

2 Raja-raja 5:13

5:13 His servants approached and said to him, “O master, ⁷  if the prophet had told you to do some difficult task, ⁸  you would have been willing to do it. ⁹  It seems you should be happy that he simply said, “Wash and you will be healed.” ¹⁰ 

2 Raja-raja 5:26

5:26 Elisha ¹¹  replied, “I was there in spirit when a man turned and got down from his chariot to meet you. ¹²  This is not the proper time to accept silver or to accept clothes, olive groves, vineyards, sheep, cattle, and male and female servants. ¹³ 

2 Raja-raja 6:26

6:26 While the king of Israel was passing by on the city wall, a woman shouted to him, “Help us, my master, O king!”

2 Raja-raja 7:1

7:1 Elisha replied, “Hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Lord says, ‘About this time tomorrow a seah ¹⁴  of finely milled flour will sell for a shekel and two seahs of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria.’”

2 Raja-raja 7:17

7:17 Now the king had placed the officer who was his right-hand man ¹⁵  at the city gate. When the people rushed out, they trampled him to death in the gate. ¹⁶  This fulfilled the prophet’s word which he had spoken when the king tried to arrest him. ¹⁷ 

2 Raja-raja 10:19

10:19 So now, bring to me all the prophets of Baal, as well as all his servants and priests. ¹⁸  None of them must be absent, for I am offering a great sacrifice to Baal. Any of them who fail to appear will lose their lives.” But Jehu was tricking them ¹⁹  so he could destroy the servants of Baal.

2 Raja-raja 11:15

11:15 Jehoiada the priest ordered the officers of the units of hundreds, who were in charge of the army, ²⁰  “Bring her outside the temple to the guards. ²¹  Put the sword to anyone who follows her.” The priest gave this order because he had decided she should not be executed in the Lord’s temple. ²² 

2 Raja-raja 12:4

12:4 Jehoash said to the priests, “I place at your disposal ²³  all the consecrated silver that has been brought to the Lord’s temple, including the silver collected from the census tax, ²⁴  the silver received from those who have made vows, ²⁵  and all the silver that people have voluntarily contributed to the Lord’s temple. ²⁶ 

2 Raja-raja 14:25

14:25 He restored the border of Israel from Lebo Hamath in the north to the sea of the Arabah in the south, ²⁷  in accordance with the word of the Lord God of Israel announced through ²⁸  his servant Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath Hepher.

2 Raja-raja 15:29

15:29 During Pekah’s reign over Israel, King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria came and captured Ijon, Abel Beth Maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, ²⁹  Gilead, and Galilee, including all the territory of Naphtali. He deported the people ³⁰  to Assyria.

2 Raja-raja 16:7

16:7 Ahaz sent messengers to King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your dependent. ³¹  March up and rescue me from the power ³²  of the king of Syria and the king of Israel, who have attacked ³³  me.”

2 Raja-raja 16:17

16:17 King Ahaz took off the frames of the movable stands, and removed the basins from them. He took “The Sea” ³⁴  down from the bronze bulls that supported it ³⁵  and put it on the pavement.

2 Raja-raja 17:15

17:15 They rejected his rules, the covenant he had made with their ancestors, and the laws he had commanded them to obey. ³⁶  They paid allegiance to ³⁷  worthless idols, and so became worthless to the Lord. ³⁸  They copied the practices of the surrounding nations in blatant disregard of the Lord’s command. ³⁹ 

2 Raja-raja 17:23

17:23 Finally ⁴⁰  the Lord rejected Israel ⁴¹  just as he had warned he would do ⁴²  through all his servants the prophets. Israel was deported from its land to Assyria and remains there to this very day.

2 Raja-raja 18:31

18:31 Don’t listen to Hezekiah!’ For this is what the king of Assyria says, ‘Send me a token of your submission and surrender to me. ⁴³  Then each of you may eat from his own vine and fig tree and drink water from his own cistern,

2 Raja-raja 19:23

19:23 Through your messengers you taunted the sovereign master, ⁴⁴ 

‘With my many chariots ⁴⁵ 

I climbed up the high mountains,

the slopes of Lebanon.

I cut down its tall cedars,

and its best evergreens.

I invaded its most remote regions, ⁴⁶ 

its thickest woods.

2 Raja-raja 19:29

19:29 ⁴⁷ This will be your confirmation that I have spoken the truth: ⁴⁸  This year you will eat what grows wild, ⁴⁹  and next year ⁵⁰  what grows on its own from that. But in the third year you will plant seed and harvest crops; you will plant vines and consume their produce. ⁵¹ 

2 Raja-raja 20:5

20:5 “Go back and tell Hezekiah, the leader of my people: ‘This is what the Lord God of your ancestor David says: “I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Look, I will heal you. The day after tomorrow ⁵²  you will go up to the Lord’s temple.

2 Raja-raja 21:6

21:6 He passed his son ⁵³  through the fire ⁵⁴  and practiced divination and omen reading. He set up a ritual pit to conjure up underworld spirits, and appointed magicians to supervise it. ⁵⁵  He did a great amount of evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger. ⁵⁶ 

2 Raja-raja 21:8

21:8 I will not make Israel again leave the land I gave to their ancestors, ⁵⁷  provided that they carefully obey all I commanded them, the whole law my servant Moses ordered them to obey.”

2 Raja-raja 22:9

22:9 Shaphan the scribe went to the king and reported, ⁵⁸  “Your servants melted down the silver in the temple ⁵⁹  and handed it over to the construction foremen assigned to the Lord’s temple.”

2 Raja-raja 23:15

23:15 He also tore down the altar in Bethel ⁶⁰  at the high place made by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who encouraged Israel to sin. ⁶¹  He burned all the combustible items at that high place and crushed them to dust; including the Asherah pole. ⁶² 

2 Raja-raja 23:25

23:25 No king before or after repented before the Lord as he did, with his whole heart, soul, and being in accordance with the whole law of Moses. ⁶³ 

2 Raja-raja 24:13

24:13 Nebuchadnezzar ⁶⁴  took from there all the riches in the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and of the royal palace. He removed all the gold items which King Solomon of Israel had made for the Lord’s temple, just as the Lord had warned.

[2:16]  ¹ tn Or “the spirit of the Lord.”

[2:16]  ² tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:13]  ³ tn Or “What do we have in common?” The text reads literally, “What to me and to you?”

[3:25]  ⁴ tn Heb “and [on] every good portion they were throwing each man his stone and they filled it.” The vav + perfect (“and they filled”) here indicates customary action contemporary with the situation described in the preceding main clause (where a customary imperfect is used, “they were throwing”). See the note at 3:4.

[3:25]  ⁵ tn Heb “until he had allowed its stones to remain in Kir Hareseth.”

[4:31]  ⁶ tn Heb “to meet him.”

[5:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “my father,” reflecting the perspective of each individual servant. To address their master as “father” would emphasize his authority and express their respect. See BDB 3 s.v. אָב and the similar idiomatic use of “father” in 2 Kgs 2:12.

[5:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “a great thing.”

[5:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “would you not do [it]?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course you would.”

[5:13]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “How much more [when] he said, “Wash and be healed.” The second imperative (“be healed”) states the expected result of obeying the first (‘wash”).

[5:26]  ¹¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:26]  ¹² tn Heb “Did not my heart go as a man turned from his chariot to meet you?” The rhetorical question emphasizes that he was indeed present in “heart” (or “spirit”) and was very much aware of what Gehazi had done. In the MT the interrogative particle has been accidentally omitted before the negative particle.

[5:26]  ¹³ tn In the MT the statement is phrased as a rhetorical question, “Is this the time…?” It expects an emphatic negative response.

[7:1]  ¹⁴ sn A seah was a dry measure equivalent to about 7 quarts.

[7:17]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the officer on whose hand he leans.”

[7:17]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and the people trampled him in the gate and he died.”

[7:17]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “just as the man of God had spoken, [the word] which he spoke when the king came down to him.”

[10:19]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and now, all the prophets of Baal, all his servants and all his priests summon to me.”

[10:19]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “acted with deception [or, ‘trickery’].”

[11:15]  ²⁰ tn The Hebrew text also has, “and said to them.” This is redundant in English and has not been translated.

[11:15]  ²¹ tn Heb “ranks.”

[11:15]  ²² tn Heb “for the priest had said, ‘Let her not be put to death in the house of the Lord.’”

[12:4]  ²³ tn The words “I place at your disposal” are added in the translation for clarification.

[12:4]  ²⁴ tn Heb “the silver of passing over a man.” The precise meaning of the phrase is debated, but עָבַר (’avar), “pass over,” probably refers here to counting, suggesting the reference is to a census conducted for taxation purposes. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 137.

[12:4]  ²⁵ tn Heb “the silver of persons, his valuation.” The precise meaning of the phrase is uncertain, but parallels in Lev 27 suggest that personal vows are referred to here. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 137.

[12:4]  ²⁶ tn Heb “all the silver which goes up on the heart of a man to bring to the house of the Lord.”

[14:25]  ²⁷ tn The phrases “in the north” and “in the south” are added in the translation for clarification.

[14:25]  ²⁸ tn Heb “which he spoke by the hand of.”

[15:29]  ²⁹ map For location see Map1 D2; Map2 D3; Map3 A2; Map4 C1.

[15:29]  ³⁰ tn Heb “them.”

[16:7]  ³¹ tn Heb “son.” Both terms (“servant” and “son”) reflect Ahaz’s subordinate position as Tiglath-pileser’s subject.

[16:7]  ³² tn Heb “hand, palm.”

[16:7]  ³³ tn Heb “who have arisen against.”

[16:17]  ³⁴ sn See the note at 1 Kgs 7:23.

[16:17]  ³⁵ tn Heb “that [were] under it.”

[17:15]  ³⁶ tn Or “and his warnings he had given them.”

[17:15]  ³⁷ tn Heb “They went [or, ‘followed’] after.” This idiom probably does not mean much if translated literally. It is found most often in Deuteronomy or in literature related to the covenant. It refers in the first instance to loyalty to God and to His covenant or His commandments (1 Kgs 14:8; 2 Chr 34:31) with the metaphor of a path or way underlying it (Deut 11:28; 28:14). To “follow other gods” was to abandon this way and this loyalty (to “abandon” or “forget” God, Judg 2:12; Hos 2:13) and to follow the customs or religious traditions of the pagan nations (2 Kgs 17:15). The classic text on “following” God or another god is 1 Kgs 18:18, 21 where Elijah taunts the people with “halting between two opinions” whether the Lord was the true God or Baal was. The idiom is often found followed by “to serve and to worship” or “they served and worshiped” such and such a god or entity (Jer 8:2; 11:10; 13:10; 16:11; 25:6; 35:15).

[17:15]  ³⁸ tn Heb “they followed after the worthless thing/things and became worthless.” The words “to the Lord” are not in the Hebrew text but are implicit from the context. There is an obvious wordplay on the verb “became worthless” and the noun “worthless thing”, which is probably to be understood collectively and to refer to idols as it does in Jer 8:19; 10:8; 14:22; Jonah 2:8.

[17:15]  ³⁹ tn Heb “and [they walked] after the nations which were around them, concerning which the Lord commanded them not to do like them.”

[17:23]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “until.”

[17:23]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “the Lord turned Israel away from his face.”

[17:23]  ⁴² tn Heb “just as he said.”

[18:31]  ⁴³ tn Heb “make with me a blessing and come out to me.”

[19:23]  ⁴⁴ tn The word is אֲדֹנָי (’adonai), “lord,” but some Hebrew mss have יְהוָה (yehvah), “Lord.”

[19:23]  ⁴⁵ tc The consonantal text (Kethib) has בְּרֶכֶב (bÿrekhev), but this must be dittographic (note the following רִכְבִּי [rikhbi], “my chariots”). The marginal reading (Qere) בְּרֹב (bÿrov), “with many,” is supported by many Hebrew mss and ancient versions, as well as the parallel passage in Isa 37:24.

[19:23]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “the lodging place of its extremity.”

[19:29]  ⁴⁷ tn At this point the word concerning the king of Assyria (vv. 21-28) ends and the Lord again directly addresses Hezekiah and the people (see v. 20).

[19:29]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “and this is your sign.” In this case the אוֹת (’ot), “sign,” is a future confirmation of God’s intervention designated before the actual intervention takes place. For similar “signs” see Exod 3:12 and Isa 7:14-25.

[19:29]  ⁴⁹ sn This refers to crops that grew up on their own (that is, without cultivation) from the seed planted in past years.

[19:29]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “and in the second year.”

[19:29]  ⁵¹ tn The four plural imperatival verb forms in v. 29b are used rhetorically. The Lord commands the people to plant, harvest, etc. to emphasize the certainty of restored peace and prosperity. See IBHS 572 §34.4.c.

[20:5]  ⁵² tn Heb “on the third day.”

[21:6]  ⁵³ tc The LXX has the plural “his sons” here.

[21:6]  ⁵⁴ sn See the note at 2 Kgs 16:3.

[21:6]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “and he set up a ritual pit, along with conjurers.” The Hebrew אוֹב (’ov), “ritual pit,” refers to a pit used by a magician to conjure up underworld spirits. In 1 Sam 28:7 the witch of Endor is called a בַעֲלַת אוֹב (ba’alat ’ov), “owner of a ritual pit.” See H. Hoffner, “Second millennium Antecedents to the Hebrew ’OñBù,” JBL 86 (1967), 385-401.

[21:6]  ⁵⁶ tc Heb “and he multiplied doing what is evil in the eyes of the Lord, angering.” The third masculine singular pronominal suffix (“him”) has been accidentally omitted in the MT by haplography (note the vav that immediately follows).

[21:8]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “I will not again make the feet of Israel wander from the land which I gave to their fathers.”

[22:9]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “returned the king a word and said.”

[22:9]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “that was found in the house.”

[23:15]  ⁶⁰ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[23:15]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “And also the altar that is in Bethel, the high place that Jeroboam son of Nebat who encouraged Israel to sin, also that altar and the high place he tore down.” The more repetitive Hebrew text is emphatic.

[23:15]  ⁶² tn Heb “he burned the high place, crushing to dust, and he burned the Asherah pole.” High places per se are never referred to as being burned elsewhere. בָּמָה (bamah) here stands by metonymy for the combustible items located on the high place. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 289.

[23:25]  ⁶³ tn Heb “and like him there was not a king before him who returned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his being according to all the law of Moses, and after him none arose like him.”

[23:25]  sn The description of Josiah’s devotion as involving his whole “heart, soul, and being” echoes the language of Deut 6:5.

[24:13]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Nebuchadnezzar) has been specified in the translation for clarity.