2 Raja-raja 2:14

2:14 He took the cloak that had fallen off Elijah, ¹  hit the water with it, and said, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” When he hit the water, it divided and Elisha crossed over.

2 Raja-raja 2:21

2:21 He went out to the spring and threw the salt in. Then he said, “This is what the Lord says, ‘I have purified ²  this water. It will no longer cause death or fail to produce crops.” ³ 

2 Raja-raja 2:23

2:23 He went up from there to Bethel. ⁴  As he was traveling up the road, some young boys ⁵  came out of the city and made fun of him, saying, “Go on up, baldy! Go on up, baldy!”

2 Raja-raja 3:23

3:23 The Moabites ⁶  said, “It’s blood! The kings are totally destroyed! ⁷  They have struck one another down! Now, Moab, seize the plunder!”

2 Raja-raja 4:22-23

4:22 She called to her husband, “Send me one of the servants and one of the donkeys, so I can go see the prophet quickly and then return.” 4:23 He said, “Why do you want to go see him today? It is not the new moon ⁸  or the Sabbath.” She said, “Everything’s fine.” ⁹ 

2 Raja-raja 6:8

Elisha Defeats an Army

6:8 Now the king of Syria was at war with Israel. He consulted his advisers, who said, “Invade ¹⁰  at such and such ¹¹  a place.”

2 Raja-raja 9:1

Jehu Becomes King

9:1 Now Elisha the prophet summoned a member of the prophetic guild ¹²  and told him, “Tuck your robes into your belt, take this container ¹³  of olive oil in your hand, and go to Ramoth Gilead.

2 Raja-raja 9:11

9:11 When Jehu rejoined ¹⁴  his master’s servants, they ¹⁵  asked him, “Is everything all right? ¹⁶  Why did this madman visit you?” He replied, “Ah, it’s not important. You know what kind of man he is and the kinds of things he says.” ¹⁷ 

2 Raja-raja 9:19-20

9:19 So he sent a second horseman out to them ¹⁸  and he said, “This is what the king says, ‘Is everything all right?’” ¹⁹  Jehu replied, “None of your business! Follow me.” 9:20 The watchman reported, “He reached them, but hasn’t started back. The one who drives the lead chariot drives like Jehu son of Nimshi; ²⁰  he drives recklessly.”

2 Raja-raja 9:22

9:22 When Jehoram saw Jehu, he asked, “Is everything all right, Jehu?” He replied, “How can everything be all right as long as your mother Jezebel promotes idolatry and pagan practices?” ²¹ 

2 Raja-raja 10:18

Jehu Executes the Prophets and Priests of Baal

10:18 Jehu assembled all the people and said to them, “Ahab worshiped ²²  Baal a little; Jehu will worship ²³  him with great devotion. ²⁴ 

2 Raja-raja 13:16

13:16 Then Elisha ²⁵  told the king of Israel, “Aim the bow.” ²⁶  He did so, ²⁷  and Elisha placed his hands on the king’s hands.

2 Raja-raja 18:30

18:30 Don’t let Hezekiah talk you into trusting in the Lord when he says, “The Lord will certainly rescue us; this city will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.”

2 Raja-raja 22:12

22:12 The king ordered Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Acbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king’s servant,

2 Raja-raja 23:18

23:18 The king ²⁸  said, “Leave it alone! No one must touch his bones.” So they left his bones undisturbed, as well as the bones of the Israelite prophet buried beside him. ²⁹ 

[2:14]  ¹ tn Heb “Elijah’s cloak, which had fallen off him.” The wording is changed slightly in the translation for the sake of variety of expression (see v. 13).

[2:21]  ² tn Or “healed.”

[2:21]  ³ tn Heb “there will no longer be from there death and miscarriage [or, ‘barrenness’].”

[2:23]  ⁴ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[2:23]  ⁵ tn The word נַעַר (na’ar), here translated “boy,” can refer to a broad age range, including infants as well as young men. But the qualifying term “young” (or “small”) suggests these youths were relatively young. The phrase in question (“young boy”) occurs elsewhere in 1 Sam 20:35; 1 Kgs 3:7 (used by Solomon in an hyperbolic manner); 11:17; 2 Kgs 5:14; and Isa 11:6.

[3:23]  ⁶ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Moabites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:23]  ⁷ tn The translation assumes the verb is חָרַב (kharav, “to be desolate”). The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb form for emphasis. (For another example of the Hophal infinitive with a Niphal finite verb, see Lev 19:20. Cf. also IBHS 582 §35.2.1c.) Some prefer to derive the verb from a proposed homonym meaning “at HALOT 349 s.v. II חרב and BDB 352 s.v. חָרְבָה).

[4:23]  ⁸ sn The new moon was a time of sacrifice and special feasts (Num 28:14; 1 Sam 20:5). Apparently it was a convenient time to visit a prophet. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 57.

[4:23]  ⁹ tn Heb “peace.”

[6:8]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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.

[9:1]  ¹² tn Heb “one of the sons of the prophets.”

[9:1]  ¹³ tn Or “flask.”

[9:11]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “went out to.”

[9:11]  ¹⁵ tc The MT has the singular, “he said,” but many witnesses correctly read the plural.

[9:11]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Is there peace?”

[9:11]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “He said, ‘You, you know the man and his thoughts.’” Jehu tries to deflect their question by reminding them that the man is an eccentric individual who says strange things. His reply suggests that the man said nothing of importance. The translation seeks to bring out the tone and intent of Jehu’s reply.

[9:19]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and he came to them.”

[9:19]  ¹⁹ tc The MT has simply “peace,” omitting the prefixed interrogative particle. It is likely that the particle has been accidentally omitted; several ancient witnesses include it or assume its presence.

[9:20]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and the driving is like the driving of Jehu son of Nimshi.”

[9:22]  ²¹ tn Heb “How [can there be] peace as long as the adulterous acts of Jezebel your mother and her many acts of sorcery [continue]?” In this instance “adulterous acts” is employed metaphorically for idolatry. As elsewhere in the OT, worshiping other gods is viewed as spiritual adultery and unfaithfulness to the one true God. The phrase “many acts of sorcery” could be taken literally, for Jezebel undoubtedly utilized pagan divination practices, but the phrase may be metaphorical, pointing to her devotion to pagan customs in general.

[10:18]  ²² tn Or “served.

[10:18]  ²³ tn Or “serve.”

[10:18]  ²⁴ tn Heb “much” or “greatly.”

[13:16]  ²⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:16]  ²⁶ tn Heb “Cause your hand to ride on the bow.”

[13:16]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and he caused his hand to ride.”

[23:18]  ²⁸ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:18]  ²⁹ tn Heb “and they left undisturbed his bones, the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria.” If the phrase “the bones of the prophet” were appositional to “his bones,” one would expect the sentence to end “from Judah” (see v. 17). Apparently the “prophet” referred to in the second half of the verse is the old prophet from Bethel who buried the man of God from Judah in his own tomb and instructed his sons to bury his bones there as well (1 Kgs 13:30-31). One expects the text to read “from Bethel,” but “Samaria” (which was not even built at the time of the incident recorded in 1 Kgs 13) is probably an anachronistic reference to the northern kingdom in general. See the note at 1 Kgs 13:32 and the discussion in M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 290.