2 Raja-raja 6:1--7:20
Konteks6:1 Some of the prophets 1 said to Elisha, “Look, the place where we meet with you 2 is too cramped 3 for us. 6:2 Let’s go to the Jordan. Each of us will get a log from there and we will build a meeting place for ourselves there.” He said, “Go.” 6:3 One of them said, “Please come along with your servants.” He replied, “All right, I’ll come.” 6:4 So he went with them. When they arrived at the Jordan, they started cutting down trees. 6:5 As one of them was felling a log, the ax head 4 dropped into the water. He shouted, “Oh no, 5 my master! It was borrowed!” 6:6 The prophet 6 asked, “Where did it drop in?” When he showed him the spot, Elisha 7 cut off a branch, threw it in at that spot, and made the ax head float. 6:7 He said, “Lift it out.” So he reached out his hand and grabbed it.
6:8 Now the king of Syria was at war with Israel. He consulted his advisers, who said, “Invade 8 at such and such 9 a place.” 6:9 But the prophet sent this message to the king of Israel, “Make sure you don’t pass through this place because Syria is invading there.” 6:10 So the king of Israel sent a message to the place the prophet had pointed out, warning it 10 to be on its guard. This happened on several occasions. 11 6:11 This made the king of Syria upset. 12 So he summoned his advisers 13 and said to them, “One of us must be helping the king of Israel.” 14 6:12 One of his advisers said, “No, my master, O king. The prophet Elisha who lives in Israel keeps telling the king of Israel the things you say in your bedroom.” 6:13 The king 15 ordered, “Go, find out where he is, so I can send some men to capture him.” 16 The king was told, “He is in Dothan.” 6:14 So he sent horses and chariots there, along with a good-sized army. 17 They arrived during the night and surrounded the city.
6:15 The prophet’s 18 attendant got up early in the morning. When he went outside there was an army surrounding the city, along with horses and chariots. He said to Elisha, 19 “Oh no, my master! What will we do?” 6:16 He replied, “Don’t be afraid, for our side outnumbers them.” 20 6:17 Then Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes so he can see.” The Lord opened the servant’s eyes and he saw that 21 the hill was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. 6:18 As they approached him, 22 Elisha prayed to the Lord, “Strike these people 23 with blindness.” 24 The Lord 25 struck them with blindness as Elisha requested. 26 6:19 Then Elisha said to them, “This is not the right road or city. Follow me, and I will lead you to the man you’re looking for.” He led them to Samaria. 27
6:20 When they had entered Samaria, Elisha said, “O Lord, open their eyes, so they can see.” The Lord opened their eyes and they saw that they were in the middle of Samaria. 28 6:21 When the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha, “Should I strike them down, 29 my master?” 30 6:22 He replied, “Do not strike them down! You did not capture them with your sword or bow, so what gives you the right to strike them down? 31 Give them some food and water, so they can eat and drink and then go back to their master.” 6:23 So he threw a big banquet 32 for them and they ate and drank. Then he sent them back 33 to their master. After that no Syrian raiding parties again invaded the land of Israel.
6:24 Later King Ben Hadad of Syria assembled his entire army and attacked 34 and besieged Samaria. 35 6:25 Samaria’s food supply ran out. 36 They laid siege to it so long that 37 a donkey’s head was selling for eighty shekels of silver 38 and a quarter of a kab 39 of dove’s droppings 40 for five shekels of silver. 41
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!” 6:27 He replied, “No, let the Lord help you. How can I help you? The threshing floor and winepress are empty.” 42 6:28 Then the king asked her, “What’s your problem?” She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Hand over your son; we’ll eat him today and then eat my son tomorrow.’ 6:29 So we boiled my son and ate him. Then I said to her the next day, ‘Hand over your son and we’ll eat him.’ But she hid her son!” 6:30 When the king heard what the woman said, he tore his clothes. As he was passing by on the wall, the people could see he was wearing sackcloth under his clothes. 43 6:31 Then he said, “May God judge me severely 44 if Elisha son of Shaphat still has his head by the end of the day!” 45
6:32 Now Elisha was sitting in his house with the community leaders. 46 The king 47 sent a messenger on ahead, but before he arrived, 48 Elisha 49 said to the leaders, 50 “Do you realize this assassin intends to cut off my head?” 51 Look, when the messenger arrives, shut the door and lean against it. His master will certainly be right behind him.” 52 6:33 He was still talking to them when 53 the messenger approached 54 and said, “Look, the Lord is responsible for this disaster! 55 Why should I continue to wait for the Lord to help?” 7:1 Elisha replied, “Hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Lord says, ‘About this time tomorrow a seah 56 of finely milled flour will sell for a shekel and two seahs of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria.’” 7:2 An officer who was the king’s right-hand man 57 responded to the prophet, 58 “Look, even if the Lord made it rain by opening holes in the sky, could this happen so soon?” 59 Elisha 60 said, “Look, you will see it happen with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of the food!” 61
7:3 Now four men with a skin disease 62 were sitting at the entrance of the city gate. They said to one another, “Why are we just sitting here waiting to die? 63 7:4 If we go into the city, we’ll die of starvation, 64 and if we stay here we’ll die! So come on, let’s defect 65 to the Syrian camp! If they spare us, 66 we’ll live; if they kill us – well, we were going to die anyway.” 67 7:5 So they started toward 68 the Syrian camp at dusk. When they reached the edge of the Syrian camp, there was no one there. 7:6 The Lord had caused the Syrian camp to hear the sound of chariots and horses and a large army. Then they said to one another, “Look, the king of Israel has paid the kings of the Hittites and Egypt to attack us!” 7:7 So they got up and fled at dusk, leaving behind their tents, horses, and donkeys. They left the camp as it was and ran for their lives. 7:8 When the men with a skin disease reached the edge of the camp, they entered a tent and had a meal. 69 They also took some silver, gold, and clothes and went and hid it all. 70 Then they went back and entered another tent. They looted it 71 and went and hid what they had taken. 7:9 Then they said to one another, “It’s not right what we’re doing! This is a day to celebrate, but we haven’t told anyone. 72 If we wait until dawn, 73 we’ll be punished. 74 So come on, let’s go and inform the royal palace.” 7:10 So they went and called out to the gatekeepers 75 of the city. They told them, “We entered the Syrian camp and there was no one there. We didn’t even hear a man’s voice. 76 But the horses and donkeys are still tied up, and the tents remain up.” 77 7:11 The gatekeepers relayed the news to the royal palace. 78
7:12 The king got up in the night and said to his advisers, 79 “I will tell you what the Syrians have done to us. They know we are starving, so they left the camp and hid in the field, thinking, ‘When they come out of the city, we will capture them alive and enter the city.’” 7:13 One of his advisers replied, “Pick some men and have them take five of the horses that are left in the city. (Even if they are killed, their fate will be no different than that of all the Israelite people – we’re all going to die!) 80 Let’s send them out so we can know for sure what’s going on.” 81 7:14 So they picked two horsemen and the king sent them out to track the Syrian army. 82 He ordered them, “Go and find out what’s going on.” 83 7:15 So they tracked them 84 as far as the Jordan. The road was filled with clothes and equipment that the Syrians had discarded in their haste. 85 The scouts 86 went back and told the king. 7:16 Then the people went out and looted the Syrian camp. A seah 87 of finely milled flour sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, just as the Lord had said they would. 88
7:17 Now the king had placed the officer who was his right-hand man 89 at the city gate. When the people rushed out, they trampled him to death in the gate. 90 This fulfilled the prophet’s word which he had spoken when the king tried to arrest him. 91 7:18 The prophet told the king, “Two seahs of barley will sell for a shekel, and a seah of finely milled flour for a shekel; this will happen about this time tomorrow in the gate of Samaria.” 7:19 But the officer replied to the prophet, “Look, even if the Lord made it rain by opening holes in the sky, could this happen so soon?” 92 Elisha 93 said, “Look, you will see it happen with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of the food!” 94 7:20 This is exactly what happened to him. The people trampled him to death in the city gate.
[6:1] 1 tn Heb “the sons of the prophets.”
[6:1] 2 tn Heb “sit before you.”
[6:1] 3 tn Heb “narrow, tight.”
[6:6] 6 tn Heb “man of God” (also in v. 9).
[6:6] 7 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[6:8] 8 tc The verb form used here is difficult to analyze. On the basis of the form נְחִתִּים (nÿkhitim) in v. 9 from the root נָחַת (nakhat), it is probably best to emend the verb to תִּנְחְתוּ (tinkhÿtu; a Qal imperfect form from the same root). The verb נָחַת in at least two other instances carries the nuance “go down, descend” in a military context. For a defense of this view, see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 72.
[6:8] 9 sn The advisers would have mentioned a specific location, but the details are not significant to the narrator’s purpose, so he simply paraphrases here.
[6:10] 10 tn The vav + perfect here indicates action contemporary with the preceding main verb (“sent”). See IBHS 533-34 §32.2.3e.
[6:10] 11 tn Heb “and the king of Israel sent to the place about which the man of God spoke to him, and he warned it and he guarded himself there, not once and not twice.”
[6:11] 12 tn Heb “and the heart of the king of Syria was stirred up over this thing.”
[6:11] 14 tn Heb “Will you not tell me who among us [is] for the king of Israel?” The sarcastic rhetorical question expresses the king’s suspicion.
[6:13] 15 tn Heb “he” (also a second time in this verse); the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[6:13] 16 tn Heb “Go and see where he [is] so I can send and take him.”
[6:14] 17 tn Heb “heavy force.”
[6:15] 18 tn Heb “man of God’s.”
[6:15] 19 tn Heb “his young servant said to him.”
[6:16] 20 tn Heb “for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”
[6:17] 21 tn Heb “and he saw, and look.”
[6:18] 22 tn Heb “and they came down to him.”
[6:18] 23 tn Or “this nation,” perhaps emphasizing the strength of the Syrian army.
[6:18] 24 tn On the basis of the Akkadian etymology of the word, M. Cogan and H. Tadmor (II Kings [AB], 74) translate “blinding light.” HALOT 761 s.v. סַנְוֵרִים suggests the glosses “dazzling, deception.”
[6:18] 25 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the
[6:18] 26 tn Heb “according to the word of Elisha.”
[6:19] 27 map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.
[6:20] 28 tn Heb “and they saw, and look, [they were] in the middle of Samaria.”
[6:21] 29 tn Heb “Should I strike them down? I will strike them down.” In the Hebrew text the first person imperfect form is repeated; the first form has the interrogative he prefixed to it; the second does not. It is likely that the second form should be omitted as dittographic or that the first should be emended to an infinitive absolute.
[6:21] 30 tn Heb “my father.” The king addresses the prophet in this way to indicate his respect. See 2 Kgs 2:12.
[6:22] 31 tn Heb “Are [they] ones you captured with your sword or your bow (that) you can strike (them) down?”
[6:23] 32 tn Or “held a great feast.”
[6:23] 33 tn Heb “they went back.”
[6:24] 35 map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.
[6:25] 36 tn Heb “and there was a great famine in Samaria.”
[6:25] 37 tn Heb “and look, [they] were besieging it until.”
[6:25] 38 tn Heb “eighty, silver.” The unit of measurement is omitted.
[6:25] 39 sn A kab was a unit of dry measure, equivalent to approximately one quart.
[6:25] 40 tn The consonantal text (Kethib) reads, “dove dung” (חֲרֵייוֹנִים, khareyonim), while the marginal reading (Qere) has “discharge” (דִּבְיוֹנִים, divyonim). Based on evidence from Akkadian, M. Cogan and H. Tadmor (II Kings [AB], 79) suggest that “dove’s dung” was a popular name for the inedible husks of seeds.
[6:25] 41 tn Heb “five, silver.” The unit of measurement is omitted.
[6:27] 42 tn Heb “From where can I help you, from the threshing floor or the winepress?” The rhetorical question expresses the king’s frustration. He has no grain or wine to give to the masses.
[6:30] 43 tn Heb “the people saw, and look, [there was] sackcloth against his skin underneath.”
[6:31] 44 tn Heb “So may God do to me, and so may he add.”
[6:31] 45 tn Heb “if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat stays on him today.”
[6:32] 46 tn Heb “and the elders were sitting with him.”
[6:32] 47 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[6:32] 48 tn Heb “sent a man from before him, before the messenger came to him.”
[6:32] 49 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[6:32] 51 tn Heb “Do you see that this son of an assassin has sent to remove my head?”
[6:32] 52 tn Heb “Is not the sound of his master’s footsteps behind him?”
[6:33] 53 tn The Hebrew text also has “look” here.
[6:33] 54 tn Heb “came down to him.”
[6:33] 55 tn Heb “Look, this is a disaster from the
[7:1] 56 sn A seah was a dry measure equivalent to about 7 quarts.
[7:2] 57 tn Heb “the officer on whose hand the king leans.”
[7:2] 59 tn Heb “the
[7:2] 60 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[7:2] 61 tn Heb “you will not eat from there.”
[7:3] 62 sn See the note at 2 Kgs 5:1.
[7:3] 63 tn Heb “until we die.”
[7:4] 64 tn Heb “If we say, ‘We will enter the city,’ the famine is in the city and we will die there.”
[7:4] 66 tn Heb “keep us alive.”
[7:4] 67 tn Heb “we will die.” The paraphrastic translation attempts to bring out the logical force of their reasoning.
[7:5] 68 tn Heb “they arose to go to.”
[7:8] 69 tn Heb “they ate and drank.”
[7:8] 70 tn Heb “and they hid [it].”
[7:8] 71 tn Heb “and they took from there.”
[7:9] 72 tn Heb “this day is a day of good news and we are keeping silent.”
[7:9] 73 tn Heb “the light of the morning.”
[7:9] 74 tn Heb “punishment will find us.”
[7:10] 75 tn The MT has a singular form (“gatekeeper”), but the context suggests a plural. The pronoun that follows (“them”) is plural and a plural noun appears in v. 11. The Syriac Peshitta and the Targum have the plural here.
[7:10] 76 tn Heb “and, look, there was no man or voice of a man there.”
[7:10] 77 tn Heb “but the horses are tied up and the donkeys are tied up and the tents are as they were.”
[7:11] 78 tn Heb “and the gatekeepers called out and they told [it] to the house of the king.”
[7:12] 79 tn Heb “servants” (also in v. 13).
[7:13] 80 tn Heb “Let them take five of the remaining horses that remain in it. Look, they are like all the people of Israel that remain in it. Look, they are like all the people of Israel that have come to an end.” The MT is dittographic here; the words “that remain in it. Look they are like all the people of Israel” have been accidentally repeated. The original text read, “Let them take five of the remaining horses that remain in it. Look, they are like all the people of Israel that have come to an end.”
[7:13] 81 tn Heb “and let us send so we might see.”
[7:14] 82 tn Heb “and the king sent [them] after the Syrian camp.”
[7:14] 83 tn Heb “Go and see.”
[7:15] 84 tn Heb “went after.”
[7:15] 85 tn Heb “and look, all the road was full of clothes and equipment that Syria had thrown away in their haste.”
[7:16] 87 sn A seah was a dry measure equivalent to about 7 quarts.
[7:16] 88 tn Heb “according to the word of the
[7:17] 89 tn Heb “the officer on whose hand he leans.”
[7:17] 90 tn Heb “and the people trampled him in the gate and he died.”
[7:17] 91 tn Heb “just as the man of God had spoken, [the word] which he spoke when the king came down to him.”
[7:19] 92 tn Heb “the
[7:19] 93 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[7:19] 94 tn Heb “you will not eat from there.”
[7:19] tn In the Hebrew text vv. 18-19a are one lengthy sentence, “When the man of God spoke to the king…, the officer replied to the man of God, ‘Look…so soon?’” The translation divides this sentence up for stylistic reasons.
