2 Raja-raja 5:12

5:12 The rivers of Damascus, the Abana and Pharpar, are better than any of the waters of Israel! ¹  Could I not wash in them and be healed?” So he turned around and went away angry.

2 Raja-raja 8:7

Elisha Meets with Hazael

8:7 Elisha traveled to Damascus while King Ben Hadad of Syria was sick. The king ²  was told, “The prophet ³  has come here.”

2 Raja-raja 8:9

8:9 So Hazael went to visit Elisha. ⁴  He took along a gift, ⁵  as well as ⁶  forty camel loads of all the fine things of Damascus. When he arrived, he stood before him and said, “Your son, ⁷  King Ben Hadad of Syria, has sent me to you with this question, ⁸  ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’”

2 Raja-raja 14:28

14:28 The rest of the events of Jeroboam’s reign, including all his accomplishments, his military success in restoring Israelite control over Damascus and Hamath, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel. ⁹ 

2 Raja-raja 16:5-12

16:5 At that time King Rezin of Syria and King Pekah son of Remaliah of Israel attacked Jerusalem. ¹⁰  They besieged Ahaz, ¹¹  but were unable to conquer him. ¹²  16:6 (At that time King Rezin of Syria ¹³  recovered Elat for Syria; he drove the Judahites from there. ¹⁴  Syrians ¹⁵  arrived in Elat and live there to this very day.) 16:7 Ahaz sent messengers to King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your dependent. ¹⁶  March up and rescue me from the power ¹⁷  of the king of Syria and the king of Israel, who have attacked ¹⁸  me.” 16:8 Then Ahaz took the silver and gold that were ¹⁹  in the Lord’s temple and in the treasuries of the royal palace and sent it as tribute ²⁰  to the king of Assyria. 16:9 The king of Assyria responded favorably to his request; ²¹  he ²²  attacked Damascus and captured it. He deported the people ²³  to Kir and executed Rezin.

16:10 When King Ahaz went to meet with King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria in Damascus, he saw the altar there. ²⁴  King Ahaz sent to Uriah the priest a drawing of the altar and a blueprint for its design. ²⁵  16:11 Uriah the priest built an altar in conformity to the plans King Ahaz had sent from Damascus. ²⁶  Uriah the priest finished it before King Ahaz arrived back from Damascus. ²⁷  16:12 When the king arrived back from Damascus and ²⁸  saw the altar, he approached it ²⁹  and offered a sacrifice on it. ³⁰ 

[5:12]  ¹ tn Heb “Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all of the waters of Israel?” The rhetorical question expects an emphatic “yes” as an answer.

[8:7]  ² tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:7]  ³ tn Heb “man of God” (also a second time in this verse and in v. 11).

[8:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:9]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew text also has “in his hand.”

[8:9]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ sn The words “your son” emphasize the king’s respect for the prophet.

[8:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “saying.”

[14:28]  ⁹ tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Jeroboam, and all which he did and his strength, [and] how he fought and how he restored Damascus and Hamath to Judah in Israel, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel?” The phrase “to Judah” is probably not original; it may be a scribal addition by a Judahite scribe who was trying to link Jeroboam’s conquests with the earlier achievements of David and Solomon, who ruled in Judah. The Syriac Peshitta has simply “to Israel.” M. Cogan and H. Tadmor (II Kings [AB], 162) offer this proposal, but acknowledge that it is “highly speculative.”

[16:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “went up to Jerusalem for battle.”

[16:5]  ¹¹ tn That is, Jerusalem, Ahaz’s capital city.

[16:5]  ¹² tn Heb “they were unable to fight.” The object must be supplied from the preceding sentence. Elsewhere when the Niphal infinitive of לָחָם (lakham) follows the verb יָכֹל (yakhol), the infinitive appears to have the force of “prevail against.” See Num 22:11; 1 Sam 17:9; and the parallel passage in Isa 7:1.

[16:6]  ¹³ tc Some prefer to read “the king of Edom” and “for Edom” here. The names Syria (Heb “Aram,” אֲרָם, ’aram) and Edom (אֱדֹם, ’edom) are easily confused in the Hebrew consonantal script.

[16:6]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “from Elat.”

[16:6]  ¹⁵ tc The consonantal text (Kethib), supported by many medieval Hebrew mss, the Syriac version, and some mss of the Targum and Vulgate, read “Syrians” (Heb “Arameans”). The marginal reading (Qere), supported by the LXX, Targums, and Vulgate, reads “Edomites.”

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

[16:7]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “hand, palm.”

[16:7]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “who have arisen against.”

[16:8]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “that was found.”

[16:8]  ²⁰ tn Or “bribe money.”

[16:9]  ²¹ tn Heb “listened to him.”

[16:9]  ²² tn Heb “the king of Assyria.”

[16:9]  ²³ tn Heb “it.”

[16:10]  ²⁴ tn Heb “in Damascus.”

[16:10]  ²⁵ tn Heb “the likeness of the altar and its pattern for all its work.”

[16:11]  ²⁶ tn Heb “according to all that King Ahaz sent from Damascus.”

[16:11]  ²⁷ tn Heb “so Uriah the priest did, until the arrival of King Ahaz from Damascus.”

[16:12]  ²⁸ tn Heb “and the king.”

[16:12]  ²⁹ tn Heb “the altar.”

[16:12]  ³⁰ tn Or “ascended it.”