2 Raja-raja 1:15

1:15 The Lord’s angelic messenger said to Elijah, “Go down with him. Don’t be afraid of him.” So he got up and went down ¹  with him to the king.

2 Raja-raja 3:10

3:10 The king of Israel said, “Oh no! ²  Certainly the Lord has summoned these three kings so that he can hand them over to the king of Moab!”

2 Raja-raja 3:15

3:15 But now, get me a musician.” ³  When the musician played, the Lord energized him, ⁴ 

2 Raja-raja 3:18

3:18 This is an easy task for the Lord; ⁵  he will also hand Moab over to you.

2 Raja-raja 8:10

8:10 Elisha said to him, “Go and tell him, ‘You will surely recover,’ ⁶  but the Lord has revealed to me that he will surely die.”

2 Raja-raja 10:16

10:16 Jehu ⁷  said, “Come with me and see how zealous I am for the Lord’s cause.” ⁸  So he ⁹  took him along in his chariot.

2 Raja-raja 10:31

10:31 But Jehu did not carefully and wholeheartedly obey the law of the Lord God of Israel. ¹⁰  He did not repudiate the sins which Jeroboam had encouraged Israel to commit. ¹¹ 

2 Raja-raja 14:3

14:3 He did what the Lord approved, ¹²  but not like David his father. He followed the example of his father Joash. ¹³ 

2 Raja-raja 14:26-27

14:26 The Lord saw Israel’s intense suffering; ¹⁴  everyone was weak and incapacitated and Israel had no deliverer. ¹⁵  14:27 The Lord had not decreed that he would blot out Israel’s memory ¹⁶  from under heaven, ¹⁷  so he delivered them through Jeroboam son of Joash.

2 Raja-raja 15:24

15:24 He did evil in the sight of ¹⁸  the Lord; he did not repudiate ¹⁹  the sinful ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat who encouraged Israel to sin.

2 Raja-raja 15:28

15:28 He did evil in the sight of ²⁰  the Lord; he did not repudiate ²¹  the sinful ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat who encouraged Israel to sin.

2 Raja-raja 17:8

17:8 they observed the practices ²²  of the nations whom the Lord had driven out from before Israel, and followed the example of the kings of Israel. ²³ 

2 Raja-raja 17:33

17:33 They were worshiping ²⁴  the Lord and at the same time serving their own gods in accordance with the practices of the nations from which they had been deported.

2 Raja-raja 18:35

18:35 Who among all the gods of the lands has rescued their lands from my power? So how can the Lord rescue Jerusalem from my power?’” ²⁵ 

2 Raja-raja 22:15

22:15 and she said to them: “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘Say this to the man who sent you to me:

[1:15]  ¹ sn In this third panel the verb “come down” (יָרַד, yarad) occurs again, this time describing Elijah’s descent from the hill at the Lord’s command. The moral of the story seems clear: Those who act as if they have authority over God and his servants just may pay for their arrogance with their lives; those who, like the third commander, humble themselves and show the proper respect for God’s authority and for his servants will be spared and find God quite cooperative.

[3:10]  ² tn Or “ah.”

[3:15]  ³ tn The term used refers to one who plays a stringed instrument, perhaps a harp.

[3:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “the hand of the Lord came on him.” This may refer to what typically happened, “[for] when a musician played, the hand of the Lord would come upon him.”

[3:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “and this is easy in the eyes of the Lord.”

[8:10]  ⁶ tc The consonantal text (Kethib) reads, “Go, say, ‘Surely you will not (לֹא, lo’) recover” In this case the vav beginning the next clause should be translated, “for, because.” The marginal reading (Qere) has, “Go, say to him (לוֹ, lo), ‘You will surely recover.” In this case the vav (ו) beginning the next clause should be translated, “although, but.” The Qere has the support of some medieval Hebrew mss and the ancient versions, and is consistent with v. 14, where Hazael tells the king, “You will surely recover.” It is possible that a scribe has changed לוֹ, “to him,” to לֹא, “not,” because he felt that Elisha would not lie to the king. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 90. Another possibility is that a scribe has decided to harmonize Elisha’s message with Hazael’s words in v. 14. But it is possible that Hazael, once he found out he would become the next king, decided to lie to the king to facilitate his assassination plot by making the king feel secure.

[10:16]  ⁷ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jehu) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:16]  ⁸ tn Heb “and see my zeal for the Lord.”

[10:16]  ⁹ tc The MT has a plural form, but this is most likely an error. The LXX, Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate all have the singular.

[10:31]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “But Jehu was not careful to walk in the law of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart.”

[10:31]  ¹¹ tn Heb “He did not turn aside from the sins of Jeroboam which he caused Israel to commit.”

[14:3]  ¹² tn Heb “he did what was proper in the eyes of the Lord.”

[14:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “according to all which Joash his father had done, he did.”

[14:26]  ¹⁴ tc Heb “for the Lord saw the very bitter affliction of Israel.” This translation assumes an emendation of מֹרֶה (moreh), which is meaningless here, to ַהמַּר (hammar), the adjective “bitter” functioning attributively with the article prefixed. This emendation is supported by the LXX, Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate. Another option would be מַר הוּא (mar hu’), “it was bitter.”

[14:26]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “[there was] none but the restrained, and [there was] none but the abandoned, and there was no deliverer for Israel.” On the meaning of the terms עָצוּר (’atsur) and עָזוּב (’azur), see the note at 1 Kgs 14:10.

[14:27]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “name.”

[14:27]  ¹⁷ tn The phrase “from under heaven” adds emphasis to the verb “blot out” and suggest total annihilation. For other examples of the verb מָחָה (makhah), “blot out,” combined with “from under heaven,” see Exod 17:14; Deut 9:14; 25:19; 29:20.

[15:24]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “in the eyes of.”

[15:24]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “turn away from.”

[15:28]  ²⁰ tn Heb “in the eyes of.”

[15:28]  ²¹ tn Heb “turn away from.”

[17:8]  ²² tn Heb “walked in the customs.”

[17:8]  ²³ tn Heb “and [the practices of] the kings of Israel which they did.”

[17:33]  ²⁴ tn Heb “fearing.”

[18:35]  ²⁵ tn Heb “that the Lord might rescue Jerusalem from my hand?” The logic runs as follows: Since no god has ever been able to withstand the Assyrian onslaught, how can the people of Jerusalem possibly think the Lord will rescue them?