2 Raja-raja 2:9-10

2:9 When they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “What can I do for you, ¹  before I am taken away from you?” Elisha answered, “May I receive a double portion of the prophetic spirit that energizes you.” ²  2:10 Elijah ³  replied, “That’s a difficult request! ⁴  If you see me taken from you, may it be so, but if you don’t, it will not happen.”

2 Raja-raja 3:15

3:15 But now, get me a musician.” ⁵  When the musician played, the Lord energized him, ⁶ 

2 Raja-raja 14:27

14:27 The Lord had not decreed that he would blot out Israel’s memory ⁷  from under heaven, ⁸  so he delivered them through Jeroboam son of Joash.

2 Raja-raja 19:14

19:14 Hezekiah took the letter ⁹  from the messengers and read it. ¹⁰  Then Hezekiah went up to the Lord’s temple and spread it out before the Lord.

[2:9]  ¹ tn Heb “Ask! What can I do for you….?”

[2:9]  ² tn Heb “May a double portion of your spirit come to me.”

[2:10]  ³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elijah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “You have made difficult [your] request.”

[3:15]  ⁵ tn The term used refers to one who plays a stringed instrument, perhaps a harp.

[3:15]  ⁶ 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.”

[14:27]  ⁷ tn Heb “name.”

[14:27]  ⁸ 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.

[19:14]  ⁹ tc The MT has the plural, “letters,” but the final mem is probably dittographic (note the initial mem on the form that immediately follows). Some Greek and Aramaic witnesses have the singular.

[19:14]  ¹⁰ tc The MT has the plural suffix, “them,” but this probably reflects a later harmonization to the preceding textual corruption (of “letter” to “letters”). The parallel passage in Isa 37:14 has the singular suffix.