2 Raja-raja 1:1--24:7
Konteks1:1 After Ahab died, Moab rebelled against Israel. 1 1:2 Ahaziah fell through a window lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria 2 and was injured. He sent messengers with these orders, 3 “Go, ask 4 Baal Zebub, 5 the god of Ekron, if I will survive this injury.”
1:3 But the Lord’s angelic messenger told Elijah the Tishbite, “Get up, go to meet the messengers from the king of Samaria. Say this to them: ‘You must think there is no God in Israel! That explains why you are on your way to seek an oracle from Baal Zebub the god of Ekron. 6 1:4 Therefore this is what the Lord says, “You will not leave the bed you lie on, for you will certainly die!”’” So Elijah went on his way.
1:5 When the messengers returned to the king, 7 he asked them, “Why have you returned?” 1:6 They replied, 8 “A man came up to meet us. He told us, “Go back to the king who sent you and tell him, ‘This is what the Lord says: “You must think there is no God in Israel! That explains why you are sending for an oracle from Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron. 9 Therefore you will not leave the bed you lie on, for you will certainly die.”’” 1:7 The king 10 asked them, “Describe the appearance 11 of this man who came up to meet you and told you these things.” 1:8 They replied, 12 “He was a hairy man 13 and had a leather belt 14 tied around his waist.” The king 15 said, “He is Elijah the Tishbite.”
1:9 The king 16 sent a captain and his fifty soldiers 17 to retrieve Elijah. 18 The captain 19 went up to him, while he was sitting on the top of a hill. 20 He told him, “Prophet, 21 the king says, ‘Come down!’” 1:10 Elijah replied to the captain, 22 “If I am indeed a prophet, may fire come down from the sky and consume you and your fifty soldiers!” Fire then came down 23 from the sky and consumed him and his fifty soldiers.
1:11 The king 24 sent another captain and his fifty soldiers to retrieve Elijah. He went up and told him, 25 “Prophet, this is what the king says, ‘Come down at once!’” 26 1:12 Elijah replied to them, 27 “If I am indeed a prophet, may fire come down from the sky and consume you and your fifty soldiers!” Fire from God 28 came down from the sky and consumed him and his fifty soldiers.
1:13 The king 29 sent a third captain and his fifty soldiers. This third captain went up and fell 30 on his knees before Elijah. He begged for mercy, “Prophet, please have respect for my life and for the lives of these fifty servants of yours. 1:14 Indeed, 31 fire came down from the sky and consumed the two captains who came before me, along with their men. 32 So now, please have respect for my life.” 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 33 with him to the king.
1:16 Elijah 34 said to the king, 35 “This is what the Lord says, ‘You sent messengers to seek an oracle from Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron. You must think there is no God in Israel from whom you can seek an oracle! 36 Therefore you will not leave the bed you lie on, for you will certainly die.’” 37
1:17 He died just as the Lord had prophesied through Elijah. 38 In the second year of the reign of King Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat over Judah, Ahaziah’s brother Jehoram replaced him as king of Israel, because he had no son. 39 1:18 The rest of the events of Ahaziah’s reign, including his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel. 40
2:1 Just before 41 the Lord took Elijah up to heaven in a windstorm, Elijah and Elisha were traveling from Gilgal. 2:2 Elijah told Elisha, “Stay here, for the Lord has sent me to Bethel.” 42 But Elisha said, “As certainly as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. 2:3 Some members of the prophetic guild 43 in Bethel came out to Elisha and said, “Do you know that today the Lord is going to take your master from you?” 44 He answered, “Yes, I know. Be quiet.”
2:4 Elijah said to him, “Elisha, stay here, for the Lord has sent me to Jericho.” 45 But he replied, “As certainly as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went to Jericho. 2:5 Some members of the prophetic guild in Jericho approached Elisha and said, “Do you know that today the Lord is going to take your master from you?” He answered, “Yes, I know. Be quiet.”
2:6 Elijah said to him, “Stay here, for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.” But he replied, “As certainly as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they traveled on together. 2:7 The fifty members of the prophetic guild went and stood opposite them at a distance, while Elijah and Elisha 46 stood by the Jordan. 2:8 Elijah took his cloak, folded it up, and hit the water with it. The water divided, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground.
2:9 When they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “What can I do for you, 47 before I am taken away from you?” Elisha answered, “May I receive a double portion of the prophetic spirit that energizes you.” 48 2:10 Elijah 49 replied, “That’s a difficult request! 50 If you see me taken from you, may it be so, but if you don’t, it will not happen.”
2:11 As they were walking along and talking, suddenly a fiery chariot 51 pulled by fiery horses appeared. 52 They went between Elijah and Elisha, 53 and Elijah went up to heaven in a windstorm. 2:12 While Elisha was watching, he was crying out, “My father, my father! The chariot and horsemen of Israel!” 54 Then he could no longer see him. He grabbed his clothes and tore them in two. 2:13 He picked up Elijah’s cloak, which had fallen off him, and went back and stood on the shore of the Jordan. 2:14 He took the cloak that had fallen off Elijah, 55 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.
2:15 When the members of the prophetic guild in Jericho, 56 who were standing at a distance, 57 saw him do this, they said, “The spirit that energized Elijah 58 rests upon Elisha.” They went to meet him and bowed down to the ground before him. 2:16 They said to him, “Look, there are fifty capable men with your servants. Let them go and look for your master, for the wind sent from the Lord 59 may have carried him away and dropped him on one of the hills or in one of the valleys.” But Elisha 60 replied, “Don’t send them out.” 2:17 But they were so insistent, he became embarrassed. So he said, “Send them out.” They sent the fifty men out and they looked for three days, but could not find Elijah. 61 2:18 When they came back, Elisha 62 was staying in Jericho. He said to them, “Didn’t I tell you, ‘Don’t go’?”
2:19 The men of the city said to Elisha, “Look, the city has a good location, as our 63 master can see. But the water is bad and the land doesn’t produce crops.” 64 2:20 Elisha 65 said, “Get me a new jar and put some salt in it.” So they got it. 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 66 this water. It will no longer cause death or fail to produce crops.” 67 2:22 The water has been pure to this very day, just as Elisha prophesied. 68
2:23 He went up from there to Bethel. 69 As he was traveling up the road, some young boys 70 came out of the city and made fun of him, saying, “Go on up, baldy! Go on up, baldy!” 2:24 When he turned around and saw them, he called God’s judgment down on them. 71 Two female bears came out of the woods and ripped forty-two of the boys to pieces. 2:25 From there he traveled to Mount Carmel and then back to Samaria. 72
3:1 In the eighteenth year of King Jehoshaphat’s reign over Judah, Ahab’s son Jehoram became king over Israel in Samaria; 73 he ruled for twelve years. 3:2 He did evil in the sight of 74 the Lord, but not to the same degree as his father and mother. He did remove the sacred pillar of Baal that his father had made. 3:3 Yet he persisted in 75 the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who encouraged Israel to sin; he did not turn from them. 76
3:4 Now King Mesha of Moab was a sheep breeder. 77 He would send as tribute 78 to the king of Israel 100,000 male lambs and the wool of 100,000 rams. 3:5 When Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. 3:6 At that time King Jehoram left Samaria and assembled all Israel for war. 3:7 He sent 79 this message to King Jehoshaphat of Judah: “The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you fight with me against Moab?” Jehoshaphat 80 replied, “I will join you in the campaign; my army and horses are at your disposal.” 81 3:8 He then asked, “Which invasion route are we going to take?” 82 Jehoram 83 answered, “By the road through the Desert of Edom.” 3:9 So the kings of Israel, Judah, and Edom 84 set out together. They wandered around on the road for seven days and finally ran out of water for the men and animals they had with them. 3:10 The king of Israel said, “Oh no! 85 Certainly the Lord has summoned these three kings so that he can hand them over to the king of Moab!” 3:11 Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there no prophet of the Lord here that we might seek the Lord’s direction?” 86 One of the servants of the king of Israel answered, “Elisha son of Shapat is here; he used to be Elijah’s servant.” 87 3:12 Jehoshaphat said, “The Lord speaks through him.” 88 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to visit him.
3:13 Elisha said to the king of Israel, “Why are you here? 89 Go to your father’s prophets or your mother’s prophets!” The king of Israel replied to him, “No, for the Lord is the one who summoned these three kings so that he can hand them over to Moab.” 3:14 Elisha said, “As certainly as the Lord who rules over all 90 lives (whom I serve), 91 if I did not respect King Jehoshaphat of Judah, 92 I would not pay attention to you or acknowledge you. 93 3:15 But now, get me a musician.” 94 When the musician played, the Lord energized him, 95 3:16 and he said, “This is what the Lord says, ‘Make many cisterns in this valley,’ 96 3:17 for this is what the Lord says, ‘You will not feel 97 any wind or see any rain, but this valley will be full of water and you and your cattle and animals will drink.’ 3:18 This is an easy task for the Lord; 98 he will also hand Moab over to you. 3:19 You will defeat every fortified city and every important 99 city. You must chop down 100 every productive 101 tree, stop up all the springs, and cover all the cultivated land with stones.” 102
3:20 Sure enough, the next morning, at the time of the morning sacrifice, water came flowing down from Edom and filled the land. 103 3:21 Now all Moab had heard that the kings were attacking, 104 so everyone old enough to fight was mustered and placed at the border. 105 3:22 When they got up early the next morning, the sun was shining on the water. To the Moabites, who were some distance away, the water looked red like blood. 3:23 The Moabites 106 said, “It’s blood! The kings are totally destroyed! 107 They have struck one another down! Now, Moab, seize the plunder!” 3:24 When they approached the Israelite camp, the Israelites rose up and struck down the Moabites, who then ran from them. The Israelites 108 thoroughly defeated 109 Moab. 3:25 They tore down the cities and each man threw a stone into every cultivated field until they were covered. 110 They stopped up every spring and chopped down every productive tree.
Only Kir Hareseth was left intact, 111 but the slingers surrounded it and attacked it. 3:26 When the king of Moab realized he was losing the battle, 112 he and 700 swordsmen tried to break through and attack 113 the king of Edom, but they failed. 3:27 So he took his firstborn son, who was to succeed him as king, and offered him up as a burnt sacrifice on the wall. There was an outburst of divine anger against Israel, 114 so they broke off the attack 115 and returned to their homeland.
4:1 Now a wife of one of the prophets 116 appealed 117 to Elisha for help, saying, “Your servant, my husband is dead. You know that your servant was a loyal follower of the Lord. 118 Now the creditor is coming to take away my two boys to be his servants.” 4:2 Elisha said to her, “What can I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” She answered, “Your servant has nothing in the house except a small jar of olive oil.” 4:3 He said, “Go and ask all your neighbors for empty containers. 119 Get as many as you can. 120 4:4 Go and close the door behind you and your sons. Pour the olive oil into all the containers; 121 set aside each one when you have filled it.” 4:5 So she left him and closed the door behind her and her sons. As they were bringing the containers to her, she was pouring the olive oil. 4:6 When the containers were full, she said to one of her sons, 122 “Bring me another container.” But he answered her, “There are no more.” Then the olive oil stopped flowing. 4:7 She went and told the prophet. 123 He said, “Go, sell the olive oil. Repay your creditor, and then you and your sons can live off the rest of the profit.”
4:8 One day Elisha traveled to Shunem, where a prominent 124 woman lived. She insisted that he stop for a meal. 125 So whenever he was passing through, he would stop in there for a meal. 126 4:9 She said to her husband, “Look, I’m sure 127 that the man who regularly passes through here is a very special prophet. 128 4:10 Let’s make a small private upper room 129 and furnish it with 130 a bed, table, chair, and lamp. When he visits us, he can stay there.”
4:11 One day Elisha 131 came for a visit; he went 132 into the upper room and rested. 133 4:12 He told his servant Gehazi, “Ask the Shunammite woman to come here.” 134 So he did so and she came to him. 135 4:13 Elisha said to Gehazi, 136 “Tell her, ‘Look, you have treated us with such great respect. 137 What can I do for you? Can I put in a good word for you with the king or the commander of the army?’” She replied, “I’m quite secure.” 138 4:14 So he asked Gehazi, 139 “What can I do for her?” Gehazi replied, “She has no son, and her husband is old.” 4:15 Elisha told him, “Ask her to come here.” 140 So he did so 141 and she came and stood in the doorway. 142 4:16 He said, “About this time next year 143 you will be holding a son.” She said, “No, my master! O prophet, do not lie to your servant!” 4:17 The woman did conceive, and at the specified time the next year she gave birth to a son, just as Elisha had told her.
4:18 The boy grew and one day he went out to see his father who was with the harvest workers. 144 4:19 He said to his father, “My head! My head!” His father 145 told a servant, “Carry him to his mother.” 4:20 So he picked him up and took him to his mother. He sat on her lap 146 until noon and then died. 4:21 She went up and laid him down on the prophet’s 147 bed. She shut the door behind her and left. 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 148 or the Sabbath.” She said, “Everything’s fine.” 149 4:24 She saddled the donkey and told her servant, “Lead on. 150 Do not stop unless I say so.” 151
4:25 So she went to visit 152 the prophet at Mount Carmel. When he 153 saw her at a distance, he said to his servant Gehazi, “Look, it’s the Shunammite woman. 4:26 Now, run to meet her and ask her, ‘Are you well? Are your husband and the boy well?’” She told Gehazi, 154 “Everything’s fine.” 4:27 But when she reached the prophet on the mountain, she grabbed hold of his feet. Gehazi came near to push her away, but the prophet said, “Leave her alone, for she is very upset. 155 The Lord has kept the matter hidden from me; he didn’t tell me about it.” 4:28 She said, “Did I ask my master for a son? Didn’t I say, ‘Don’t mislead me?’” 4:29 Elisha 156 told Gehazi, “Tuck your robes into your belt, take my staff, 157 and go! Don’t stop to exchange greetings with anyone! 158 Place my staff on the child’s face.” 4:30 The mother of the child said, “As certainly as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So Elisha 159 got up and followed her back.
4:31 Now Gehazi went on ahead of them. He placed the staff on the child’s face, but there was no sound or response. When he came back to Elisha 160 he told him, “The child did not wake up.” 4:32 When Elisha arrived at the house, there was 161 the child lying dead on his bed. 4:33 He went in by himself and closed the door. 162 Then he prayed to the Lord. 4:34 He got up on the bed and spread his body out over 163 the boy; he put his mouth on the boy’s 164 mouth, his eyes over the boy’s eyes, and the palms of his hands against the boy’s palms. He bent down over him, and the boy’s skin 165 grew warm. 4:35 Elisha 166 went back and walked around in the house. 167 Then he got up on the bed again 168 and bent down over him. The child sneezed seven times and opened his eyes. 4:36 Elisha 169 called to Gehazi and said, “Get the Shunammite woman.” So he did so 170 and she came to him. He said to her, “Take your son.” 4:37 She came in, fell at his feet, and bowed down. Then she picked up her son and left.
4:38 Now Elisha went back to Gilgal, while there was famine in the land. Some of the prophets were visiting him 171 and he told his servant, “Put the big pot on the fire 172 and boil some stew for the prophets.” 173 4:39 Someone went out to the field to gather some herbs and found a wild vine. 174 He picked some of its fruit, 175 enough to fill up the fold of his robe. He came back, cut it up, and threw the slices 176 into the stew pot, not knowing they were harmful. 177 4:40 The stew was poured out 178 for the men to eat. When they ate some of the stew, they cried out, “Death is in the pot, O prophet!” They could not eat it. 4:41 He said, “Get some flour.” Then he threw it into the pot and said, “Now pour some out for the men so they may eat.” 179 There was no longer anything harmful in the pot.
4:42 Now a man from Baal Shalisha brought some food for the prophet 180 – twenty loaves of bread made from the firstfruits of the barley harvest, as well as fresh ears of grain. 181 Elisha 182 said, “Set it before the people so they may eat.” 4:43 But his attendant said, “How can I feed a hundred men with this?” 183 He replied, “Set it before the people so they may eat, for this is what the Lord says, ‘They will eat and have some left over.’” 184 4:44 So he set it before them; they ate and had some left over, just as the Lord predicted. 185
5:1 Now Naaman, the commander of the king of Syria’s army, was esteemed and respected by his master, 186 for through him the Lord had given Syria military victories. But this great warrior had a skin disease. 187 5:2 Raiding parties went out from Syria and took captive from the land of Israel a young girl, who became a servant to Naaman’s wife. 5:3 She told her mistress, “If only my master were in the presence of the prophet who is in Samaria! 188 Then he would cure him of his skin disease.”
5:4 Naaman 189 went and told his master what the girl from the land of Israel had said. 5:5 The king of Syria said, “Go! I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman 190 went, taking with him ten talents 191 of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, 192 and ten suits of clothes. 5:6 He brought the letter to king of Israel. It read: “This is a letter of introduction for my servant Naaman, 193 whom I have sent to be cured of his skin disease.” 5:7 When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God? Can I kill or restore life? Why does he ask me to cure a man of his skin disease? 194 Certainly you must see that he is looking for an excuse to fight me!” 195
5:8 When Elisha the prophet 196 heard that the king had torn his clothes, he sent this message to the king, “Why did you tear your clothes? Send him 197 to me so he may know there is a prophet in Israel.” 5:9 So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood in the doorway of Elisha’s house. 5:10 Elisha sent out a messenger who told him, “Go and wash seven times in the Jordan; your skin will be restored 198 and you will be healed.” 5:11 Naaman went away angry. He said, “Look, I thought for sure he would come out, stand there, invoke the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the area, and cure the skin disease. 5:12 The rivers of Damascus, the Abana and Pharpar, are better than any of the waters of Israel! 199 Could I not wash in them and be healed?” So he turned around and went away angry. 5:13 His servants approached and said to him, “O master, 200 if the prophet had told you to do some difficult task, 201 you would have been willing to do it. 202 It seems you should be happy that he simply said, “Wash and you will be healed.” 203 5:14 So he went down and dipped in the Jordan seven times, as the prophet had instructed. 204 His skin became as smooth as a young child’s 205 and he was healed.
5:15 He and his entire entourage returned to the prophet. Naaman 206 came and stood before him. He said, “For sure 207 I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel! Now, please accept a gift from your servant.” 5:16 But Elisha 208 replied, “As certainly as the Lord lives (whom I serve), 209 I will take nothing from you.” Naaman 210 insisted that he take it, but he refused. 5:17 Naaman said, “If not, then please give your servant a load of dirt, enough for a pair of mules to carry, 211 for your servant will never again offer a burnt offering or sacrifice to a god other than the Lord. 212 5:18 May the Lord forgive your servant for this one thing: When my master enters the temple of Rimmon to worship, and he leans on my arm and I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the Lord forgive your servant for this.” 213 5:19 Elisha 214 said to him, “Go in peace.”
When he had gone a short distance, 215 5:20 Gehazi, the prophet Elisha’s servant, thought, 216 “Look, my master did not accept what this Syrian Naaman offered him. 217 As certainly as the Lord lives, I will run after him and accept something from him.” 5:21 So Gehazi ran after Naaman. When Naaman saw someone running after him, he got down from his chariot to meet him and asked, “Is everything all right?” 218 5:22 He answered, “Everything is fine. 219 My master sent me with this message, ‘Look, two servants of the prophets just arrived from the Ephraimite hill country. 220 Please give them a talent 221 of silver and two suits of clothes.’” 5:23 Naaman said, “Please accept two talents of silver. 222 He insisted, and tied up two talents of silver in two bags, along with two suits of clothes. He gave them to two of his servants and they carried them for Gehazi. 223 5:24 When he arrived at the hill, he took them from the servants 224 and put them in the house. Then he sent the men on their way. 225
5:25 When he came and stood before his master, Elisha asked him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?” He answered, “Your servant hasn’t been anywhere.” 5:26 Elisha 226 replied, “I was there in spirit when a man turned and got down from his chariot to meet you. 227 This is not the proper time to accept silver or to accept clothes, olive groves, vineyards, sheep, cattle, and male and female servants. 228 5:27 Therefore Naaman’s skin disease will afflict 229 you and your descendants forever!” When Gehazi 230 went out from his presence, his skin was as white as snow. 231
6:1 Some of the prophets 232 said to Elisha, “Look, the place where we meet with you 233 is too cramped 234 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 235 dropped into the water. He shouted, “Oh no, 236 my master! It was borrowed!” 6:6 The prophet 237 asked, “Where did it drop in?” When he showed him the spot, Elisha 238 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 239 at such and such 240 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 241 to be on its guard. This happened on several occasions. 242 6:11 This made the king of Syria upset. 243 So he summoned his advisers 244 and said to them, “One of us must be helping the king of Israel.” 245 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 246 ordered, “Go, find out where he is, so I can send some men to capture him.” 247 The king was told, “He is in Dothan.” 6:14 So he sent horses and chariots there, along with a good-sized army. 248 They arrived during the night and surrounded the city.
6:15 The prophet’s 249 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, 250 “Oh no, my master! What will we do?” 6:16 He replied, “Don’t be afraid, for our side outnumbers them.” 251 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 252 the hill was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. 6:18 As they approached him, 253 Elisha prayed to the Lord, “Strike these people 254 with blindness.” 255 The Lord 256 struck them with blindness as Elisha requested. 257 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. 258
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. 259 6:21 When the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha, “Should I strike them down, 260 my master?” 261 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? 262 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 263 for them and they ate and drank. Then he sent them back 264 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 265 and besieged Samaria. 266 6:25 Samaria’s food supply ran out. 267 They laid siege to it so long that 268 a donkey’s head was selling for eighty shekels of silver 269 and a quarter of a kab 270 of dove’s droppings 271 for five shekels of silver. 272
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.” 273 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. 274 6:31 Then he said, “May God judge me severely 275 if Elisha son of Shaphat still has his head by the end of the day!” 276
6:32 Now Elisha was sitting in his house with the community leaders. 277 The king 278 sent a messenger on ahead, but before he arrived, 279 Elisha 280 said to the leaders, 281 “Do you realize this assassin intends to cut off my head?” 282 Look, when the messenger arrives, shut the door and lean against it. His master will certainly be right behind him.” 283 6:33 He was still talking to them when 284 the messenger approached 285 and said, “Look, the Lord is responsible for this disaster! 286 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 287 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 288 responded to the prophet, 289 “Look, even if the Lord made it rain by opening holes in the sky, could this happen so soon?” 290 Elisha 291 said, “Look, you will see it happen with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of the food!” 292
7:3 Now four men with a skin disease 293 were sitting at the entrance of the city gate. They said to one another, “Why are we just sitting here waiting to die? 294 7:4 If we go into the city, we’ll die of starvation, 295 and if we stay here we’ll die! So come on, let’s defect 296 to the Syrian camp! If they spare us, 297 we’ll live; if they kill us – well, we were going to die anyway.” 298 7:5 So they started toward 299 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. 300 They also took some silver, gold, and clothes and went and hid it all. 301 Then they went back and entered another tent. They looted it 302 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. 303 If we wait until dawn, 304 we’ll be punished. 305 So come on, let’s go and inform the royal palace.” 7:10 So they went and called out to the gatekeepers 306 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. 307 But the horses and donkeys are still tied up, and the tents remain up.” 308 7:11 The gatekeepers relayed the news to the royal palace. 309
7:12 The king got up in the night and said to his advisers, 310 “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!) 311 Let’s send them out so we can know for sure what’s going on.” 312 7:14 So they picked two horsemen and the king sent them out to track the Syrian army. 313 He ordered them, “Go and find out what’s going on.” 314 7:15 So they tracked them 315 as far as the Jordan. The road was filled with clothes and equipment that the Syrians had discarded in their haste. 316 The scouts 317 went back and told the king. 7:16 Then the people went out and looted the Syrian camp. A seah 318 of finely milled flour sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, just as the Lord had said they would. 319
7:17 Now the king had placed the officer who was his right-hand man 320 at the city gate. When the people rushed out, they trampled him to death in the gate. 321 This fulfilled the prophet’s word which he had spoken when the king tried to arrest him. 322 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?” 323 Elisha 324 said, “Look, you will see it happen with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of the food!” 325 7:20 This is exactly what happened to him. The people trampled him to death in the city gate.
8:1 Now Elisha advised the woman whose son he had brought back to life, “You and your family should go and live somewhere else for a while, 326 for the Lord has decreed that a famine will overtake the land for seven years.” 8:2 So the woman did as the prophet said. 327 She and her family went and lived in the land of the Philistines for seven years. 8:3 After seven years the woman returned from the land of the Philistines and went to ask the king to give her back her house and field. 328 8:4 Now the king was talking to Gehazi, the prophet’s 329 servant, and said, “Tell me all the great things which Elisha has done.” 8:5 While Gehazi 330 was telling the king how Elisha 331 had brought the dead back to life, the woman whose son he had brought back to life came to ask the king for her house and field. 332 Gehazi said, “My master, O king, this is the very woman and this is her son whom Elisha brought back to life!” 8:6 The king asked the woman about it, and she gave him the details. 333 The king assigned a eunuch to take care of her request and ordered him, 334 “Give her back everything she owns, as well as the amount of crops her field produced from the day she left the land until now.”
8:7 Elisha traveled to Damascus while King Ben Hadad of Syria was sick. The king 335 was told, “The prophet 336 has come here.” 8:8 So the king told Hazael, “Take a gift 337 and go visit the prophet. Request from him an oracle from the Lord. Ask him, 338 ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’” 8:9 So Hazael went to visit Elisha. 339 He took along a gift, 340 as well as 341 forty camel loads of all the fine things of Damascus. When he arrived, he stood before him and said, “Your son, 342 King Ben Hadad of Syria, has sent me to you with this question, 343 ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’” 8:10 Elisha said to him, “Go and tell him, ‘You will surely recover,’ 344 but the Lord has revealed to me that he will surely die.” 8:11 Elisha 345 just stared at him until Hazael became uncomfortable. 346 Then the prophet started crying. 8:12 Hazael asked, “Why are you crying, my master?” He replied, “Because I know the trouble you will cause the Israelites. You will set fire to their fortresses, kill their young men with the sword, smash their children to bits, and rip open their pregnant women.” 8:13 Hazael said, “How could your servant, who is as insignificant as a dog, accomplish this great military victory?” 347 Elisha answered, “The Lord has revealed to me that you will be the king of Syria.” 348 8:14 He left Elisha and went to his master. Ben Hadad 349 asked him, “What did Elisha tell you?” Hazael 350 replied, “He told me you would surely recover.” 8:15 The next day Hazael 351 took a piece of cloth, dipped it in water, and spread it over Ben Hadad’s 352 face until he died. Then Hazael replaced him as king.
8:16 In the fifth year of the reign of Israel’s King Joram, son of Ahab, Jehoshaphat’s son Jehoram became king over Judah. 353 8:17 He was thirty-two years old when he became king and he reigned for eight years in Jerusalem. 354 8:18 He followed in the footsteps of the kings of Israel, just as Ahab’s dynasty had done, for he married Ahab’s daughter. 355 He did evil in the sight of 356 the Lord. 8:19 But the Lord was unwilling to destroy Judah. He preserved Judah for the sake of 357 his servant David to whom he had promised a perpetual dynasty. 358
8:20 During his reign Edom freed themselves from Judah’s control and set up their own king. 359 8:21 Joram 360 crossed over to Zair with all his chariots. The Edomites, who had surrounded him, attacked at night and defeated him and his chariot officers. 361 The Israelite army retreated to their homeland. 362 8:22 So Edom has remained free from Judah’s control to this very day. 363 At that same time Libnah also rebelled.
8:23 The rest of the events of Joram’s reign, including a record of his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah. 364 8:24 Joram passed away 365 and was buried with his ancestors in the city of David. His son Ahaziah replaced him as king.
8:25 In the twelfth year of the reign of Israel’s King Joram, son of Ahab, Jehoram’s son Ahaziah became king over Judah. 8:26 Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king and he reigned for one year in Jerusalem. 366 His mother was Athaliah, the granddaughter 367 of King Omri of Israel. 8:27 He followed in the footsteps of Ahab’s dynasty and did evil in the sight of 368 the Lord, like Ahab’s dynasty, for he was related to Ahab’s family. 369
8:28 He joined Ahab’s son Joram in a battle against King Hazael of Syria at Ramoth Gilead in which the Syrians defeated Joram. 8:29 King Joram returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds he received from the Syrians 370 in Ramah when he fought against King Hazael of Syria. King Ahaziah son of Jehoram of Judah went down to visit 371 Joram son of Ahab in Jezreel, for he was ill.
9:1 Now Elisha the prophet summoned a member of the prophetic guild 372 and told him, “Tuck your robes into your belt, take this container 373 of olive oil in your hand, and go to Ramoth Gilead. 9:2 When you arrive there, look for Jehu son of Jehoshaphat son of Nimshi and take him aside into an inner room. 374 9:3 Take the container of olive oil, pour it over his head, and say, ‘This is what the Lord says, “I have designated 375 you as king over Israel.”’ Then open the door and run away quickly!” 376
9:4 So the young prophet 377 went to Ramoth Gilead. 9:5 When he arrived, the officers of the army were sitting there. 378 So he said, “I have a message for you, O officer.” 379 Jehu asked, “For which one of us?” 380 He replied, “For you, O officer.” 9:6 So Jehu 381 got up and went inside. Then the prophet 382 poured the olive oil on his head and said to him, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says, ‘I have designated you as king over the Lord’s people Israel. 9:7 You will destroy the family of your master Ahab. 383 I will get revenge against Jezebel for the shed blood of my servants the prophets and for the shed blood of all the Lord’s servants. 384 9:8 Ahab’s entire family will die. I 385 will cut off every last male belonging to Ahab in Israel, including even the weak and incapacitated. 386 9:9 I will make Ahab’s dynasty 387 like those of Jeroboam son of Nebat and Baasha son of Ahijah. 9:10 Dogs will devour Jezebel on the plot of ground in Jezreel; she will not be buried.’” 388 Then he opened the door and ran away.
9:11 When Jehu rejoined 389 his master’s servants, they 390 asked him, “Is everything all right? 391 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.” 392 9:12 But they said, “You’re lying! Tell us what he said.” So he told them what he had said. He also related how he had said, 393 “This is what the Lord says, ‘I have designated you as king over Israel.’” 9:13 Each of them quickly took off his cloak and they spread them out at Jehu’s 394 feet on the steps. 395 The trumpet was blown 396 and they shouted, “Jehu is 397 king!” 9:14 Then Jehu son of Jehoshaphat son of Nimshi conspired against Joram.
Now Joram had been in Ramoth Gilead with the whole Israelite army, 398 guarding against an invasion by King Hazael of Syria. 9:15 But King Joram had returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds he received from the Syrians 399 when he fought against King Hazael of Syria. 400 Jehu told his supporters, 401 “If you really want me to be king, 402 then don’t let anyone escape from the city to go and warn Jezreel.” 9:16 Jehu drove his chariot 403 to Jezreel, for Joram was recuperating 404 there. (Now King Ahaziah of Judah had come down to visit 405 Joram.)
9:17 Now the watchman was standing on the tower in Jezreel and saw Jehu’s troops approaching. 406 He said, “I see troops!” 407 Jehoram ordered, 408 “Send a rider out to meet them and have him ask, ‘Is everything all right?’” 409 9:18 So the horseman 410 went to meet him and said, “This is what the king says, ‘Is everything all right?’” 411 Jehu replied, “None of your business! 412 Follow me.” The watchman reported, “The messenger reached them, but hasn’t started back.” 9:19 So he sent a second horseman out to them 413 and he said, “This is what the king says, ‘Is everything all right?’” 414 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; 415 he drives recklessly.” 9:21 Jehoram ordered, “Hitch up my chariot.” 416 When his chariot had been hitched up, 417 King Jehoram of Israel and King Ahaziah of Judah went out in their respective chariots 418 to meet Jehu. They met up with him 419 in the plot of land that had once belonged to Naboth of Jezreel.
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?” 420 9:23 Jehoram turned his chariot around and took off. 421 He said to Ahaziah, “It’s a trap, 422 Ahaziah!” 9:24 Jehu aimed his bow and shot an arrow right between Jehoram’s shoulders. 423 The arrow went through 424 his heart and he fell to his knees in his chariot. 9:25 Jehu ordered 425 his officer Bidkar, “Pick him up and throw him into the part of the field that once belonged to Naboth of Jezreel. Remember, you and I were riding together behind his father Ahab, when the Lord pronounced this judgment on him, 9:26 ‘“Know for sure that I saw the shed blood of Naboth and his sons yesterday,” says the Lord, “and that I will give you what you deserve right here in this plot of land,” 426 says the Lord.’ So now pick him up and throw him into this plot of land, just as the Lord said.” 427
9:27 When King Ahaziah of Judah saw what happened, he took off 428 up the road to Beth Haggan. Jehu chased him and ordered, “Shoot him too.” They shot him while he was driving his chariot up the ascent of Gur near Ibleam. 429 He fled to Megiddo 430 and died there. 9:28 His servants took his body 431 back to Jerusalem 432 and buried him in his tomb with his ancestors in the city of David. 9:29 Ahaziah had become king over Judah in the eleventh year of Joram son of Ahab.
9:30 Jehu approached Jezreel. When Jezebel heard the news, she put on some eye liner, 433 fixed up her hair, and leaned out the window. 9:31 When Jehu came through the gate, she said, “Is everything all right, Zimri, murderer of his master?” 434 9:32 He looked up at the window and said, “Who is on my side? Who?” Two or three 435 eunuchs looked down at him. 9:33 He said, “Throw her down!” So they threw her down, and when she hit the ground, 436 her blood splattered against the wall and the horses, and Jehu drove his chariot over her. 437 9:34 He went inside and had a meal. 438 Then he said, “Dispose of this accursed woman’s corpse. Bury her, for after all, she was a king’s daughter.” 439 9:35 But when they went to bury her, they found nothing left but 440 the skull, feet, and palms of the hands. 9:36 When they went back and told him, he said, “The Lord’s word through his servant, Elijah the Tishbite, has come to pass. He warned, 441 ‘In the plot of land at Jezreel, dogs will devour Jezebel’s flesh. 9:37 Jezebel’s corpse will be like manure on the surface of the ground in the plot of land at Jezreel. People will not be able to even recognize her.’” 442
10:1 Ahab had seventy sons living in Samaria. 443 So Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria to the leading officials of Jezreel and to the guardians of Ahab’s dynasty. This is what the letters said, 444 10:2 “You have with you the sons of your master, chariots and horses, a fortified city, and weapons. So when this letter arrives, 445 10:3 pick the best and most capable 446 of your master’s sons, place him on his father’s throne, and defend 447 your master’s dynasty.”
10:4 They were absolutely terrified 448 and said, “Look, two kings could not stop him! 449 How can we?” 450 10:5 So the palace supervisor, 451 the city commissioner, 452 the leaders, 453 and the guardians sent this message to Jehu, “We are your subjects! 454 Whatever you say, we will do. We will not make anyone king. Do what you consider proper.” 455
10:6 He wrote them a second letter, saying, “If you are really on my side and are willing to obey me, 456 then take the heads of your master’s sons and come to me in Jezreel at this time tomorrow.” 457 Now the king had seventy sons, and the prominent 458 men of the city were raising them. 10:7 When they received the letter, they seized the king’s sons and executed all seventy of them. 459 They put their heads in baskets and sent them to him in Jezreel. 10:8 The messenger came and told Jehu, 460 “They have brought the heads of the king’s sons.” Jehu 461 said, “Stack them in two piles at the entrance of the city gate until morning.” 10:9 In the morning he went out and stood there. Then he said to all the people, “You are innocent. I conspired against my master and killed him. But who struck down all of these men? 10:10 Therefore take note that not one of the judgments the Lord announced against Ahab’s dynasty has failed to materialize. The Lord had done what he announced through his servant Elijah.” 462 10:11 Then Jehu killed all who were left of Ahab’s family in Jezreel, and all his nobles, close friends, and priests. He left no survivors.
10:12 Jehu then left there and set out for Samaria. 463 While he was traveling through Beth Eked of the Shepherds, 10:13 Jehu encountered 464 the relatives 465 of King Ahaziah of Judah. He asked, “Who are you?” They replied, “We are Ahaziah’s relatives. We have come down to see how 466 the king’s sons and the queen mother’s sons are doing.” 10:14 He said, “Capture them alive!” So they captured them alive and then executed all forty-two of them in the cistern at Beth Eked. He left no survivors.
10:15 When he left there, he met 467 Jehonadab, son of Rekab, who had been looking for him. 468 Jehu greeted him and asked, 469 “Are you as committed to me as I am to you?” 470 Jehonadab answered, “I am!” Jehu replied, “If so, give me your hand.” 471 So he offered his hand and Jehu 472 pulled him up into the chariot. 10:16 Jehu 473 said, “Come with me and see how zealous I am for the Lord’s cause.” 474 So he 475 took him along in his chariot. 10:17 He went to Samaria and exterminated all the members of Ahab’s family who were still alive in Samaria, 476 just as the Lord had announced to Elijah. 477
10:18 Jehu assembled all the people and said to them, “Ahab worshiped 478 Baal a little; Jehu will worship 479 him with great devotion. 480 10:19 So now, bring to me all the prophets of Baal, as well as all his servants and priests. 481 None of them must be absent, for I am offering a great sacrifice to Baal. Any of them who fail to appear will lose their lives.” But Jehu was tricking them 482 so he could destroy the servants of Baal. 10:20 Then Jehu ordered, “Make arrangements for 483 a celebration for Baal.” So they announced it. 10:21 Jehu sent invitations throughout Israel, and all the servants of Baal came; not one was absent. They arrived at the temple of Baal and filled it up from end to end. 484 10:22 Jehu ordered the one who was in charge of the wardrobe, 485 “Bring out robes for all the servants of Baal.” So he brought out robes for them. 10:23 Then Jehu and Jehonadab son of Rekab went to the temple of Baal. Jehu 486 said to the servants of Baal, “Make sure there are no servants of the Lord here with you; there must be only servants of Baal.” 487 10:24 They went inside to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had stationed eighty men outside. He had told them, “If any of the men inside get away, you will pay with your lives!” 488
10:25 When he finished offering the burnt sacrifice, Jehu ordered the royal guard 489 and officers, “Come in and strike them down! Don’t let any escape!” So the royal guard and officers struck them down with the sword and left their bodies lying there. 490 Then they entered the inner sanctuary of the temple of Baal. 491 10:26 They hauled out the sacred pillar of the temple of Baal and burned it. 10:27 They demolished 492 the sacred pillar of Baal and 493 the temple of Baal; it is used as 494 a latrine 495 to this very day. 10:28 So Jehu eradicated Baal worship 496 from Israel.
10:29 However, Jehu did not repudiate the sins which Jeroboam son of Nebat had encouraged Israel to commit; the golden calves remained in Bethel 497 and Dan. 498 10:30 The Lord said to Jehu, “You have done well. You have accomplished my will and carried out my wishes with regard to Ahab’s dynasty. Therefore four generations of your descendants will rule over Israel.” 499 10:31 But Jehu did not carefully and wholeheartedly obey the law of the Lord God of Israel. 500 He did not repudiate the sins which Jeroboam had encouraged Israel to commit. 501
10:32 In those days the Lord began to reduce the size of Israel’s territory. 502 Hazael attacked their eastern border. 503 10:33 He conquered all the land of Gilead, including the territory of Gad, Reuben, and Manasseh, extending all the way from the Aroer in the Arnon Valley through Gilead to Bashan. 504
10:34 The rest of the events of Jehu’s reign, including all his accomplishments and successes, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel. 505 10:35 Jehu passed away 506 and was buried in Samaria. 507 His son Jehoahaz replaced him as king. 10:36 Jehu reigned over Israel for twenty-eight years in Samaria.
11:1 When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she was determined to destroy the entire royal line. 508 11:2 So Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram and sister of Ahaziah, took Ahaziah’s son Joash and sneaked 509 him away from the rest of the royal descendants who were to be executed. She hid him and his nurse in the room where the bed covers were stored. 510 So he was hidden from Athaliah and escaped execution. 511 11:3 He hid out with his nurse in the Lord’s temple 512 for six years, while Athaliah was ruling over the land.
11:4 In the seventh year Jehoiada summoned 513 the officers of the units of hundreds of the Carians 514 and the royal bodyguard. 515 He met with them 516 in the Lord’s temple. He made an agreement 517 with them and made them swear an oath of allegiance in the Lord’s temple. Then he showed them the king’s son. 11:5 He ordered them, “This is what you must do. One third of the unit that is on duty during the Sabbath will guard the royal palace. 11:6 Another third of you will be stationed at the Foundation 518 Gate. Still another third of you will be stationed at the gate behind the royal guard. 519 You will take turns guarding the palace. 520 11:7 The two units who are off duty on the Sabbath will guard the Lord’s temple and protect the king. 521 11:8 You must surround the king. Each of you must hold his weapon in his hand. Whoever approaches your ranks must be killed. You must accompany the king wherever he goes.” 522
11:9 The officers of the units of hundreds did just as 523 Jehoiada the priest ordered. Each of them took his men, those who were on duty during the Sabbath as well as those who were off duty on the Sabbath, and reported 524 to Jehoiada the priest. 11:10 The priest gave to the officers of the units of hundreds King David’s spears and the shields that were kept in the Lord’s temple. 11:11 The royal bodyguard 525 took their stations, each holding his weapon in his hand. They lined up from the south side of the temple to the north side and stood near the altar and the temple, surrounding the king. 526 11:12 Jehoiada 527 led out the king’s son and placed on him the crown and the royal insignia. 528 They proclaimed him king and poured olive oil on his head. 529 They clapped their hands and cried out, “Long live the king!”
11:13 When Athaliah heard the royal guard 530 shout, she joined the crowd 531 at the Lord’s temple. 11:14 Then she saw 532 the king standing by the pillar, according to custom. The officers stood beside the king with their trumpets and all the people of the land were celebrating and blowing trumpets. Athaliah tore her clothes and screamed, “Treason, treason!” 533 11:15 Jehoiada the priest ordered the officers of the units of hundreds, who were in charge of the army, 534 “Bring her outside the temple to the guards. 535 Put the sword to anyone who follows her.” The priest gave this order because he had decided she should not be executed in the Lord’s temple. 536 11:16 They seized her and took her into the precincts of the royal palace through the horses’ entrance. 537 There she was executed.
11:17 Jehoiada then drew up a covenant between the Lord and the king and people, stipulating that they should be loyal to the Lord. 538 11:18 All the people of the land went and demolished 539 the temple of Baal. They smashed its altars and idols 540 to bits. 541 They killed Mattan the priest of Baal in front of the altar. Jehoiada the priest 542 then placed guards at the Lord’s temple. 11:19 He took the officers of the units of hundreds, the Carians, the royal bodyguard, and all the people of land, and together they led the king down from the Lord’s temple. They entered the royal palace through the Gate of the Royal Bodyguard, 543 and the king 544 sat down on the royal throne. 11:20 All the people of the land celebrated, for the city had rest now that they had killed Athaliah with the sword in the royal palace.
11:21 (12:1) 545 Jehoash 546 was seven years old when he began to reign. 12:1 (12:2) In Jehu’s seventh year Jehoash became king; he reigned for forty years in Jerusalem. 547 His mother was Zibiah, who was from Beer Sheba. 12:2 Throughout his lifetime Jehoash did what the Lord approved, 548 just as 549 Jehoiada the priest taught him. 12:3 But the high places were not eliminated; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense on the high places.
12:4 Jehoash said to the priests, “I place at your disposal 550 all the consecrated silver that has been brought to the Lord’s temple, including the silver collected from the census tax, 551 the silver received from those who have made vows, 552 and all the silver that people have voluntarily contributed to the Lord’s temple. 553 12:5 The priests should receive the silver they need from the treasurers and repair any damage to the temple they discover.” 554
12:6 By the twenty-third year of King Jehoash’s reign the priests had still not repaired the damage to the temple. 12:7 So King Jehoash summoned Jehoiada the priest along with the other priests, and said to them, “Why have you not repaired the damage to the temple? Now, take no more silver from your treasurers unless you intend to use it to repair the damage.” 555 12:8 The priests agreed 556 not to collect silver from the people and relieved themselves of personal responsibility for the temple repairs. 557
12:9 Jehoiada the priest took a chest and drilled a hole in its lid. He placed it on the right side of the altar near the entrance of 558 the Lord’s temple. The priests who guarded the entrance would put into it all the silver brought to the Lord’s temple. 12:10 When they saw the chest was full of silver, the royal secretary 559 and the high priest counted the silver that had been brought to the Lord’s temple and bagged it up. 560 12:11 They would then hand over 561 the silver that had been weighed to the construction foremen 562 assigned to the Lord’s temple. They hired carpenters and builders to work on the Lord’s temple, 12:12 as well as masons and stonecutters. They bought wood and chiseled stone to repair the damage to the Lord’s temple and also paid for all the other expenses. 563 12:13 The silver brought to the Lord’s temple was not used for silver bowls, trimming shears, basins, trumpets, or any kind of gold or silver implements. 12:14 It was handed over 564 to the foremen who used it to repair the Lord’s temple. 12:15 They did not audit the treasurers who disbursed 565 the funds to the foremen, for they were honest. 566 12:16 (The silver collected in conjunction with reparation offerings and sin offerings was not brought to the Lord’s temple; it belonged to the priests.)
12:17 At that time King Hazael of Syria attacked 567 Gath and captured it. Hazael then decided to attack Jerusalem. 568 12:18 King Jehoash of Judah collected all the sacred items that his ancestors Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah, kings of Judah, had consecrated, as well as his own sacred items and all the gold that could be found in the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and the royal palace. He sent it all 569 to King Hazael of Syria, who then withdrew 570 from Jerusalem.
12:19 The rest of the events of Joash’s reign, including all his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah. 571 12:20 His servants conspired against him 572 and murdered Joash at Beth-Millo, on the road that goes down to Silla. 573 12:21 His servants Jozabad son of Shimeath and Jehozabad son of Shomer murdered him. 574 He was buried 575 with his ancestors in the city of David. His son Amaziah replaced him as king.
13:1 In the twenty-third year of the reign of Judah’s King Joash son of Ahaziah, Jehu’s son Jehoahaz became king over Israel. He reigned in Samaria 576 for seventeen years. 13:2 He did evil in the sight of 577 the Lord. He continued in 578 the sinful ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat who had encouraged Israel to sin; he did not repudiate those sins. 579 13:3 The Lord was furious with 580 Israel and handed them over to 581 King Hazael of Syria and to Hazael’s son Ben Hadad for many years. 582
13:4 Jehoahaz asked for the Lord’s mercy 583 and the Lord responded favorably, 584 for he saw that Israel was oppressed by the king of Syria. 585 13:5 The Lord provided a deliverer 586 for Israel and they were freed from Syria’s power. 587 The Israelites once more lived in security. 588 13:6 But they did not repudiate 589 the sinful ways of the family 590 of Jeroboam, who encouraged Israel to sin; they continued in those sins. 591 There was even an Asherah pole 592 standing in Samaria. 13:7 Jehoahaz had no army left 593 except for fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and 10,000 foot soldiers. The king of Syria had destroyed his troops 594 and trampled on them like dust. 595
13:8 The rest of the events of Jehoahaz’s reign, including all his accomplishments and successes, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel. 596 13:9 Jehoahaz passed away 597 and was buried 598 in Samaria. His son Joash replaced him as king.
13:10 In the thirty-seventh year of King Joash’s reign over Judah, Jehoahaz’s son Jehoash became king over Israel. He reigned in Samaria 599 for sixteen years. 13:11 He did evil in the sight of 600 the Lord. He did not repudiate 601 the sinful ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat who encouraged Israel to sin; he continued in those sins. 602 13:12 The rest of the events of Joash’s 603 reign, including all his accomplishments and his successful war with King Amaziah of Judah, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel. 604 13:13 Joash passed away 605 and Jeroboam succeeded him on the throne. 606 Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.
13:14 Now Elisha had a terminal illness. 607 King Joash of Israel went down to visit him. 608 He wept before him and said, “My father, my father! The chariot 609 and horsemen of Israel!” 610 13:15 Elisha told him, “Take a bow and some arrows,” and he did so. 611 13:16 Then Elisha 612 told the king of Israel, “Aim the bow.” 613 He did so, 614 and Elisha placed his hands on the king’s hands. 13:17 Elisha 615 said, “Open the east window,” and he did so. 616 Elisha said, “Shoot!” and
he did so. 617 Elisha 618 said, “This arrow symbolizes the victory the Lord will give you over Syria. 619 You will annihilate Syria in Aphek!” 620 13:18 Then Elisha 621 said, “Take the arrows,” and he did so. 622 He told the king of Israel, “Strike the ground!” He struck the ground three times and stopped. 13:19 The prophet 623 got angry at him and said, “If you had struck the ground five or six times, you would have annihilated Syria! 624 But now, you will defeat Syria only three times.”
13:20 Elisha died and was buried. 625 Moabite raiding parties invaded 626 the land at the beginning of the year. 627 13:21 One day some men 628 were burying a man when they spotted 629 a raiding party. So they threw the dead man 630 into Elisha’s tomb. When the body 631 touched Elisha’s bones, the dead man 632 came to life and stood on his feet.
13:22 Now King Hazael of Syria oppressed Israel throughout Jehoahaz’s reign. 633 13:23 But the Lord had mercy on them and felt pity for them. 634 He extended his favor to them 635 because of the promise he had made 636 to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He has been unwilling to destroy them or remove them from his presence to this very day. 637 13:24 When King Hazael of Syria died, his son Ben Hadad replaced him as king. 13:25 Jehoahaz’s son Jehoash took back from 638 Ben Hadad son of Hazael the cities that he had taken from his father Jehoahaz in war. Joash defeated him three times and recovered the Israelite cities.
14:1 In the second year of the reign of Israel’s King Joash son of Joahaz, 639 Joash’s 640 son Amaziah became king over Judah. 14:2 He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. 641 His mother 642 was Jehoaddan, who was from Jerusalem. 14:3 He did what the Lord approved, 643 but not like David his father. He followed the example of his father Joash. 644 14:4 But the high places were not eliminated; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense on the high places.
14:5 When he had secured control of the kingdom, 645 he executed the servants who had assassinated his father. 646 14:6 But he did not execute the sons of the assassins. He obeyed the Lord’s commandment as recorded in the law scroll of Moses, 647 “Fathers must not be put to death for what their sons do, 648 and sons must not be put to death for what their fathers do. 649 A man must be put to death only for his own sin.” 650
14:7 He defeated 651 10,000 Edomites in the Salt Valley; he captured Sela in battle and renamed it Joktheel, a name it has retained to this very day. 14:8 Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash son of Jehoahaz son of Jehu, king of Israel. He said, “Come, let’s meet face to face.” 652 14:9 King Jehoash of Israel sent this message back to King Amaziah of Judah, “A thornbush in Lebanon sent this message to a cedar in Lebanon, ‘Give your daughter to my son as a wife.’ Then a wild animal 653 of Lebanon came by and trampled down the thorn. 654 14:10 You thoroughly defeated Edom 655 and it has gone to your head! 656 Gloat over your success, 657 but stay in your palace. Why bring calamity on yourself? Why bring down yourself and Judah along with you?” 658 14:11 But Amaziah would not heed the warning, 659 so King Jehoash of Israel attacked. 660 He and King Amaziah of Judah met face to face 661 in Beth Shemesh of Judah. 14:12 Judah was defeated by Israel, and each man ran back home. 662 14:13 King Jehoash of Israel captured King Amaziah of Judah, son of Jehoash son of Ahaziah, in Beth Shemesh. He 663 attacked 664 Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate – a distance of about six hundred feet. 665 14:14 He took away all the gold and silver, all the items found in the Lord’s temple and in the treasuries of the royal palace, and some hostages. 666 Then he went back to Samaria. 667
( 14:15 The rest of the events of Jehoash’s 668 reign, including all his accomplishments and his successful war with King Amaziah of Judah, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel. 669 14:16 Jehoash passed away 670 and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel. His son Jeroboam replaced him as king.)
14:17 King Amaziah son of Joash of Judah lived for fifteen years after the death of King Jehoash son of Jehoahaz of Israel. 14:18 The rest of the events of Amaziah’s reign are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah. 671 14:19 Conspirators plotted against him in Jerusalem, 672 so he fled to Lachish. But they sent assassins after him 673 and they killed him there. 14:20 His body was carried back by horses 674 and he was buried in Jerusalem with his ancestors in the city of David. 14:21 All the people of Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in his father Amaziah’s place. 14:22 Azariah 675 built up Elat and restored it to Judah after the king 676 had passed away. 677
14:23 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Judah’s King Amaziah, son of Joash, Jeroboam son of Joash became king over Israel. He reigned for forty-one years in Samaria. 678 14:24 He did evil in the sight of 679 the Lord; he did not repudiate 680 the sinful ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat who encouraged Israel to sin. 14:25 He restored the border of Israel from Lebo Hamath in the north to the sea of the Arabah in the south, 681 in accordance with the word of the Lord God of Israel announced through 682 his servant Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath Hepher. 14:26 The Lord saw Israel’s intense suffering; 683 everyone was weak and incapacitated and Israel had no deliverer. 684 14:27 The Lord had not decreed that he would blot out Israel’s memory 685 from under heaven, 686 so he delivered them through Jeroboam son of Joash.
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. 687 14:29 Jeroboam passed away 688 and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel. 689 His son Zechariah replaced him as king.
15:1 In the twenty-seventh year of King Jeroboam’s reign over Israel, Amaziah’s son Azariah became king over Judah. 15:2 He was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for fifty-two years in Jerusalem. 690 His mother’s name was Jecholiah, who was from Jerusalem. 15:3 He did what the Lord approved, just as his father Amaziah had done. 691 15:4 But the high places were not eliminated; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense on the high places. 15:5 The Lord afflicted the king with an illness; he suffered from a skin disease 692 until the day he died. He lived in separate quarters, 693 while his son Jotham was in charge of the palace and ruled over the people of the land.
15:6 The rest of the events of Azariah’s reign, including all his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah. 694 15:7 Azariah passed away 695 and was buried 696 with his ancestors in the city of David. His son Jotham replaced him as king.
15:8 In the thirty-eighth year of King Azariah’s reign over Judah, Jeroboam’s son Zechariah became king over Israel. He reigned in Samaria 697 for six months. 15:9 He did evil in the sight of 698 the Lord, as his ancestors had done. He did not repudiate 699 the sinful ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat who encouraged Israel to sin. 15:10 Shallum son of Jabesh conspired against him; he assassinated him in Ibleam 700 and took his place as king. 15:11 The rest of the events of Zechariah’s reign are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel. 701 15:12 His assassination brought to fulfillment the Lord’s word to Jehu, 702 “Four generations of your descendants will rule over Israel.” 703 That is exactly what happened. 704
15:13 Shallum son of Jabesh became king in the thirty-ninth year of King Uzziah’s 705 reign over Judah. He reigned for one month 706 in Samaria. 15:14 Menahem son of Gadi went up from Tirzah to 707 Samaria and attacked Shallum son of Jabesh. 708 He killed him and took his place as king. 15:15 The rest of the events of Shallum’s reign, including the conspiracy he organized, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel. 709 15:16 At that time Menahem came from Tirzah and attacked Tiphsah. He struck down all who lived in the city and the surrounding territory, because they would not surrender. 710 He even ripped open the pregnant women.
15:17 In the thirty-ninth year of King Azariah’s reign over Judah, Menahem son of Gadi became king over Israel. He reigned for twelve years in Samaria. 711 15:18 He did evil in the sight of 712 the Lord; he did not repudiate 713 the sinful ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat who encouraged Israel to sin. 714
During his reign, 15:19 Pul 715 king of Assyria invaded the land, and Menahem paid 716 him 717 a thousand talents 718 of silver to gain his support 719 and to solidify his control of the kingdom. 720 15:20 Menahem got this silver by taxing all the wealthy men in Israel; he took fifty shekels of silver from each one of them and paid it to the king of Assyria. 721 Then the king of Assyria left; he did not stay there in the land.
15:21 The rest of the events of Menahem’s reign, including all his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel. 722 15:22 Menahem passed away 723 and his son Pekahiah replaced him as king.
15:23 In the fiftieth year of King Azariah’s reign over Judah, Menahem’s son Pekahiah became king over Israel. He reigned in Samaria 724 for two years. 15:24 He did evil in the sight of 725 the Lord; he did not repudiate 726 the sinful ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat who encouraged Israel to sin. 15:25 His officer Pekah son of Remaliah conspired against him. He and fifty Gileadites assassinated Pekahiah, as well as Argob and Arieh, in Samaria in the fortress of the royal palace. 727 Pekah then took his place as king.
15:26 The rest of the events of Pekahiah’s reign, including all his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel. 728
15:27 In the fifty-second year of King Azariah’s reign over Judah, Pekah son of Remaliah became king over Israel. He reigned in Samaria 729 for twenty years. 15:28 He did evil in the sight of 730 the Lord; he did not repudiate 731 the sinful ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat who encouraged Israel to sin. 15:29 During Pekah’s reign over Israel, King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria came and captured Ijon, Abel Beth Maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, 732 Gilead, and Galilee, including all the territory of Naphtali. He deported the people 733 to Assyria. 15:30 Hoshea son of Elah conspired against Pekah son of Remaliah. He assassinated him 734 and took his place as king, in the twentieth year of the reign of Jotham son of Uzziah.
15:31 The rest of the events of Pekah’s reign, including all his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel. 735
15:32 In the second year of the reign of Israel’s King Pekah son of Remaliah, Uzziah’s son Jotham became king over Judah. 15:33 He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem. 736 His mother was Jerusha the daughter of Zadok. 15:34 He did what the Lord approved, just as his father Uzziah had done. 737 15:35 But the high places were not eliminated; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense on the high places. He built the Upper Gate to the Lord’s temple.
15:36 The rest of the events of Jotham’s reign, including his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah. 738 15:37 In those days the Lord prompted King Rezin of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah to attack Judah. 739 15:38 Jotham passed away 740 and was buried with his ancestors in the city of his ancestor David. His son Ahaz replaced him as king.
16:1 In the seventeenth year of the reign of Pekah son of Remaliah, Jotham’s son Ahaz became king over Judah. 16:2 Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem. 741 He did not do what pleased the Lord his God, in contrast to his ancestor David. 742 16:3 He followed in the footsteps of 743 the kings of Israel. He passed his son through the fire, 744 a horrible sin practiced by the nations 745 whom the Lord drove out from before the Israelites. 16:4 He offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.
16:5 At that time King Rezin of Syria and King Pekah son of Remaliah of Israel attacked Jerusalem. 746 They besieged Ahaz, 747 but were unable to conquer him. 748 16:6 (At that time King Rezin of Syria 749 recovered Elat for Syria; he drove the Judahites from there. 750 Syrians 751 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. 752 March up and rescue me from the power 753 of the king of Syria and the king of Israel, who have attacked 754 me.” 16:8 Then Ahaz took the silver and gold that were 755 in the Lord’s temple and in the treasuries of the royal palace and sent it as tribute 756 to the king of Assyria. 16:9 The king of Assyria responded favorably to his request; 757 he 758 attacked Damascus and captured it. He deported the people 759 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. 760 King Ahaz sent to Uriah the priest a drawing of the altar and a blueprint for its design. 761 16:11 Uriah the priest built an altar in conformity to the plans King Ahaz had sent from Damascus. 762 Uriah the priest finished it before King Ahaz arrived back from Damascus. 763 16:12 When the king arrived back from Damascus and 764 saw the altar, he approached it 765 and offered a sacrifice on it. 766 16:13 He offered his burnt sacrifice and his grain offering. He poured out his libation and sprinkled the blood from his peace offerings on the altar. 16:14 He moved the bronze altar that stood in the Lord’s presence from the front of the temple (between the altar and the Lord’s temple) and put it on the north side of the new 767 altar. 16:15 King Ahaz ordered Uriah the priest, “On the large altar 768 offer the morning burnt sacrifice, the evening grain offering, the royal burnt sacrifices and grain offering, the burnt sacrifice for all the people of Israel, their grain offering, and their libations. Sprinkle all the blood of the burnt sacrifice and other sacrifices on it. The bronze altar will be for my personal use.” 769 16:16 So Uriah the priest did exactly as 770 King Ahaz ordered.
16:17 King Ahaz took off the frames of the movable stands, and removed the basins from them. He took “The Sea” 771 down from the bronze bulls that supported it 772 and put it on the pavement. 16:18 He also removed the Sabbath awning 773 that had been built 774 in the temple and the king’s outer entranceway, on account of the king of Assyria. 775
16:19 The rest of the events of Ahaz’s reign, including his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah. 776 16:20 Ahaz passed away 777 and was buried with his ancestors in the city of David. His son Hezekiah replaced him as king.
17:1 In the twelfth year of King Ahaz’s reign over Judah, Hoshea son of Elah became king over Israel. He reigned in Samaria 778 for nine years. 17:2 He did evil in the sight of 779 the Lord, but not to the same degree as the Israelite kings who preceded him. 17:3 King Shalmaneser of Assyria threatened 780 him; Hoshea became his subject and paid him tribute. 17:4 The king of Assyria discovered that Hoshea was planning a revolt. 781 Hoshea had sent messengers to King So 782 of Egypt and had not sent his annual tribute to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria arrested him and imprisoned him. 783 17:5 The king of Assyria marched through 784 the whole land. He attacked Samaria and besieged it for three years. 17:6 In the ninth year of Hoshea’s reign, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported the people of Israel 785 to Assyria. He settled them in Halah, along the Habor (the river of Gozan), and in the cities of the Medes.
17:7 This happened because the Israelites sinned against the Lord their God, who brought them up from the land of Egypt and freed them from the power of 786 Pharaoh king of Egypt. They worshiped 787 other gods; 17:8 they observed the practices 788 of the nations whom the Lord had driven out from before Israel, and followed the example of the kings of Israel. 789 17:9 The Israelites said things about the Lord their God that were not right. 790 They built high places in all their cities, from the watchtower to the fortress. 791 17:10 They set up sacred pillars and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree. 17:11 They burned incense on all the high places just like the nations whom the Lord had driven away from before them. Their evil practices made the Lord angry. 792 17:12 They worshiped 793 the disgusting idols 794 in blatant disregard of the Lord’s command. 795
17:13 The Lord solemnly warned Israel and Judah through all his prophets and all the seers, “Turn back from your evil ways; obey my commandments and rules that are recorded in the law. I ordered your ancestors to keep this law and sent my servants the prophets to remind you of its demands.” 796 17:14 But they did not pay attention and were as stubborn as their ancestors, 797 who had not trusted the Lord their God. 17:15 They rejected his rules, the covenant he had made with their ancestors, and the laws he had commanded them to obey. 798 They paid allegiance to 799 worthless idols, and so became worthless to the Lord. 800 They copied the practices of the surrounding nations in blatant disregard of the Lord’s command. 801 17:16 They abandoned all the commandments of the Lord their God; they made two metal calves and an Asherah pole, bowed down to all the stars in the sky, 802 and worshiped 803 Baal. 17:17 They passed their sons and daughters through the fire, 804 and practiced divination and omen reading. They committed themselves to doing evil in the sight of the Lord and made him angry. 805
17:18 So the Lord was furious 806 with Israel and rejected them; 807 only the tribe of Judah was left. 17:19 Judah also failed to keep the commandments of the Lord their God; they followed Israel’s example. 808 17:20 So the Lord rejected all of Israel’s descendants; he humiliated 809 them and handed them over to robbers, until he had thrown them from his presence. 17:21 He tore Israel away from David’s dynasty, and Jeroboam son of Nebat became their king. 810 Jeroboam drove Israel away 811 from the Lord and encouraged them to commit a serious sin. 812 17:22 The Israelites followed in the sinful ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat and did not repudiate 813 them. 17:23 Finally 814 the Lord rejected Israel 815 just as he had warned he would do 816 through all his servants the prophets. Israel was deported from its land to Assyria and remains there to this very day.
17:24 The king of Assyria brought foreigners 817 from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and settled them in the cities of Samaria 818 in place of the Israelites. They took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities. 17:25 When they first moved in, 819 they did not worship 820 the Lord. So the Lord sent lions among them and the lions were killing them. 17:26 The king of Assyria was told, 821 “The nations whom you deported and settled in the cities of Samaria do not know the requirements of the God of the land, so he has sent lions among them. They are killing the people 822 because they do not know the requirements of the God of the land.” 17:27 So the king of Assyria ordered, “Take back one of the priests whom you 823 deported from there. He must settle there and teach them the requirements of the God of the land.” 824 17:28 So one of the priests whom they had deported from Samaria went back and settled in Bethel. 825 He taught them how to worship 826 the Lord.
17:29 But each of these nations made 827 its own gods and put them in the shrines on the high places that the people of Samaria 828 had made. Each nation did this in the cities where they lived. 17:30 The people from Babylon made Succoth Benoth, 829 the people from Cuth made Nergal, 830 the people from Hamath made Ashima, 831 17:31 the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak, 832 and the Sepharvites burned their sons in the fire as an offering to Adrammelech and Anammelech, 833 the gods of Sepharvaim. 17:32 At the same time they worshiped 834 the Lord. They appointed some of their own people to serve as priests in the shrines on the high places. 835 17:33 They were worshiping 836 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.
17:34 To this very day they observe their earlier practices. They do not worship 837 the Lord; they do not obey the rules, regulations, law, and commandments that the Lord gave 838 the descendants of Jacob, whom he renamed Israel. 17:35 The Lord made an agreement 839 with them 840 and instructed them, “You must not worship other gods. Do not bow down to them, serve them, or offer sacrifices to them. 17:36 Instead you must worship the Lord, who brought you up from the land of Egypt by his great power and military ability; 841 bow down to him and offer sacrifices to him. 17:37 You must carefully obey at all times the rules, regulations, law, and commandments he wrote down for you. You must not worship other gods. 17:38 You must never forget the agreement I made with you, and you must not worship other gods. 17:39 Instead you must worship the Lord your God; then he will rescue you from the power of all your enemies.” 17:40 But they 842 pay no attention; instead they observe their earlier practices. 17:41 These nations are worshiping the Lord and at the same time serving their idols; their sons and grandsons do just as their fathers have done, to this very day.
18:1 In the third year of the reign of Israel’s King Hoshea son of Elah, Ahaz’s son Hezekiah became king over Judah. 18:2 He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. 843 His mother 844 was Abi, 845 the daughter of Zechariah. 18:3 He did what the Lord approved, just as his ancestor David had done. 846 18:4 He eliminated the high places, smashed the sacred pillars to bits, and cut down the Asherah pole. 847 He also demolished the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for up to that time 848 the Israelites had been offering incense to it; it was called Nehushtan. 849 18:5 He trusted in the Lord God of Israel; in this regard there was none like him among the kings of Judah either before or after. 850 18:6 He was loyal to 851 the Lord and did not abandon him. 852 He obeyed the commandments which the Lord had given to 853 Moses. 18:7 The Lord was with him; he succeeded in all his endeavors. 854 He rebelled against the king of Assyria and refused to submit to him. 855 18:8 He defeated the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from the watchtower to the city fortress. 856
18:9 In the fourth year of King Hezekiah’s reign (it was the seventh year of the reign of Israel’s King Hoshea, son of Elah), King Shalmaneser of Assyria marched 857 up against Samaria 858 and besieged it. 18:10 After three years he captured it (in the sixth year of Hezekiah’s reign); in the ninth year of King Hoshea’s reign over Israel Samaria was captured. 18:11 The king of Assyria deported the people of Israel 859 to Assyria. He settled them in Halah, along the Habor (the river of Gozan), and in the cities of the Medes. 18:12 This happened because they did not obey 860 the Lord their God and broke his agreement with them. 861 They did not pay attention to and obey all that Moses, the Lord’s servant, had commanded. 862
18:13 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign, King Sennacherib of Assyria marched up against all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. 18:14 King Hezekiah of Judah sent this message to the king of Assyria, who was at Lachish, “I have violated our treaty. 863 If you leave, I will do whatever you demand.” 864 So the king of Assyria demanded that King Hezekiah of Judah pay three hundred talents 865 of silver and thirty talents of gold. 18:15 Hezekiah gave him all the silver in 866 the Lord’s temple and in the treasuries of the royal palace. 18:16 At that time King Hezekiah of Judah stripped the metal overlays from the doors of the Lord’s temple and from the posts which he had plated 867 and gave them to the king of Assyria.
18:17 The king of Assyria sent his commanding general, the chief eunuch, and the chief adviser 868 from Lachish to King Hezekiah in Jerusalem, 869 along with a large army. They went up and arrived at Jerusalem. They went 870 and stood at the conduit of the upper pool which is located on the road to the field where they wash and dry cloth. 871 18:18 They summoned the king, so Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace supervisor, accompanied by Shebna the scribe and Joah son of Asaph, the secretary, went out to meet them.
18:19 The chief adviser said to them, “Tell Hezekiah: ‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: “What is your source of confidence? 872 18:20 Your claim to have a strategy and military strength is just empty talk. 873 In whom are you trusting that you would dare to rebel against me? 18:21 Now look, you must be trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed staff. If a man leans for support on it, it punctures his hand and wounds him. That is what Pharaoh king of Egypt does to all who trust in him. 18:22 Perhaps you will tell me, ‘We are trusting in the Lord our God.’ But Hezekiah is the one who eliminated his high places and altars and then told the people of Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You must worship at this altar in Jerusalem.’ 18:23 Now make a deal 874 with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, provided you can find enough riders for them. 18:24 Certainly you will not refuse one of my master’s minor officials and trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen. 875 18:25 Furthermore it was by the command of the Lord that I marched up against this place to destroy it. The Lord told me, ‘March 876 up against this land and destroy it.’”’” 877
18:26 Eliakim son of Hilkiah, Shebna, and Joah said to the chief adviser, “Speak to your servants in Aramaic, 878 for we understand it. Don’t speak with us in the Judahite dialect 879 in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.” 18:27 But the chief adviser said to them, “My master did not send me to speak these words only to your master and to you. 880 His message is also for the men who sit on the wall, for they will eat their own excrement and drink their own urine along with you.” 881
18:28 The chief adviser then stood there and called out loudly in the Judahite dialect, 882 “Listen to the message of the great king, the king of Assyria. 18:29 This is what the king says: ‘Don’t let Hezekiah mislead you, for he is not able to rescue you from my hand! 883 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.” 18:31 Don’t listen to Hezekiah!’ For this is what the king of Assyria says, ‘Send me a token of your submission and surrender to me. 884 Then each of you may eat from his own vine and fig tree and drink water from his own cistern, 18:32 until I come and take you to a land just like your own – a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey. Then you will live and not die. Don’t listen to Hezekiah, for he is misleading you when he says, “The Lord will rescue us.” 18:33 Have any of the gods of the nations actually rescued his land from the power of the king of Assyria? 885 18:34 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? 886 Indeed, did any gods rescue Samaria 887 from my power? 888 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?’” 889 18:36 The people were silent and did not respond, for the king had ordered, “Don’t respond to him.”
18:37 Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace supervisor, accompanied by Shebna the scribe and Joah son of Asaph, the secretary, went to Hezekiah with their clothes torn 890 and reported to him what the chief adviser had said. 19:1 When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and went to the Lord’s temple. 19:2 He sent Eliakim the palace supervisor, Shebna the scribe, and the leading priests, 891 clothed in sackcloth, with this message to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz: 19:3 “This is what Hezekiah says: 892 ‘This is a day of distress, insults, 893 and humiliation, 894 as when a baby is ready to leave the birth canal, but the mother lacks the strength to push it through. 895 19:4 Perhaps the Lord your God will hear all these things the chief adviser has spoken on behalf of his master, the king of Assyria, who sent him to taunt the living God. 896 When the Lord your God hears, perhaps he will punish him for the things he has said. 897 So pray for this remnant that remains.’” 898
19:5 When King Hezekiah’s servants came to Isaiah, 19:6 Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master this: ‘This is what the Lord says: “Don’t be afraid because of the things you have heard – these insults the king of Assyria’s servants have hurled against me. 899 19:7 Look, I will take control of his mind; 900 he will receive 901 a report and return to his own land. I will cut him down 902 with a sword in his own land.”’”
19:8 When the chief adviser heard the king of Assyria had departed from Lachish, he left and went to Libnah, where the king was campaigning. 903 19:9 The king 904 heard that King Tirhakah of Ethiopia was marching out to fight him. 905 He again sent messengers to Hezekiah, ordering them: 19:10 “Tell King Hezekiah of Judah this: ‘Don’t let your God in whom you trust mislead you when he says, “Jerusalem will not be handed over 906 to the king of Assyria.” 19:11 Certainly you have heard how the kings of Assyria have annihilated all lands. 907 Do you really think you will be rescued? 908 19:12 Were the nations whom my ancestors destroyed – the nations of Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden in Telassar – rescued by their gods? 909 19:13 Where are the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, and the king of Lair, 910 Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?’”
19:14 Hezekiah took the letter 911 from the messengers and read it. 912 Then Hezekiah went up to the Lord’s temple and spread it out before the Lord. 19:15 Hezekiah prayed before the Lord: “Lord God of Israel, who is enthroned on the cherubs! 913 You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the sky 914 and the earth. 19:16 Pay attention, Lord, and hear! Open your eyes, Lord, and observe! Listen to the message Sennacherib sent and how he taunts the living God! 915 19:17 It is true, Lord, that the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands. 19:18 They have burned the gods of the nations, 916 for they are not really gods, but only the product of human hands manufactured from wood and stone. That is why the Assyrians could destroy them. 917 19:19 Now, O Lord our God, rescue us from his power, so that all the kingdoms of the earth will know that you, Lord, are the only God.”
19:20 Isaiah son of Amoz sent this message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I have heard your prayer concerning King Sennacherib of Assyria. 918 19:21 This is what the Lord says about him: 919
“The virgin daughter Zion 920
despises you, she makes fun of you;
Daughter Jerusalem
shakes her head after you. 921
19:22 Whom have you taunted and hurled insults at?
At whom have you shouted, 922
and looked so arrogantly? 923
At the Holy One of Israel! 924
19:23 Through your messengers you taunted the sovereign master, 925
‘With my many chariots 926
I climbed up the high mountains,
the slopes of Lebanon.
I cut down its tall cedars,
and its best evergreens.
I invaded its most remote regions, 927
its thickest woods.
19:24 I dug wells and drank
water in foreign lands. 928
With the soles of my feet I dried up
all the rivers of Egypt.’
19:25 929 Certainly you must have heard! 930
Long ago I worked it out,
In ancient times I planned 931 it;
and now I am bringing it to pass.
The plan is this:
Fortified cities will crash
into heaps of ruins. 932
19:26 Their residents are powerless, 933
they are terrified and ashamed.
They are as short-lived as plants in the field,
or green vegetation. 934
They are as short-lived as grass on the rooftops 935
when it is scorched by the east wind. 936
19:27 I know where you live,
and everything you do. 937
19:28 Because you rage against me,
and the uproar you create has reached my ears; 938
I will put my hook in your nose, 939
and my bridle between your lips,
and I will lead you back the way
you came.”
19:29 940 This will be your confirmation that I have spoken the truth: 941 This year you will eat what grows wild, 942 and next year 943 what grows on its own from that. But in the third year you will plant seed and harvest crops; you will plant vines and consume their produce. 944 19:30 Those who remain in Judah will take root in the ground and bear fruit. 945
19:31 For a remnant will leave Jerusalem;
survivors will come out of Mount Zion.
The intense devotion of the sovereign Lord 946 to his people 947 will accomplish this.
19:32 So this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria:
“He will not enter this city,
nor will he shoot an arrow here. 948
He will not attack it with his shield-carrying warriors, 949
nor will he build siege works against it.
19:33 He will go back the way he came.
He will not enter this city,” says the Lord.
19:34 I will shield this city and rescue it for the sake of my reputation and because of my promise to David my servant.’” 950
19:35 That very night the Lord’s messenger went out and killed 185,000 men in the Assyrian camp. When they 951 got up early the next morning, there were all the corpses. 952 19:36 So King Sennacherib of Assyria broke camp and went on his way. He went home and stayed in Nineveh. 953 19:37 One day, 954 as he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, 955 his sons 956 Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword. 957 They escaped to the land of Ararat; his son Esarhaddon replaced him as king.
20:1 In those days Hezekiah was stricken with a terminal illness. 958 The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz visited him and told him, “This is what the Lord says, ‘Give your household instructions, for you are about to die; you will not get well.’” 959 20:2 He turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, 20:3 “Please, Lord. Remember how I have served you 960 faithfully and with wholehearted devotion, 961 and how I have carried out your will.” 962 Then Hezekiah wept bitterly. 963
20:4 Isaiah was still in the middle courtyard when the Lord told him, 964 20:5 “Go back and tell Hezekiah, the leader of my people: ‘This is what the Lord God of your ancestor David says: “I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Look, I will heal you. The day after tomorrow 965 you will go up to the Lord’s temple. 20:6 I will add fifteen years to your life and rescue you and this city from the king of Assyria. I will shield this city for the sake of my reputation and because of my promise to David my servant.”’” 966 20:7 Isaiah ordered, “Get a fig cake.” So they did as he ordered 967 and placed it on the ulcerated sore, and he recovered. 968
20:8 Hezekiah had said to Isaiah, “What is the confirming sign that the Lord will heal me and that I will go up to the Lord’s temple the day after tomorrow?” 20:9 Isaiah replied, “This is your sign from the Lord confirming that the Lord will do what he has said. Do you want the shadow to move ahead ten steps or to go back ten steps?” 969 20:10 Hezekiah answered, “It is easy for the shadow to lengthen ten steps, but not for it 970 to go back ten steps.” 20:11 Isaiah the prophet called out to the Lord, and the Lord 971 made the shadow go back ten steps on the stairs of Ahaz. 972
20:12 At that time Merodach-Baladan 973 son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, for he had heard that Hezekiah was ill. 20:13 Hezekiah welcomed 974 them and showed them his whole storehouse, with its silver, gold, spices, and high quality olive oil, as well as his armory and everything in his treasuries. Hezekiah showed them everything in his palace and in his whole kingdom. 975 20:14 Isaiah the prophet visited King Hezekiah and asked him, “What did these men say? Where do they come from?” Hezekiah replied, “They come from the distant land of Babylon.” 20:15 Isaiah 976 asked, “What have they seen in your palace?” Hezekiah replied, “They have seen everything in my palace. I showed them everything 977 in my treasuries.” 20:16 Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Listen to the word of the Lord, 20:17 ‘Look, a time is 978 coming when everything in your palace and the things your ancestors have accumulated to this day will be carried away to Babylon; nothing will be left,’ says the Lord. 20:18 ‘Some of your very own descendants whom you father 979 will be taken away and will be made eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’” 20:19 Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The Lord’s word which you have announced is appropriate.” 980 Then he added, 981 “At least there will be peace and stability during my lifetime.” 982
20:20 The rest of the events of Hezekiah’s reign and all his accomplishments, including how he built a pool and conduit to bring 983 water into the city, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah. 984 20:21 Hezekiah passed away 985 and his son Manasseh replaced him as king.
21:1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned for fifty-five years in Jerusalem. 986 His mother 987 was Hephzibah. 21:2 He did evil in the sight of 988 the Lord and committed the same horrible sins practiced by the nations 989 whom the Lord drove out from before the Israelites. 21:3 He rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he set up altars for Baal and made an Asherah pole just like King Ahab of Israel had done. He bowed down to all the stars in the sky 990 and worshiped 991 them. 21:4 He built altars in the Lord’s temple, about which the Lord had said, “Jerusalem will be my home.” 992 21:5 In the two courtyards of the Lord’s temple he built altars for all the stars in the sky. 21:6 He passed his son 993 through the fire 994 and practiced divination and omen reading. He set up a ritual pit to conjure up underworld spirits, and appointed magicians to supervise it. 995 He did a great amount of evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger. 996 21:7 He put an idol of Asherah he had made in the temple, about which the Lord had said to David and to his son Solomon, “This temple in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will be my permanent home. 997 21:8 I will not make Israel again leave the land I gave to their ancestors, 998 provided that they carefully obey all I commanded them, the whole law my servant Moses ordered them to obey.” 21:9 But they did not obey, 999 and Manasseh misled them so that they sinned more than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed from before the Israelites.
21:10 So the Lord announced through 1000 his servants the prophets: 21:11 “King Manasseh of Judah has committed horrible sins. 1001 He has sinned more than the Amorites before him and has encouraged Judah to sin by worshiping his disgusting idols. 1002 21:12 So this is what the Lord God of Israel says, ‘I am about to bring disaster on Jerusalem and Judah. The news will reverberate in the ears of those who hear about it. 1003 21:13 I will destroy Jerusalem the same way I did Samaria 1004 and the dynasty of Ahab. 1005 I will wipe Jerusalem clean, just as one wipes a plate on both sides. 1006 21:14 I will abandon this last remaining tribe among my people 1007 and hand them over to their enemies; they will be plundered and robbed by all their enemies, 1008 21:15 because they have done evil in my sight 1009 and have angered me from the time their ancestors left Egypt right up to this very day!’”
21:16 Furthermore Manasseh killed so many innocent people, he stained Jerusalem with their blood from end to end, 1010 in addition to encouraging Judah to sin by doing evil in the sight of the Lord. 1011
21:17 The rest of the events of Manasseh’s reign and all his accomplishments, as well as the sinful acts he committed, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah. 1012 21:18 Manasseh passed away 1013 and was buried in his palace garden, the garden of Uzzah, and his son Amon replaced him as king.
21:19 Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned for two years in Jerusalem. 1014 His mother 1015 was Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz, from Jotbah. 21:20 He did evil in the sight of 1016 the Lord, just like his father Manasseh had done. 21:21 He followed in the footsteps of his father 1017 and worshiped and bowed down to the disgusting idols 1018 which his father had worshiped. 1019 21:22 He abandoned the Lord God of his ancestors and did not follow the Lord’s instructions. 1020 21:23 Amon’s servants conspired against him and killed the king in his palace. 21:24 The people of the land executed all those who had conspired against King Amon, and they 1021 made his son Josiah king in his place.
21:25 The rest of Amon’s accomplishments are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah. 1022 21:26 He was buried 1023 in his tomb in the garden of Uzzah, and his son Josiah replaced him as king.
22:1 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned for thirty-one years in Jerusalem. 1024 His mother 1025 was Jedidah, daughter of Adaiah, from Bozkath. 22:2 He did what the Lord approved 1026 and followed in his ancestor David’s footsteps; 1027 he did not deviate to the right or the left.
22:3 In the eighteenth year of King Josiah’s reign, the king sent the scribe Shaphan son of Azaliah, son of Meshullam, to the Lord’s temple with these orders: 1028 22:4 “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest and have him melt down 1029 the silver that has been brought by the people to the Lord’s temple and has been collected by the guards at the door. 22:5 Have them hand it over to the construction foremen 1030 assigned to the Lord’s temple. They in turn should pay the temple workers to repair it, 1031 22:6 including craftsmen, builders, and masons, and should buy wood and chiseled stone for the repair work. 1032 22:7 Do not audit the foremen who disburse the silver, for they are honest.” 1033
22:8 Hilkiah the high priest informed Shaphan the scribe, “I found the law scroll in the Lord’s temple.” Hilkiah gave the scroll to Shaphan and he read it. 22:9 Shaphan the scribe went to the king and reported, 1034 “Your servants melted down the silver in the temple 1035 and handed it over to the construction foremen assigned to the Lord’s temple.” 22:10 Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a scroll.” Shaphan read it out loud before the king. 22:11 When the king heard the words of the law scroll, he tore his clothes. 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, 22:13 “Go, seek an oracle from 1036 the Lord for me and the people – for all Judah. Find out about 1037 the words of this scroll that has been discovered. For the Lord’s fury has been ignited against us, 1038 because our ancestors have not obeyed the words of this scroll by doing all that it instructs us to do.” 1039
22:14 So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Acbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shullam son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, the supervisor of the wardrobe. 1040 (She lived in Jerusalem in the Mishneh 1041 district.) They stated their business, 1042 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: 22:16 “This is what the Lord says: ‘I am about to bring disaster on this place and its residents, the details of which are recorded in the scroll which the king of Judah has read. 1043 22:17 This will happen because they have abandoned me and offered sacrifices 1044 to other gods, angering me with all the idols they have made. 1045 My anger will ignite against this place and will not be extinguished!’” 22:18 Say this to the king of Judah, who sent you to seek an oracle from the Lord: “This is what the Lord God of Israel says concerning the words you have heard: 22:19 ‘You displayed a sensitive spirit 1046 and humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard how I intended to make this place and its residents into an appalling example of an accursed people. 1047 You tore your clothes and wept before me, and I have heard you,’ says the Lord. 22:20 ‘Therefore I will allow you to die and be buried in peace. 1048 You will not have to witness 1049 all the disaster I will bring on this place.’”’” Then they reported back to the king.
23:1 The king summoned all the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem. 1050 23:2 The king went up to the Lord’s temple, accompanied by all the people of Judah, all the residents of Jerusalem, the priests, and the prophets. All the people were there, from the youngest to the oldest. He read aloud 1051 all the words of the scroll of the covenant that had been discovered in the Lord’s temple. 23:3 The king stood by the pillar and renewed 1052 the covenant before the Lord, agreeing to follow 1053 the Lord and to obey his commandments, laws, and rules with all his heart and being, 1054 by carrying out the terms 1055 of this covenant recorded on this scroll. All the people agreed to keep the covenant. 1056
23:4 The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the high-ranking priests, 1057 and the guards 1058 to bring out of the Lord’s temple all the items that were used in the worship of 1059 Baal, Asherah, and all the stars of the sky. 1060 The king 1061 burned them outside of Jerusalem in the terraces 1062 of Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel. 1063 23:5 He eliminated 1064 the pagan priests whom the kings of Judah had appointed to offer sacrifices 1065 on the high places in the cities of Judah and in the area right around Jerusalem. (They offered sacrifices 1066 to Baal, the sun god, the moon god, the constellations, and all the stars in the sky.) 23:6 He removed the Asherah pole from the Lord’s temple and took it outside Jerusalem to the Kidron Valley, where he burned it. 1067 He smashed it to dust and then threw the dust in the public graveyard. 1068 23:7 He tore down the quarters 1069 of the male cultic prostitutes in the Lord’s temple, where women were weaving shrines 1070 for Asherah.
23:8 He brought all the priests from the cities of Judah and ruined 1071 the high places where the priests had offered sacrifices, from Geba to Beer Sheba. 1072 He tore down the high place of the goat idols 1073 situated at the entrance of the gate of Joshua, the city official, on the left side of the city gate. 23:9 (Now the priests of the high places did not go up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they did eat unleavened cakes among their fellow priests.) 1074 23:10 The king 1075 ruined Topheth in the Valley of Ben Hinnom so that no one could pass his son or his daughter through the fire to Molech. 1076 23:11 He removed from the entrance to the Lord’s temple the statues of horses 1077 that the kings of Judah had placed there in honor of the sun god. (They were kept near the room of Nathan Melech the eunuch, which was situated among the courtyards.) 1078 He burned up the chariots devoted to the sun god. 1079 23:12 The king tore down the altars the kings of Judah had set up on the roof of Ahaz’s upper room, as well as the altars Manasseh had set up in the two courtyards of the Lord’s temple. He crushed them up 1080 and threw the dust in the Kidron Valley. 23:13 The king ruined the high places east of Jerusalem, south of the Mount of Destruction, 1081 that King Solomon of Israel had built for the detestable Sidonian goddess Astarte, the detestable Moabite god Chemosh, and the horrible Ammonite god Milcom. 23:14 He smashed the sacred pillars to bits, cut down the Asherah pole, and filled those shrines 1082 with human bones.
23:15 He also tore down the altar in Bethel 1083 at the high place made by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who encouraged Israel to sin. 1084 He burned all the combustible items at that high place and crushed them to dust; including the Asherah pole. 1085 23:16 When Josiah turned around, he saw the tombs there on the hill. So he ordered the bones from the tombs to be brought; 1086 he burned them on the altar and defiled it. This fulfilled the Lord’s announcement made by the prophet while Jeroboam stood by the altar during a festival. King Josiah 1087 turned and saw the grave of the prophet who had foretold this. 1088 23:17 He asked, “What is this grave marker I see?” The men from the city replied, “It’s the grave of the prophet 1089 who came from Judah and foretold these very things you have done to the altar of Bethel.” 23:18 The king 1090 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. 1091
23:19 Josiah also removed all the shrines on the high places in the cities of Samaria. The kings of Israel had made them and angered the Lord. 1092 He did to them what he had done to the high place in Bethel. 1093 23:20 He sacrificed all the priests of the high places on the altars located there, and burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.
23:21 The king ordered all the people, “Observe the Passover of the Lord your God, as prescribed in this scroll of the covenant.” 23:22 He issued this edict because 1094 a Passover like this had not been observed since the days of the judges; it was neglected for the entire period of the kings of Israel and Judah. 1095 23:23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah’s reign, such a Passover of the Lord was observed in Jerusalem.
23:24 Josiah also got rid of 1096 the ritual pits used to conjure up spirits, 1097 the magicians, personal idols, disgusting images, 1098 and all the detestable idols that had appeared in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem. In this way he carried out the terms of the law 1099 recorded on the scroll that Hilkiah the priest had discovered in the Lord’s temple. 23:25 No king before or after repented before the Lord as he did, with his whole heart, soul, and being in accordance with the whole law of Moses. 1100
23:26 Yet the Lord’s great anger against Judah did not subside; he was still infuriated by all the things Manasseh had done. 1101 23:27 The Lord announced, “I will also spurn Judah, 1102 just as I spurned Israel. I will reject this city that I chose – both Jerusalem and the temple, about which I said, “I will live there.” 1103
23:28 The rest of the events of Josiah’s reign and all his accomplishments are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah. 1104 23:29 During Josiah’s reign Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt marched toward 1105 the Euphrates River to help the king of Assyria. King Josiah marched out to fight him, but Necho 1106 killed him at Megiddo 1107 when he saw him. 23:30 His servants transported his dead body 1108 from Megiddo in a chariot and brought it to Jerusalem, where they buried him in his tomb. The people of the land took Josiah’s son Jehoahaz, poured olive oil on his head, 1109 and made him king in his father’s place.
23:31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. 1110 His mother 1111 was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah, from Libnah. 23:32 He did evil in the sight of 1112 the Lord as his ancestors had done. 1113 23:33 Pharaoh Necho imprisoned him in Riblah in the land of Hamath and prevented him from ruling in Jerusalem. 1114 He imposed on the land a special tax 1115 of one hundred talents 1116 of silver and a talent of gold. 23:34 Pharaoh Necho made Josiah’s son Eliakim king in Josiah’s place, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. He took Jehoahaz to Egypt, where he died. 1117 23:35 Jehoiakim paid Pharaoh the required amount of silver and gold, but to meet Pharaoh’s demands Jehoiakim had to tax the land. He collected an assessed amount from each man among the people of the land in order to pay Pharaoh Necho. 1118
23:36 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem. 1119 His mother was Zebidah the daughter of Pedaiah, from Rumah. 23:37 He did evil in the sight of 1120 the Lord as his ancestors had done.
24:1 During Jehoiakim’s reign, 1121 King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked. 1122 Jehoiakim was his subject for three years, but then he rebelled against him. 1123 24:2 The Lord sent against him Babylonian, Syrian, Moabite, and Ammonite raiding bands; he sent them to destroy Judah, as he had warned he would do through his servants the prophets. 1124 24:3 Just as the Lord had announced, he rejected Judah because of all the sins which Manasseh had committed. 1125 24:4 Because he killed innocent people and stained Jerusalem with their blood, the Lord was unwilling to forgive them. 1126
24:5 The rest of the events of Jehoiakim’s reign and all his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah. 1127 24:6 He passed away 1128 and his son Jehoiachin replaced him as king. 24:7 The king of Egypt did not march out from his land again, for the king of Babylon conquered all the territory that the king of Egypt had formerly controlled between the Brook of Egypt and the Euphrates River.
[1:1] 1 sn This statement may fit better with the final paragraph of 1 Kgs 22.
[1:2] 2 map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.
[1:2] 3 tn Heb “and he sent messengers and said to them.”
[1:2] 4 tn That is, “seek an oracle from.”
[1:2] 5 sn Apparently Baal Zebub refers to a local manifestation of the god Baal at the Philistine city of Ekron. The name appears to mean “Lord of the Flies,” but it may be a deliberate scribal corruption of Baal Zebul, “Baal, the Prince,” a title known from the Ugaritic texts. For further discussion and bibliography, see HALOT 261 s.v. זְבוּב בַּעַל and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 25.
[1:3] 6 tn Heb “Is it because there is no God in Israel [that] you are going to inquire of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron?” The translation seeks to bring out the sarcastic tone of the rhetorical question.
[1:5] sn The narrative is elliptical and telescoped here. The account of Elijah encountering the messengers and delivering the Lord’s message is omitted; we only here of it as the messengers report what happened to the king.
[1:6] 9 tn Heb “Is it because there is no God in Israel [that] you are sending to inquire of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron?” The translation seeks to bring out the sarcastic tone of the rhetorical question. In v. 3 the messengers are addressed (in the phrase “you are on your way” the second person plural pronoun is used in Hebrew), but here the king is addressed (in the phrase “you are sending” the second person singular pronoun is used).
[1:7] 10 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[1:7] 11 tn Heb “What was the manner…?”
[1:8] 12 tn Heb “said to him.”
[1:8] 13 tn Heb “an owner of hair.” This idiomatic expression indicates that Elijah was very hairy. For other examples where the idiom “owner of” is used to describe a characteristic of someone, see HALOT 143 s.v. בַּעַל. For example, an “owner of dreams” is one who frequently has dreams (Gen 37:19) and an “owner of anger” is a hot-tempered individual (Prov 22:24).
[1:8] 14 tn Heb “belt of skin” (i.e., one made from animal hide).
[1:8] 15 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[1:9] 16 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[1:9] 17 tn Heb “officer of fifty and his fifty.”
[1:9] 19 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the captain) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[1:9] 20 sn The prophet Elijah’s position on the top of the hill symbolizes his superiority to the king and his messengers.
[1:9] 21 tn Heb “man of God” (also in vv. 10, 11, 12, 13).
[1:10] 22 tn Heb “answered and said to the officer of fifty.”
[1:10] 23 tn Wordplay contributes to the irony here. The king tells Elijah to “come down” (Hebrew יָרַד, yarad), but Elijah calls fire down (יָרַד) on the arrogant king’s officer.
[1:11] 24 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[1:11] 25 tc The MT reads, “he answered and said to him.” The verb “he answered” (וַיַּעַן, vayya’an) is probably a corruption of “he went up” (וַיַּעַל, vayya’al). See v. 9.
[1:11] 26 sn In this second panel of the three-paneled narrative, the king and his captain are more arrogant than before. The captain uses a more official sounding introduction (“this is what the king says”) and the king adds “at once” to the command.
[1:12] 27 tc Two medieval Hebrew
[1:12] 28 tn Or “intense fire.” The divine name may be used idiomatically to emphasize the intensity of the fire. Whether one translates אֱלֹהִים (’elohim) here as a proper name or idiomatically, this addition to the narrative (the name is omitted in the first panel, v. 10b) emphasizes the severity of the judgment and is appropriate given the more intense command delivered by the king to the prophet in this panel.
[1:13] 29 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[1:13] 30 tn Heb “went up and approached and kneeled.”
[1:14] 32 tn Heb “their fifty.”
[1:15] 33 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.
[1:16] 34 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elijah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[1:16] 35 tn Heb “him”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[1:16] 36 tn Heb “Because you sent messengers to inquire of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron, is there no God in Israel to inquire of his word?”
[1:16] 37 sn For the third time in this chapter we read the Lord’s sarcastic question to king and the accompanying announcement of judgment. The repetition emphasizes one of the chapter’s main themes. Israel’s leaders should seek guidance from their own God, not a pagan deity, for Israel’s sovereign God is the one who controls life and death.
[1:17] 38 tn Heb “according to the word of the
[1:17] 39 tn Heb “Jehoram replaced him as king…because he had no son.” Some ancient textual witnesses add “his brother,” which was likely added on the basis of the statement later in the verse that Ahaziah had no son.
[1:18] 40 tn Heb “As for the rest of the acts of Ahaziah which he did, are they not recorded in the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel?”
[2:2] 42 map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.
[2:3] 43 tn Heb “the sons of the prophets.”
[2:3] 44 tn Heb “from your head.” The same expression occurs in v. 5.
[2:4] 45 map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.
[2:7] 46 tn Heb “the two of them.” The referents (Elijah and Elisha) have been specified in the translation for clarity.
[2:9] 47 tn Heb “Ask! What can I do for you….?”
[2:9] 48 tn Heb “May a double portion of your spirit come to me.”
[2:10] 49 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elijah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[2:10] 50 tn Heb “You have made difficult [your] request.”
[2:11] 51 tn Though the noun is singular here, it may be collective, in which case it could be translated “chariots.”
[2:11] 52 tn Heb “look, a chariot of fire and horses of fire.”
[2:11] 53 tn Heb “and they made a division between the two of them.”
[2:12] 54 sn Elisha may be referring to the fiery chariot(s) and horses as the Lord’s spiritual army that fights on behalf of Israel (see 2 Kgs 6:15-17; 7:6). However, the juxtaposition with “my father” (clearly a reference to Elijah as Elisha’s mentor), and the parallel in 2 Kgs 13:14 (where the king addresses Elisha with these words), suggest that Elisha is referring to Elijah. In this case Elijah is viewed as a one man army, as it were. When the Lord spoke through him, his prophetic word was as powerful as an army of chariots and horses. See M. A. Beek, “The Meaning of the Expression ‘The Chariots and Horsemen of Israel’ (II Kings ii 12),” The Witness of Tradition (OTS 17), 1-10.
[2:14] 55 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).
[2:15] 56 map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.
[2:15] 57 tn Heb “and the sons of the prophets who were in Jericho, [who were standing] opposite, saw him and said.”
[2:15] 58 tn Heb “the spirit of Elijah.”
[2:16] 59 tn Or “the spirit of the
[2:16] 60 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[2:17] 61 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Elijah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[2:18] 62 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[2:19] 64 tn Heb “miscarries” or “is barren.”
[2:20] 65 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[2:21] 67 tn Heb “there will no longer be from there death and miscarriage [or, ‘barrenness’].”
[2:22] 68 tn Heb “according to the word of Elisha which he spoke.”
[2:23] 69 map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.
[2:23] 70 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.
[2:24] 71 tn Heb “he cursed them in the name of the
[2:25] 72 sn The two brief episodes recorded in vv. 19-25 demonstrate Elisha’s authority and prove that he is the legitimate prophetic heir of Elijah. He has the capacity to bring life and blessing to those who recognize his authority, or death and judgment to those who reject him.
[2:25] map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.
[3:1] 73 map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.
[3:2] 74 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
[3:3] 75 tn Heb “held tight,” or “clung to.”
[3:3] 76 tc The Hebrew text has the singular, “it.” Some ancient witnesses read the plural, which seems preferable since the antecedent (“sins”) is plural. Another option is to emend the plural “sins” to a singular. One ancient Greek witness has the singular “sin.”
[3:4] 77 tn For a discussion of the meaning of term (נֹקֵד, noqed), see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 43.
[3:4] 78 tn The vav + perfect here indicates customary action contemporary with the situation described in the preceding main clause. See IBHS 533-34 §32.2.3e.
[3:7] 79 tn Heb “went and sent.”
[3:7] 80 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jehoshaphat) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[3:7] 81 tn Heb “I will go up – like me, like you; like my people, like your people; like my horses; like your horses.”
[3:8] 82 tn Heb “Where is the road we will go up?”
[3:8] 83 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jehoram) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[3:9] 84 tn Heb “the king of Israel and the king of Judah and the king of Edom.”
[3:11] 86 tn Heb “that we might inquire of the
[3:11] 87 tn Heb “who poured water on the hands of Elijah.” This refers to one of the typical tasks of a servant.
[3:12] 88 tn Heb “the word of the
[3:13] 89 tn Or “What do we have in common?” The text reads literally, “What to me and to you?”
[3:14] 90 tn Traditionally “the
[3:14] 91 tn Heb “before whom I stand.”
[3:14] 92 tn Heb “if I did not lift up the face of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah.”
[3:14] 93 tn Heb “I would not look at you or see you.”
[3:15] 94 tn The term used refers to one who plays a stringed instrument, perhaps a harp.
[3:15] 95 tn Heb “the hand of the
[3:16] 96 tn Heb “making this valley cisterns, cisterns.” The Hebrew noun גֵּב (gev) means “cistern” in Jer 14:3 (cf. Jer 39:10). The repetition of the noun is for emphasis. See GKC 396 §123.e. The verb (“making”) is an infinitive absolute, which has to be interpreted in light of the context. The translation above takes it in an imperatival sense. The command need not be understood as literal, but as hyperbolic. Telling them to build cisterns is a dramatic way of leading into the announcement that he would miraculously provide water in the desert. Some prefer to translate the infinitive as an imperfect with the Lord as the understood subject, “I will turn this valley [into] many pools.”
[3:18] 98 tn Heb “and this is easy in the eyes of the
[3:19] 99 tn Heb “choice” or “select.”
[3:19] 100 tn Elisha places the object first and uses an imperfect verb form. The stylistic shift may signal that he is now instructing them what to do, rather than merely predicting what would happen.
[3:19] 102 tn Heb “and ruin every good portion with stones.”
[3:20] 103 tn Heb “and in the morning, when the offering is offered up, look, water was coming from the way of Edom, and the land was filled with water.”
[3:21] 104 tn Heb “had come up to fight them.”
[3:21] 105 tn Heb “and they mustered all who tied on a belt and upwards, and they stood at the border.”
[3:23] 106 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Moabites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[3:23] 107 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).
[3:24] 109 tc The consonantal text (Kethib) suggests, “and they went, striking down,” but the marginal reading (Qere) is “they struck down, striking down.” For a discussion of the textual problem, see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 46.
[3:25] 110 tn Heb “and [on] every good portion they were throwing each man his stone and they filled it.” The vav + perfect (“and they filled”) here indicates customary action contemporary with the situation described in the preceding main clause (where a customary imperfect is used, “they were throwing”). See the note at 3:4.
[3:25] 111 tn Heb “until he had allowed its stones to remain in Kir Hareseth.”
[3:26] 112 tn Heb “and the king of Moab saw that the battle was too strong for him.”
[3:26] 113 tn Heb “he took with him seven hundred men, who drew the sword, to break through against.”
[3:27] 114 tn Heb “there was great anger against Israel.”
[3:27] sn The meaning of this statement is uncertain, for the subject of the anger is not indicated. Except for two relatively late texts, the noun קֶצֶף (qetsef) refers to an outburst of divine anger. But it seems unlikely the Lord would be angry with Israel, for he placed his stamp of approval on the campaign (vv. 16-19). D. N. Freedman suggests the narrator, who obviously has a bias against the Omride dynasty, included this observation to show that the Lord would not allow the Israelite king to “have an undiluted victory” (as quoted in M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings [AB], 52, n. 8). Some suggest that the original source identified Chemosh the Moabite god as the subject and that his name was later suppressed by a conscientious scribe, but this proposal raises more questions than it answers. For a discussion of various views, see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 47-48, 51-52.
[3:27] 115 tn Heb “they departed from him.”
[4:1] 116 tn Heb “a wife from among the wives of the sons of the prophets.”
[4:1] 118 tn Heb “your servant feared the
[4:3] 119 tn Heb “Go, ask for containers from outside, from all your neighbors, empty containers.”
[4:3] 120 tn Heb “Do not borrow just a few.”
[4:4] 121 tn Heb “all these vessels.”
[4:6] 122 tn Heb “to her son.”
[4:7] 123 tn Heb “man of God” (also in vv. 16, 22, 25, 27 [twice]).
[4:8] 124 tn Heb “great,” perhaps “wealthy.”
[4:8] 125 tn Or “she urged him to eat some food.”
[4:8] 126 tn Or “he would turn aside there to eat some food.”
[4:9] 128 tn Heb “holy man of God.”
[4:10] 129 tn Heb “a small upper room of a wall”; according to HALOT 832 s.v. עֲלִיָּה, this refers to “a fully walled upper room.”
[4:10] 130 tn Heb “and let’s put there for him.”
[4:11] 131 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[4:11] 132 tn Heb “turned aside.”
[4:11] 133 tn Or “slept there.”
[4:12] 134 tn Heb “Call for this Shunammite woman.”
[4:12] 135 tn Heb “and he called for her and she stood before him.”
[4:13] 136 tn Heb “he said to him.”
[4:13] 137 tn Heb “you have turned trembling to us with all this trembling.” The exaggerated language is probably idiomatic. The point seems to be that she has taken great pains or gone out of her way to be kind to them. Her concern was a sign of her respect for the prophetic office.
[4:13] 138 tn Heb “Among my people I am living.” This answer suggests that she has security within the context of her family.
[4:14] 139 tn Heb “and he said.”
[4:15] 140 tn Heb “Call for her.”
[4:15] 141 tn Heb “and he called her.”
[4:15] 142 tn Heb “and he called for her and she stood in the door.”
[4:16] 143 tn Heb “at this appointed time, at the time [when it is] reviving.” For a discussion of the second phrase see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 57.
[4:18] 144 tn Heb “to his father, to the harvesters.”
[4:19] 145 tn Heb “He”; the referent (the boy’s father) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[4:21] 147 tn Heb “man of God’s.”
[4:23] 148 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.
[4:24] 150 tn Heb “lead [the donkey on] and go.”
[4:24] 151 tn Heb “do not restrain for me the riding unless I say to you.”
[4:25] 152 tn Heb “went and came.”
[4:25] 153 tn Heb “the man of God.” The phrase has been replaced by the relative pronoun “he” in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[4:26] 154 tn Heb “she said.” The narrator streamlines the story at this point, omitting any reference to Gehazi running to meet her and asking her the questions.
[4:27] 155 tn Heb “her soul [i.e., ‘disposition’] is bitter.”
[4:29] 156 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[4:29] 157 tn Heb “take my staff in your hand.”
[4:29] 158 tn Heb “If you meet a man, do not greet him with a blessing; if a man greets you with a blessing, do not answer.”
[4:30] 159 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity. The referent must be Elisha here, since the following verse makes it clear that Gehazi had gone on ahead of them.
[4:31] 160 tn Heb “to meet him.”
[4:33] 162 tn Heb “and closed the door behind the two of them.”
[4:34] 163 tn Heb “he went up and lay down over.”
[4:34] 164 tn Heb “his” (also in the next two clauses).
[4:34] 165 tn Or perhaps, “body”; Heb “flesh.”
[4:35] 166 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[4:35] 167 tn Heb “and he returned and went into the house, once here and once there.”
[4:35] 168 tn Heb “and he went up.”
[4:36] 169 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[4:36] 170 tn Heb “and he called for her.”
[4:38] 171 tn Heb “the sons of the prophets were sitting before him.”
[4:38] 172 tn The words “the fire” are added for clarification.
[4:38] 173 tn Heb “sons of the prophets.”
[4:39] 174 tn Heb “a vine of the field.”
[4:39] 175 tn Heb “[some] of the gourds of the field.”
[4:39] 176 tn Heb “he came and cut [them up].”
[4:39] 177 tc The Hebrew text reads, “for they did not know” (יָדָעוּ, yada’u) but some emend the final shureq (וּ, indicating a third plural subject) to holem vav (וֹ, a third masculine singular pronominal suffix on a third singular verb) and read “for he did not know it.” Perhaps it is best to omit the final vav as dittographic (note the vav at the beginning of the next verb form) and read simply, “for he did not know.” See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 59.
[4:40] 178 tn Heb “and they poured out [the stew].” The plural subject is probably indefinite.
[4:41] 179 tn Or “and let them eat.”
[4:42] 180 tn Heb “man of God.”
[4:42] 181 tn On the meaning of the word צִקְלוֹן (tsiqlon), “ear of grain,” see HALOT 148 s.v. בָּצֵק and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 59.
[4:42] 182 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[4:43] 183 tn Heb “How can I set this before a hundred men?”
[4:43] 184 tn The verb forms are infinitives absolute (Heb “eating and leaving over”) and have to be translated in light of the context.
[4:44] 185 tn Heb “according to the word of the
[5:1] 186 tn Heb “was a great man before his master and lifted up with respect to the face.”
[5:1] 187 tn For a discussion of מְצֹרָע (mÿtsora’), traditionally translated “leprous,” see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 63. Naaman probably had a skin disorder of some type, not leprosy/Hansen’s disease.
[5:3] 188 map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.
[5:4] 189 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Naaman) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[5:5] 190 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Naaman) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[5:5] 191 tn The Hebrew term כִּכָּר (kikkar, “circle”) refers generally to something that is round. When used of metals it can refer to a disk-shaped weight made of the metal or to a standard unit of weight, generally regarded as a talent. Since the accepted weight for a talent of metal is about 75 pounds, this would have amounted to about 750 pounds of silver (cf. NCV, NLT, CEV).
[5:5] 192 tn Heb “six thousand gold […].” The unit of measure is not given in the Hebrew text. A number of English versions supply “pieces” (e.g., KJV, ASV, NAB, TEV) or “shekels” (e.g., NASB, NIV, NRSV).
[5:6] 193 tn Heb “and now when this letter comes to you, look, I have sent to you Naaman my servant.”
[5:7] 194 tn Heb “Am I God, killing and restoring life, that this one sends to me to cure a man from his skin disease?” In the Hebrew text this is one lengthy rhetorical question, which has been divided up in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[5:7] 195 tn Heb “Indeed, know and see that he is seeking an occasion with respect to me.”
[5:8] 196 tn Heb “man of God” (also in vv. 15, 20).
[5:8] 197 tn Heb “Let him come.”
[5:10] 198 tn Heb “will return to you.”
[5:12] 199 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.
[5:13] 200 tn Heb “my father,” reflecting the perspective of each individual servant. To address their master as “father” would emphasize his authority and express their respect. See BDB 3 s.v. אָב and the similar idiomatic use of “father” in 2 Kgs 2:12.
[5:13] 201 tn Heb “a great thing.”
[5:13] 202 tn Heb “would you not do [it]?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course you would.”
[5:13] 203 tn Heb “How much more [when] he said, “Wash and be healed.” The second imperative (“be healed”) states the expected result of obeying the first (‘wash”).
[5:14] 204 tn Heb “according to the word of the man of God.”
[5:14] 205 tn Heb “and his skin was restored, like the skin of a small child.”
[5:15] 206 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Naaman) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[5:16] 208 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[5:16] 209 tn Heb “before whom I stand.”
[5:16] 210 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Naaman) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[5:17] 211 tn Heb “and [if] not, may there be given to your servant a load [for] a pair of mules, earth.”
[5:17] 212 tn Heb “for your servant will not again make a burnt offering and sacrifice to other gods, only to the
[5:18] 213 tn Heb “When my master enters the house of Rimmon to bow down there, and he leans on my hand and I bow down [in] the house of Rimmon, when I bow down [in] the house of Rimmon, may the
[5:18] sn Rimmon was the Syrian storm god. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 65.
[5:19] 214 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[5:19] 215 tn Heb “and he went from him a distance of land.” The precise meaning of כִּבְרַה (kivrah) “distance,” is uncertain. See BDB 460 s.v. כִּבְרַה, and HALOT 459-60 s.v. II *כְּבָרַה, and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 65.
[5:20] 216 tn Heb “said” (i.e., to himself).
[5:20] 217 tn Heb “Look, my master spared this Syrian Naaman by not taking from his hand what he brought.”
[5:21] 218 tn Heb “Is there peace?”
[5:22] 220 tn Heb “Look now, here, two servants came to me from the Ephraimite hill country, from the sons of the prophets.”
[5:22] 221 tn The Hebrew term כִּכָּר (kikkar, “circle”) refers generally to something that is round. When used of metals it can refer to a disk-shaped weight made of the metal or to a standard unit of weight, generally regarded as a talent. Since the accepted weight for a talent of metal is about 75 pounds, this would have amounted to about 75 pounds of silver (cf. NCV, NLT, CEV).
[5:23] 222 tn Heb “Be resolved and accept two talents.”
[5:23] 223 tn Heb “before him.”
[5:24] 224 tn Heb “from their hand.”
[5:24] 225 tn Heb “and he sent the men away and they went.”
[5:26] 226 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[5:26] 227 tn Heb “Did not my heart go as a man turned from his chariot to meet you?” The rhetorical question emphasizes that he was indeed present in “heart” (or “spirit”) and was very much aware of what Gehazi had done. In the MT the interrogative particle has been accidentally omitted before the negative particle.
[5:26] 228 tn In the MT the statement is phrased as a rhetorical question, “Is this the time…?” It expects an emphatic negative response.
[5:27] 230 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Gehazi) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[5:27] 231 tn Traditionally, “he went from before him, leprous like snow.” But see the note at 5:1, as well as M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 66.
[6:1] 232 tn Heb “the sons of the prophets.”
[6:1] 233 tn Heb “sit before you.”
[6:1] 234 tn Heb “narrow, tight.”
[6:6] 237 tn Heb “man of God” (also in v. 9).
[6:6] 238 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[6:8] 239 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] 240 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] 241 tn The vav + perfect here indicates action contemporary with the preceding main verb (“sent”). See IBHS 533-34 §32.2.3e.
[6:10] 242 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] 243 tn Heb “and the heart of the king of Syria was stirred up over this thing.”
[6:11] 245 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] 246 tn Heb “he” (also a second time in this verse); the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[6:13] 247 tn Heb “Go and see where he [is] so I can send and take him.”
[6:14] 248 tn Heb “heavy force.”
[6:15] 249 tn Heb “man of God’s.”
[6:15] 250 tn Heb “his young servant said to him.”
[6:16] 251 tn Heb “for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”
[6:17] 252 tn Heb “and he saw, and look.”
[6:18] 253 tn Heb “and they came down to him.”
[6:18] 254 tn Or “this nation,” perhaps emphasizing the strength of the Syrian army.
[6:18] 255 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] 256 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the
[6:18] 257 tn Heb “according to the word of Elisha.”
[6:19] 258 map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.
[6:20] 259 tn Heb “and they saw, and look, [they were] in the middle of Samaria.”
[6:21] 260 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] 261 tn Heb “my father.” The king addresses the prophet in this way to indicate his respect. See 2 Kgs 2:12.
[6:22] 262 tn Heb “Are [they] ones you captured with your sword or your bow (that) you can strike (them) down?”
[6:23] 263 tn Or “held a great feast.”
[6:23] 264 tn Heb “they went back.”
[6:24] 266 map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.
[6:25] 267 tn Heb “and there was a great famine in Samaria.”
[6:25] 268 tn Heb “and look, [they] were besieging it until.”
[6:25] 269 tn Heb “eighty, silver.” The unit of measurement is omitted.
[6:25] 270 sn A kab was a unit of dry measure, equivalent to approximately one quart.
[6:25] 271 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] 272 tn Heb “five, silver.” The unit of measurement is omitted.
[6:27] 273 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] 274 tn Heb “the people saw, and look, [there was] sackcloth against his skin underneath.”
[6:31] 275 tn Heb “So may God do to me, and so may he add.”
[6:31] 276 tn Heb “if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat stays on him today.”
[6:32] 277 tn Heb “and the elders were sitting with him.”
[6:32] 278 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[6:32] 279 tn Heb “sent a man from before him, before the messenger came to him.”
[6:32] 280 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[6:32] 282 tn Heb “Do you see that this son of an assassin has sent to remove my head?”
[6:32] 283 tn Heb “Is not the sound of his master’s footsteps behind him?”
[6:33] 284 tn The Hebrew text also has “look” here.
[6:33] 285 tn Heb “came down to him.”
[6:33] 286 tn Heb “Look, this is a disaster from the
[7:1] 287 sn A seah was a dry measure equivalent to about 7 quarts.
[7:2] 288 tn Heb “the officer on whose hand the king leans.”
[7:2] 289 tn Heb “man of God.”
[7:2] 290 tn Heb “the
[7:2] 291 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[7:2] 292 tn Heb “you will not eat from there.”
[7:3] 293 sn See the note at 2 Kgs 5:1.
[7:3] 294 tn Heb “until we die.”
[7:4] 295 tn Heb “If we say, ‘We will enter the city,’ the famine is in the city and we will die there.”
[7:4] 297 tn Heb “keep us alive.”
[7:4] 298 tn Heb “we will die.” The paraphrastic translation attempts to bring out the logical force of their reasoning.
[7:5] 299 tn Heb “they arose to go to.”
[7:8] 300 tn Heb “they ate and drank.”
[7:8] 301 tn Heb “and they hid [it].”
[7:8] 302 tn Heb “and they took from there.”
[7:9] 303 tn Heb “this day is a day of good news and we are keeping silent.”
[7:9] 304 tn Heb “the light of the morning.”
[7:9] 305 tn Heb “punishment will find us.”
[7:10] 306 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] 307 tn Heb “and, look, there was no man or voice of a man there.”
[7:10] 308 tn Heb “but the horses are tied up and the donkeys are tied up and the tents are as they were.”
[7:11] 309 tn Heb “and the gatekeepers called out and they told [it] to the house of the king.”
[7:12] 310 tn Heb “servants” (also in v. 13).
[7:13] 311 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] 312 tn Heb “and let us send so we might see.”
[7:14] 313 tn Heb “and the king sent [them] after the Syrian camp.”
[7:14] 314 tn Heb “Go and see.”
[7:15] 315 tn Heb “went after.”
[7:15] 316 tn Heb “and look, all the road was full of clothes and equipment that Syria had thrown away in their haste.”
[7:15] 317 tn Or “messengers.”
[7:16] 318 sn A seah was a dry measure equivalent to about 7 quarts.
[7:16] 319 tn Heb “according to the word of the
[7:17] 320 tn Heb “the officer on whose hand he leans.”
[7:17] 321 tn Heb “and the people trampled him in the gate and he died.”
[7:17] 322 tn Heb “just as the man of God had spoken, [the word] which he spoke when the king came down to him.”
[7:19] 323 tn Heb “the
[7:19] 324 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[7:19] 325 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.
[8:1] 326 tn Heb “Get up and go, you and your house, and live temporarily where you can live temporarily.”
[8:2] 327 tn Heb “and the woman got up and did according to the word of the man of God.”
[8:3] 328 tn Heb “and went out to cry out to the king for her house and her field.”
[8:4] 329 tn Heb “man of God’s.”
[8:5] 330 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Gehazi) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[8:5] 331 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[8:5] 332 tn Heb “and look, the woman whose son he had brought back to life was crying out to the king for her house and her field.”
[8:5] sn The legal background of the situation is uncertain. For a discussion of possibilities, see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 87-88.
[8:6] 333 tn Heb “and the king asked the woman and she told him.”
[8:6] 334 tn Heb “and he assigned to her an official, saying.”
[8:7] 335 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[8:7] 336 tn Heb “man of God” (also a second time in this verse and in v. 11).
[8:8] 337 tn The Hebrew text also has “in your hand.”
[8:8] 338 tn Heb “Inquire of the
[8:9] 339 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[8:9] 340 tn The Hebrew text also has “in his hand.”
[8:9] 341 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] 342 sn The words “your son” emphasize the king’s respect for the prophet.
[8:10] 344 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
[8:11] 345 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[8:11] 346 tn Heb “and he made his face stand [i.e., be motionless] and set [his face?] until embarrassment.”
[8:13] 347 tn Heb “Indeed, what is your servant, a dog, that he could do this great thing?” With his reference to a dog, Hazael is not denying that he is a “dog” and protesting that he would never commit such a dastardly “dog-like” deed. Rather, as Elisha’s response indicates, Hazael is suggesting that he, like a dog, is too insignificant to ever be in a position to lead such conquests.
[8:13] 348 tn Heb “The
[8:14] 349 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Ben Hadad) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[8:14] 350 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Hazael) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[8:15] 351 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Hazael) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[8:15] 352 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Ben Hadad) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[8:16] 353 tc The Hebrew text reads, “and in the fifth year of Joram son of Ahab king of Israel, and [or, ‘while’?] Jehoshaphat [was?] king of Judah, Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah became king.” The first reference to “Jehoshaphat king of Judah” is probably due to a scribe accidentally copying the phrase from the later in the verse. If the Hebrew text is retained, the verse probably refers to the beginning of a coregency between Jehoshaphat and Jehoram.
[8:17] 354 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[8:18] 355 tn Heb “he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab did, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife.”
[8:18] 356 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
[8:19] 357 tn The Hebrew has only one sentence, “and the
[8:19] 358 tn Heb “just as he had promised to give him and his sons a lamp all the days.” The metaphorical “lamp” symbolizes the Davidic dynasty; this is reflected in the translation.
[8:20] 359 tn Heb “in his days Edom rebelled from under the hand of Judah and enthroned a king over them.”
[8:21] 360 sn Joram is a short form of the name Jehoram.
[8:21] 361 tn Heb “and he arose at night and defeated Edom, who had surrounded him, and the chariot officers.” The Hebrew text as it stands gives the impression that Joram was surrounded and launched a victorious night counterattack. It would then be quite natural to understand the last statement in the verse to refer to an Edomite retreat. Yet v. 22 goes on to state that the Edomite revolt was successful. Therefore, if the MT is retained, it may be better to understand the final statement in v. 21 as a reference to an Israelite retreat (made in spite of the success described in the preceding sentence). The translation above assumes an emendation of the Hebrew text. Adding a third masculine singular pronominal suffix to the accusative sign before Edom (reading אֶתוֹ [’eto], “him,” instead of just אֶת [’et]) and taking Edom as the subject of verbs allows one to translate the verse in a way that is more consistent with the context, which depicts an Israelite defeat, not victory. There is, however, no evidence for this emendation.
[8:21] 362 tn Heb “and the people fled to their tents.”
[8:22] 363 tn Heb “and Edom rebelled from under the hand of Judah until this day.”
[8:23] 364 tn Heb “As for the rest of the acts of Joram and all which he did, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah?”
[8:24] 365 tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
[8:26] 366 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[8:26] 367 tn Hebrew בַּת (bat), “daughter,” can refer, as here to a granddaughter. See HALOT 166 s.v. בַּת.
[8:27] 368 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
[8:27] 369 tn Heb “and he walked in the way of the house of Ahab and did evil in the eyes of the
[8:29] 370 tn Heb “which the Syrians inflicted [on] him.”
[9:1] 372 tn Heb “one of the sons of the prophets.”
[9:2] 374 tn Heb “and go and set him apart from his brothers and bring him into an inner room in an inner room.”
[9:3] 376 tn Heb “and open the door and run away and do not delay.”
[9:4] 377 tc Heb “the young man, the young man, the prophet.” The MT is probably dittographic, the phrase “the young man” being accidentally repeated. The phrases “the young man” and “the prophet” are appositional, with the latter qualifying more specifically the former.
[9:5] 378 tn Heb “and he arrived and look, the officers of the army were sitting.”
[9:5] 379 tn Heb “[there is] a word for me to you, O officer.”
[9:5] 380 tn Heb “To whom from all of us?”
[9:6] 381 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jehu) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[9:6] 382 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the prophet) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[9:7] 383 tn Or “strike down the house of Ahab your master.”
[9:7] 384 tn Heb “I will avenge the shed blood of my servants the prophets and the shed blood of all the servants of the
[9:8] 385 tc The LXX has the second person, “you.”
[9:8] 386 tn Heb “and I will cut off from Ahab those who urinate against a wall, [including both those who are] restrained and let free [or, ‘abandoned’] in Israel.” On the phrase וְעָצוּר וְעָזוּב (vÿ’atsur vÿ’azur, translated here “weak and incapacitated”) see the note at 1 Kgs 14:10.
[9:10] 388 sn Note how the young prophet greatly expands the message Elisha had given to him. In addition to lengthening the introductory formula (by adding “the God of Israel”) and the official declaration that accompanies the act of anointing (by adding “the
[9:11] 389 tn Heb “went out to.”
[9:11] 390 tc The MT has the singular, “he said,” but many witnesses correctly read the plural.
[9:11] 391 tn Heb “Is there peace?”
[9:11] 392 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.
[9:12] 393 tn Heb “So he said, ‘Like this and like this he said to me, saying.’” The words “like this and like this” are probably not a direct quote of Jehu’s words to his colleagues. Rather this is the narrator’s way of avoiding repetition and indicating that Jehu repeated, or at least summarized, what the prophet had said to him.
[9:13] 394 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Jehu) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[9:13] 395 tn Heb “and they hurried and took, each one his garment, and they placed [them] beneath him on the bone [?] of the steps.” The precise nuance of גֶרֶם (gerem), “bone,” is unclear. Some suggest the nuance “bare” here; it may be a technical architectural term in this context.
[9:13] 396 tn Heb “they blew the trumpet.” This has been translated as a passive to avoid the implication that the same ones who shouted had all blown trumpets.
[9:13] 397 tn Or “has become.”
[9:14] 398 tn Heb “he and all Israel.”
[9:15] 399 tn Heb “which the Syrians inflicted [on] him.”
[9:15] 400 sn See 2 Kgs 8:28-29a.
[9:15] 401 tn The words “his supporters” are added for clarification.
[9:15] 402 tn Heb “If this is your desire.” נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) refers here to the seat of the emotions and will. For other examples of this use of the word, see BDB 660-61 s.v.
[9:16] 403 tn Heb “rode [or, ‘mounted’] and went.”
[9:16] 404 tn Heb “lying down.”
[9:17] 406 tn Heb “the quantity [of the men] of Jehu, when he approached.” Elsewhere שִׁפְעַה (shif’ah), “quantity,” is used of a quantity of camels (Isa 60:6) or horses (Ezek 26:10) and of an abundance of water (Job 22:11; 38:34).
[9:17] 407 tn The term שִׁפְעַת (shifat) appears to be a construct form of the noun, but no genitive follows.
[9:17] 409 tn Heb “Get a rider and send [him] to meet him and let him ask, ‘Is there peace?’”
[9:18] 410 tn Heb “the rider of the horse.”
[9:18] 411 tn Heb “Is there peace?”
[9:18] 412 tn Heb “What concerning you and concerning peace?” That is, “What concern is that to you?”
[9:19] 413 tn Heb “and he came to them.”
[9:19] 414 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] 415 tn Heb “and the driving is like the driving of Jehu son of Nimshi.”
[9:21] 416 tn The words “my chariot” are added for clarification.
[9:21] 417 tn Heb “and he hitched up his chariot.”
[9:21] 418 tn Heb “each in his chariot and they went out.”
[9:21] 419 tn Heb “they found him.”
[9:22] 420 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.
[9:23] 421 tn Heb “and Jehoram turned his hands and fled.” The phrase “turned his hands” refers to how he would have pulled on the reins in order to make his horses turn around.
[9:23] 422 tn Heb “Deceit, Ahaziah.”
[9:24] 423 tn Heb “and Jehu filled his hand with the bow and he struck Jehoram between his shoulders.”
[9:24] 424 tn Heb “went out from.”
[9:26] 426 tn Heb “and I will repay you in this plot of land.”
[9:26] 427 tn Heb “according to the word of the
[9:27] 428 tn Heb “and Ahaziah king of Judah saw and fled.”
[9:27] 429 tn After Jehu’s order (“kill him too”), the MT has simply, “to the chariot in the ascent of Gur which is near Ibleam.” The main verb in the clause, “they shot him” (וַיִּכְהוּ, vayyikhhu), has been accidentally omitted by virtual haplography/homoioteleuton. Note that the immediately preceding form הַכֻּהוּ (hakkuhu), “shoot him,” ends with the same suffix.
[9:27] 430 map For location see Map1 D4; Map2 C1; Map4 C2; Map5 F2; Map7 B1.
[9:28] 431 tn Heb “drove him.”
[9:28] 432 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[9:30] 433 tn Heb “she fixed her eyes with antimony.” Antimony (פּוּךְ, pukh) was used as a cosmetic. The narrator portrays her as a prostitute (see Jer 4:30), a role she has played in the spiritual realm (see the note at v. 22).
[9:31] 434 sn Jezebel associates Jehu with another assassin, Zimri, who approximately 44 years before had murdered King Elah, only to meet a violent death just a few days later (1 Kgs 16:9-20). On the surface Jezebel’s actions seem contradictory. On the one hand, she beautifies herself as if to seduce Jehu, but on the other hand, she insults and indirectly threatens him with this comparison to Zimri. Upon further reflection, however, her actions reveal a clear underlying motive. She wants to retain her power, not to mention her life. By beautifying herself, she appeals to Jehu’s sexual impulses; by threatening him, she reminds him that he is in the same precarious position as Zimri. But, if he makes Jezebel his queen, he can consolidate his power. In other words through her actions and words Jezebel is saying to Jehu, “You desire me, don’t you? And you need me!”
[9:32] 435 tn Heb “two, three.” The narrator may be intentionally vague or uncertain here, or the two numbers may represent alternate traditions.
[9:33] 436 tn The words “when she hit the ground” are added for stylistic reasons.
[9:33] 437 tn Heb “and he trampled her.”
[9:34] 438 tn Heb “and he went and ate and drank.”
[9:34] 439 tn Heb “Attend to this accursed woman and bury her for she was the daughter of a king.”
[9:35] 440 tn Heb “they did not find her, except for.”
[9:36] 441 tn Heb “It is the word of the
[9:37] 442 tn Heb “so that they will not say, ‘This is Jezebel.’”
[10:1] 443 map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.
[10:1] 444 tn Heb “to the officers of Jezreel, the elders, and to the guardians of Ahab, saying.” It is not certain why the officials of Jezreel would be in Samaria. They may have fled there after they heard what happened to Joram and before Jehu entered the city. They would have had time to flee while Jehu was pursuing Ahaziah.
[10:2] 445 tn Heb “And now when this letter comes to you – with you are the sons of your master and with you are chariots and horses and a fortified city and weapons.”
[10:3] 446 tn Hebrew יָשָׁר (yashar) does not have its normal moral/ethical nuance here (“upright”), but a more neutral sense of “proper, right, suitable.” For the gloss “capable,” see HALOT 450 s.v. יָשָׁר.
[10:4] 448 tn Heb “they were very, very afraid.” The term מְאֹד (me’od) “very,” is repeated for emphasis.
[10:4] 449 tn Heb “did not stand before him.”
[10:4] 450 tn Heb “How can we stand?”
[10:5] 451 tn Heb “the one who was over the house.”
[10:5] 452 tn Heb “the one who was over the city.”
[10:5] 455 tn Heb “Do what is good in your eyes.”
[10:6] 456 tn Heb “If you are mine and you are listening to my voice.”
[10:6] 457 sn Jehu’s command is intentionally vague. Does he mean that they should bring the guardians (those who are “heads” over Ahab’s sons) for a meeting, or does he mean that they should bring the literal heads of Ahab’s sons with them? (So LXX, Syriac Peshitta, and some
[10:6] 458 tn Heb “great,” probably in wealth, position, and prestige.
[10:7] 459 tn Heb “and when the letter came to them, they took the sons of the king and slaughtered seventy men.”
[10:8] 460 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Jehu) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[10:8] 461 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jehu) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[10:10] 462 tn Heb “Know then that there has not fallen from the word of the
[10:12] 463 tn Heb “and he arose and went and came to Samaria.”
[10:13] 466 tn Heb “for the peace of.”
[10:15] 468 tn Heb “and he went from there and found Jehonadab son of Rekab [who was coming] to meet him.”
[10:15] 469 tn Heb “and he blessed him and said to him.”
[10:15] 470 tn Heb “Is there with your heart [what is] right, as my heart [is] with your heart?”
[10:15] 471 tc Heb “Jehonadab said, ‘There is and there is. Give your hand.’” If the text is allowed to stand, there are two possible ways to understand the syntax of וָיֵשׁ (vayesh), “and there is”: (1) The repetition of יֵשׁ (yesh, “there is and there is”) could be taken as emphatic, “indeed I am.” In this case, the entire statement could be taken as Jehonadab’s words or one could understand the words “give your hand” as Jehu’s. In the latter case the change in speakers is unmarked. (2) וָיֵשׁ begins Jehu’s response and has a conditional force, “if you are.” In this case, the transition in speakers is unmarked. However, it is possible that וַיֹּאמֶר (vayyo’mer), “and he said,” or וַיֹּאמֶר יֵהוּא (vayyo’mer yehu), “and Jehu said,” originally appeared between יֵשׁ and וָיֵשׁ and has accidentally dropped from the text by homoioarcton (note that both the proposed וַיֹּאמֶר and וָיֵשׁ begin with vav, ו). The present translation assumes such a textual reconstruction; it is supported by the LXX, Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate.
[10:15] 472 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jehu) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[10:16] 473 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jehu) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[10:16] 474 tn Heb “and see my zeal for the
[10:16] 475 tc The MT has a plural form, but this is most likely an error. The LXX, Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate all have the singular.
[10:17] 476 tn Heb “and he struck down all the remaining ones to Ahab in Samaria until he destroyed him.”
[10:17] 477 tn Heb “according to the word of the
[10:18] 480 tn Heb “much” or “greatly.”
[10:19] 481 tn Heb “and now, all the prophets of Baal, all his servants and all his priests summon to me.”
[10:19] 482 tn Heb “acted with deception [or, ‘trickery’].”
[10:20] 483 tn Heb “set apart”; or “observe as holy.”
[10:21] 484 tn Heb “and the house of Baal was filled mouth to mouth.”
[10:22] 485 tn Heb “and he said to the one who was over the wardrobe.”
[10:23] 486 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jehu) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[10:23] 487 tn Heb “Search carefully and observe so that there are not here with you any servants of the
[10:24] 488 tn Heb “The man who escapes from the men whom I am bringing into your hands, [it will be] his life in place of his life.”
[10:25] 490 tn Heb “and they threw.” No object appears. According to M. Cogan and H. Tadmor (II Kings [AB], 116), this is an idiom for leaving a corpse unburied.
[10:25] 491 tn Heb “and they came to the city of the house of Baal.” It seems unlikely that a literal city is meant. Some emend עִיר (’ir), “city,” to דְּבִיר (dÿvir) “holy place,” or suggest that עִיר is due to dittography of the immediately preceding עַד (’ad) “to.” Perhaps עִיר is here a technical term meaning “fortress” or, more likely, “inner room.”
[10:27] 492 tn Or “pulled down.”
[10:27] 493 tn The verb “they demolished” is repeated in the Hebrew text.
[10:27] 494 tn Heb “and they made it into.”
[10:27] 495 tn The consonantal text (Kethib) has the hapax legomenon מַחֲרָאוֹת (makhara’ot), “places to defecate” or “dung houses” (note the related noun חרא (khr’)/חרי (khri), “dung,” HALOT 348-49 s.v. *חֲרָאִים). The marginal reading (Qere) glosses this, perhaps euphemistically, מוֹצָאוֹת (motsa’ot), “outhouses.”
[10:28] 496 tn Heb “destroyed Baal.”
[10:29] 497 map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.
[10:29] 498 tn Heb “Except the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat which he caused Israel to commit, Jehu did not turn aside from after them – the golden calves which [were in] Bethel and which [were] in Dan.”
[10:30] 499 tn Heb “Because you have done well by doing what is proper in my eyes – according to all which was in my heart you have done to the house of Ahab – sons of four generations will sit for you on the throne of Israel.” In the Hebrew text the Lord’s statement is one long sentence (with a parenthesis). The translation above divides it into shorter sentences for stylistic reasons.
[10:30] sn Jehu ruled over Israel from approximately 841-814
[10:31] 500 tn Heb “But Jehu was not careful to walk in the law of the
[10:31] 501 tn Heb “He did not turn aside from the sins of Jeroboam which he caused Israel to commit.”
[10:32] 502 tn Heb “began to cut off Israel.”
[10:32] 503 tn Heb “Hazael struck them down in all the territory of Israel, from the Jordan on the east.” In the Hebrew text the phrase “from the Jordan on the east” begins v. 33.
[10:33] 504 tn Heb “all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Manassehites, from Aroer which is near the Arnon Valley, and Gilead, and Bashan.”
[10:34] 505 tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Jehu, and all which he did and all his strength, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel?”
[10:35] 506 tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
[10:35] 507 map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.
[11:1] 508 tn Heb “she arose and she destroyed all the royal offspring.” The verb קוּם (qum) “arise,” is here used in an auxiliary sense to indicate that she embarked on a campaign to destroy the royal offspring. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 125.
[11:2] 510 tn Heb “him and his nurse in an inner room of beds.” The verb is missing in the Hebrew text. The parallel passage in 2 Chr 22:11 has “and she put” at the beginning of the clause. M. Cogan and H. Tadmor (II Kings [AB], 126) regard the Chronicles passage as an editorial attempt to clarify the difficulty of the original text. They prefer to take “him and his nurse” as objects of the verb “stole” and understand “in the bedroom” as the place where the royal descendants were executed. The phrase בַּחֲדַר הַמִּטּוֹת (bakhadar hammittot), “an inner room of beds,” is sometimes understood as referring to a bedroom (HALOT 293 s.v. חֶדֶר), though some prefer to see here a “room where the covers and cloths were kept for the beds (HALOT 573 s.v. מִטָּת). In either case, it may have been a temporary hideout, for v. 3 indicates that the child hid in the temple for six years.
[11:2] 511 tn Heb “and they hid him from Athaliah and he was not put to death.” The subject of the plural verb (“they hid”) is probably indefinite.
[11:3] 512 tn Heb “and he was with her [in] the house of the
[11:4] 513 tn Heb “Jehoiada sent and took.”
[11:4] 514 sn The Carians were apparently a bodyguard, probably comprised of foreigners. See HALOT 497 s.v. כָּרִי and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 126.
[11:4] 515 tn Heb “the runners.”
[11:4] 516 tn Heb “he brought them to himself.”
[11:6] 518 tn Heb “the gate of Sur” (followed by many English versions) but no such gate is mentioned elsewhere in the OT. The parallel account in 2 Chr 23:5 has “Foundation Gate.” סוּר (sur), “Sur,” may be a corruption of יְסוֹד (yÿsod) “foundation,” involving in part dalet-resh confusion.
[11:6] 519 tn Heb “the runners.”
[11:6] 520 tn The meaning of מַסָּח (massakh) is not certain. The translation above, rather than understanding it as a genitive modifying “house,” takes it as an adverb describing how the groups will guard the palace. See HALOT 605 s.v. מַסָּח for the proposed meaning “alternating” (i.e., “in turns”).
[11:7] 521 tn Verses 5b-7 read literally, “the third of you, the ones entering [on] the Sabbath and the ones guarding the guard of the house of the king, and the third in the gate of Sur, and the third in the gate behind the runners, and you will guard the guard of the house, alternating. And the two units of you, all the ones going out [on] the Sabbath, and they will guard the guard of the house of the
[11:8] 522 tn Heb “and be with the king in his going out and in his coming in.”
[11:9] 523 tn Heb “according to all that.”
[11:11] 525 tn Heb “the runners” (also in v. 19).
[11:11] 526 tn Heb “and the runners stood, each with his weapons in his hand, from the south shoulder of the house to the north shoulder of the house, at the altar and at the house, near the king all around.”
[11:12] 527 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jehoiada) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[11:12] 528 tn The Hebrew term עֵדוּת (’edut) normally means “witness” or “testimony.” Here it probably refers to some tangible symbol of kingship, perhaps a piece of jewelry such as an amulet or neck chain. See the discussion in M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 128. Some suggest that a document is in view, perhaps a copy of the royal protocol or of the stipulations of the Davidic covenant. See HALOT 790-91 s.v. עֵדוּת.
[11:12] 529 tn Or “they made him king and anointed him.”
[11:13] 530 tc The MT reads, “and Athaliah heard the sound of the runners, the people.” The term הָעָם (ha’am), “the people,” is probably a scribal addition anticipating the reference to the people later in the verse and in v. 14.
[11:13] 531 tn Heb “she came to the people.”
[11:14] 532 tn Heb “and she saw, and look.”
[11:14] 533 tn Or “conspiracy, conspiracy.”
[11:15] 534 tn The Hebrew text also has, “and said to them.” This is redundant in English and has not been translated.
[11:15] 536 tn Heb “for the priest had said, ‘Let her not be put to death in the house of the
[11:16] 537 tn Heb “and they placed hands on her, and she went the way of the entrance of the horses [into] the house of the king.”
[11:17] 538 tn Heb “and Jehoiada made a covenant between the
[11:18] 539 tn Or “tore down.”
[11:18] 541 tn The Hebrew construction translated “smashed…to bits” is emphatic. The adverbial infinitive absolute (הֵיטֵב [hetev], “well”) accompanying the Piel form of the verb שָׁבַר (shavar), “break,” suggests thorough demolition.
[11:18] 542 tn Heb “the priest.” Jehoiada’s name is added for clarification.
[11:19] 543 tn Heb “the Gate of the Runners of the House of the King.”
[11:19] 544 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[11:21] 545 sn Beginning with 11:21, the verse numbers through 12:21 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 11:21 ET = 12:1 HT, 12:1 ET = 12:2 HT, 12:2 ET = 12:3 HT, etc., through 12:21 ET = 12:22 HT. With 13:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.
[11:21] 546 tn Jehoash is an alternate name for Joash (see 11:2).
[12:1] 547 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[12:2] 548 tn Heb “and Jehoash did what was proper in the eyes of the
[12:2] 549 tn Heb “that which.” Jehoiada taught the king the Lord’s will.
[12:4] 550 tn The words “I place at your disposal” are added in the translation for clarification.
[12:4] 551 tn Heb “the silver of passing over a man.” The precise meaning of the phrase is debated, but עָבַר (’avar), “pass over,” probably refers here to counting, suggesting the reference is to a census conducted for taxation purposes. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 137.
[12:4] 552 tn Heb “the silver of persons, his valuation.” The precise meaning of the phrase is uncertain, but parallels in Lev 27 suggest that personal vows are referred to here. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 137.
[12:4] 553 tn Heb “all the silver which goes up on the heart of a man to bring to the house of the
[12:5] 554 tn Heb “Let the priests take for themselves, each from his treasurer, and let them repair the damage of the temple, with respect to all the damage that is found there.” The word מַכָּר (makar), translated here “treasurer,” occurs only in this passage. Some suggest it means “merchant” or “benefactor.” Its usage in Ugaritic texts, where it appears in a list of temple officials, suggests that it refers in this context to individuals who were in charge of disbursing temple funds.
[12:7] 555 tn Heb “Now, do not take silver from your treasurers, because for the damages to the temple you must give it.”
[12:8] 556 tn Outside of this passage the verb אוּת (’ut) appears only in Gen 34:15-22.
[12:8] 557 tn Heb “and not to repair the damages to the temple.” This does not mean that the priests were no longer interested in repairing the temple. As the following context makes clear, the priests decided to hire skilled workers to repair the damage to the temple, rather than trying to make the repairs themselves.
[12:9] 558 tn Heb “on the right side of the altar as a man enters.”
[12:10] 559 tn Heb “the king’s scribe.”
[12:10] 560 tn Heb “went up and tied [it] and counted the silver that was found in the house of the
[12:11] 561 tn Heb “would give.”
[12:11] 562 tn Heb “doers of the work.”
[12:12] 563 tn Heb “and for all that which was going out concerning the house for repair.”
[12:14] 564 tn Heb “was given.”
[12:15] 566 tn Heb “and they did not conduct a reckoning of the men who gave the silver into their hand to give to the doers of the work, for in honesty they were working.”
[12:17] 567 tn Heb “went up and fought against.”
[12:17] 568 tn Heb “Hazael set his face to go up against Jerusalem.”
[12:18] 569 tn The object (“it all”) is supplied in the translation for clarification.
[12:19] 571 tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Joash, and all which he did, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah?”
[12:20] 572 tn Heb “rose up and conspired [with] a conspiracy.”
[12:20] 573 tn Heb “Beth Millo which goes down [toward] Silla.”
[12:21] 574 tn Heb “struck him down and he died.”
[12:21] 575 tn Heb “they buried him.”
[13:1] 576 map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.
[13:2] 577 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
[13:2] 578 tn Heb “walked after.”
[13:2] 579 tn Heb “he did not turn aside from it.”
[13:3] 580 tn Heb “and the anger of the
[13:3] 581 tn Heb “he gave them into the hand of.”
[13:3] 582 tn Heb “all the days.”
[13:4] 583 tn Heb “appeased the face of the
[13:4] 584 tn Heb “and the
[13:4] 585 tn Heb “for he saw the oppression of Israel, for the king of Syria oppressed them.”
[13:5] 586 sn The identity of this unnamed “deliverer” is debated. For options see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 143.
[13:5] 587 tn Heb “and they went from under the hand of Syria.”
[13:5] 588 tn Heb “and the sons of Israel lived in their tents as before.”
[13:6] 589 tn Heb “they did not turn away from.”
[13:6] 591 tc Heb “in it he walked.” The singular verb (הָלַךְ, halakh) is probably due to an error of haplography and should be emended to the plural (הָלְכּוּ, halÿku). Note that a vav immediately follows (on the form וְגַם, vÿgam).
[13:6] 592 tn Or “an image of Asherah”; ASV, NASB “the Asherah”; NCV “the Asherah idol.”
[13:6] sn Asherah was a leading deity of the Canaanite pantheon, wife/sister of El and goddess of fertility. She was commonly worshiped at shrines in or near groves of evergreen trees, or, failing that, at places marked by wooden poles. These were to be burned or cut down (Deut 12:3; 16:21; Judg 6:25, 28, 30; 2 Kgs 18:4).
[13:7] 593 tn Heb “Indeed he did not leave to Jehoahaz people.” The identity of the subject is uncertain, but the king of Syria, mentioned later in the verse, is a likely candidate.
[13:7] 594 tn Heb “them,” i.e., the remainder of this troops.
[13:7] 595 tn Heb “and made them like dust for trampling.”
[13:8] 596 tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Jehoahaz, and all which he did and his strength, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel?”
[13:9] 597 tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
[13:9] 598 tn Heb “and they buried him.”
[13:10] 599 map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.
[13:11] 600 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
[13:11] 601 tn Heb “turn away from all.”
[13:11] 602 tn Heb “in it he walked.”
[13:12] 603 sn Jehoash and Joash are alternate forms of the same name.
[13:12] 604 tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Joash, and all which he did and his strength, [and] how he fought with Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel?”
[13:13] 605 tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
[13:13] 606 tn Heb “sat on his throne.”
[13:14] 607 tn Heb “Now Elisha was ill with the illness by which he would die.”
[13:14] 608 tn Heb “went down to him.”
[13:14] 609 tn Though the noun is singular here, it may be collective, in which case it could be translated “chariots.”
[13:14] 610 sn By comparing Elisha to a one-man army, the king emphasizes the power of the prophetic word. See the note at 2:12.
[13:15] 611 tn Heb “and he took a bow and some arrows.”
[13:16] 612 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[13:16] 613 tn Heb “Cause your hand to ride on the bow.”
[13:16] 614 tn Heb “and he caused his hand to ride.”
[13:17] 615 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[13:17] 616 tn Heb “He opened [it].”
[13:17] 617 tn Heb “and he shot.”
[13:17] 618 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[13:17] 619 tn Heb “The arrow of victory of the
[13:17] 620 tn Heb “you will strike down Syria in Aphek until destruction.”
[13:18] 621 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[13:18] 622 tn Heb “and he took [them].”
[13:19] 623 tn Heb “man of God.”
[13:19] 624 tn Heb “[It was necessary] to strike five or six times, then you would strike down Syria until destruction.” On the syntax of the infinitive construct, see GKC 349 §114.k.
[13:20] 625 tn Heb “and they buried him.”
[13:20] 627 tc The MT reading בָּא שָׁנָה (ba’ shanah), “it came, year,” should probably be emended to בְּבָּא הַשָּׁנָה (bÿba’ hashanah), “at the coming [i.e., ‘beginning’] of the year.” See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 148.
[13:21] 628 tn Heb “and it so happened [that] they.”
[13:21] 629 tn Heb “and look, they saw.”
[13:21] 630 tn Heb “the man”; the adjective “dead” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[13:21] 632 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the dead man) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Otherwise the reader might think it was Elisha rather than the unnamed dead man who came back to life.
[13:22] 633 tn Heb “all the days of Jehoahaz.”
[13:23] 634 tn Or “showed them compassion.”
[13:23] 635 tn Heb “he turned to them.”
[13:23] 636 tn Heb “because of his covenant with.”
[13:23] 637 tn Heb “until now.”
[13:25] 638 tn Heb “from the hand of.”
[14:1] 639 sn The name Joahaz is an alternate form of Jehoahaz.
[14:1] 640 sn The referent here is Joash of Judah (see 12:21), not Joash of Israel, mentioned earlier in the verse.
[14:2] 641 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[14:2] 642 tn Heb “the name of his mother.”
[14:3] 643 tn Heb “he did what was proper in the eyes of the
[14:3] 644 tn Heb “according to all which Joash his father had done, he did.”
[14:5] 645 tn Heb “when the kingdom was secure in his hand.”
[14:5] 646 tn Heb “he struck down his servants, the ones who had struck down the king, his father.”
[14:6] 647 tn Heb “as it is written in the scroll of the law of Moses which the
[14:6] 648 tn Heb “on account of sons.”
[14:6] 649 tn Heb “on account of fathers.”
[14:6] 650 sn This law is recorded in Deut 24:16.
[14:7] 651 tn Or “struck down.”
[14:8] 652 tn Heb “let us look at each other [in the] face.” The expression refers here to meeting in battle. See v. 11.
[14:9] 653 tn Heb “the animal of the field.”
[14:9] 654 sn Judah is the thorn in the allegory. Amaziah’s success has deceived him into thinking he is on the same level as the major powers in the area (symbolized by the cedar). In reality he is not capable of withstanding an attack by a real military power such as Israel (symbolized by the wild animal).
[14:10] 655 tn Or “you have indeed defeated Edom.”
[14:10] 656 tn Heb “and your heart has lifted you up.”
[14:10] 657 tn Heb “be glorified.”
[14:10] 658 tn Heb “Why get involved in calamity and fall, you and Judah with you?”
[14:11] 659 tn Heb “did not listen.”
[14:11] 661 tn Heb “looked at each other [in the] face.”
[14:12] 662 tn Heb “and Judah was struck down before Israel and they fled, each to his tent.”
[14:13] 663 tc The MT has the plural form of the verb, but the final vav (ו) is virtually dittographic. The word that immediately follows in the Hebrew text begins with a yod (י). The form should be emended to the singular, which is consistent in number with the verb (“he broke down”) that follows.
[14:13] 665 tn Heb “four hundred cubits.” The standard cubit in the OT is assumed by most authorities to be about eighteen inches (45 cm) long.
[14:14] 666 tn Heb “the sons of the pledges.”
[14:14] 667 map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.
[14:15] 668 sn Jehoash and Joash are alternate forms of the same name.
[14:15] 669 tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Jehoash, and all which he did and his strength, [and] how he fought with Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel?”
[14:16] 670 tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
[14:18] 671 tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Amaziah, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah?”
[14:19] 672 tn Heb “and they conspired against him [with] a conspiracy in Jerusalem.”
[14:19] 673 tn Heb “and they sent after him to Lachish.”
[14:20] 674 tn Heb “and they carried him on horses.”
[14:22] 675 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Azariah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[14:22] 676 sn This must refer to Amaziah.
[14:22] 677 tn Heb “lay with his fathers.”
[14:23] 678 map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.
[14:24] 679 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
[14:24] 680 tn Heb “turn away from all.”
[14:25] 681 tn The phrases “in the north” and “in the south” are added in the translation for clarification.
[14:25] 682 tn Heb “which he spoke by the hand of.”
[14:26] 683 tc Heb “for the
[14:26] 684 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] 686 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.
[14:28] 687 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.”
[14:29] 688 tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
[14:29] 689 tn The MT has simply “with the kings of Israel,” which appears to stand in apposition to the immediately preceding “with his fathers.” But it is likely that the words “and he was buried in Samaria” have been accidentally omitted from the text. See 13:13 and 14:16.
[15:2] 690 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[15:3] 691 tn Heb “he did what was proper in the eyes of the
[15:5] 692 tn Traditionally, “he was a leper.” But see the note at 5:1.
[15:5] 693 tn The precise meaning of בֵית הַחָפְשִׁית (bet hakhofÿshit), “house of […?],” is uncertain. For a discussion of various proposals, see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 166-67.
[15:6] 694 tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Azariah, and all which he did, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah?”
[15:7] 695 tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
[15:7] 696 tn Heb “and they buried him.”
[15:8] 697 map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.
[15:9] 698 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
[15:9] 699 tn Heb “turn away from.”
[15:10] 700 tc The MT reads, “and he struck him down before the people and killed him” (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). However, the reading קָבָל עָם (qaval ’am), “before the people,” is problematic to some because קָבָל is a relatively late Aramaic term. Nevertheless, the Aramaic term qobel certainly antedates the writing of Kings. The bigger problem seems to be the unnecessary intrusion of an Aramaic word at all here. Most interpreters prefer to follow Lucian’s Greek version and read “in Ibleam” (בְיִבְלְעָם, bÿivle’am). Cf. NAB, TEV.
[15:11] 701 tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Jeroboam, look, they are written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel.”
[15:12] 702 tn Heb “It was the word of the
[15:12] 703 tn “sons of four generations will sit for you on the throne of Israel.”
[15:12] sn See the note at 2 Kgs 10:30.
[15:12] 704 tn Heb “and it was so.”
[15:13] 705 sn Azariah was also known by the name Uzziah.
[15:13] 706 tn Heb “a month of days.”
[15:14] 707 tn Heb “and came to.”
[15:14] 708 tn Heb “went up from Tirzah and arrived in Samaria and attacked Shallum son of Jabesh in Samaria.”
[15:15] 709 tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Shallum, and his conspiracy which he conspired, look, they are written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel.”
[15:16] 710 tn Heb “then Menahem attacked Tiphsah and all who were in it and its borders from Tirzah, for it would not open, and he attacked.”
[15:16] tn Instead of “Tiphsah,” the LXX has “Tirzah,” while Lucian’s Greek version reads “Tappuah.” For discussion see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 171.
[15:17] 711 map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.
[15:18] 712 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
[15:18] 713 tn Heb “turn away from.”
[15:18] 714 tc The MT of v. 18 ends with the words, “all his days.” If this phrase is taken with what precedes, then one should translate, “[who encouraged Israel to sin] throughout his reign.” However, it may be preferable to emend the text to בְיֹמָיו (bÿyomav), “in his days,” and join the phrase to what follows. The translation assumes this change.
[15:19] 715 sn Pul was a nickname of Tiglath-pileser III (cf. 15:29). See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 171-72.
[15:19] 717 tn Heb “Pul.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“him”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[15:19] 718 tn The Hebrew term כִּכָּר (kikkar, “circle”) refers generally to something that is round. When used of metals it can refer to a disk-shaped weight made of the metal or to a standard unit of weight, generally regarded as a talent. Since the accepted weight for a talent of metal is about 75 pounds, this would have amounted to about 75,000 pounds of silver (cf. NCV “about seventy-four thousand pounds”); NLT “thirty-seven tons”; CEV “over thirty tons”; TEV “34,000 kilogrammes.”
[15:19] 719 tn Heb “so his hands would be with him.”
[15:19] 720 tn Heb “to keep hold of the kingdom in his hand.”
[15:20] 721 tn Heb “and Menahem brought out the silver over Israel, over the prominent men of means, to give to the king of Assyria, fifty shekels of silver for each man.”
[15:21] 722 tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Menahem, and all which he did, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel?”
[15:22] 723 tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
[15:23] 724 map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.
[15:24] 725 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
[15:24] 726 tn Heb “turn away from.”
[15:25] 727 tn Heb “and he struck him down in Samaria in the fortress of the house of the king, Argob and Arieh, and with him fifty men from the sons of the Gileadites, and they killed him.”
[15:25] sn The precise identity of Argob and Arieh, as well as their relationship to the king, are uncertain. The usual assumption is that they were officials assassinated along with Pekahiah, or that they were two of the more prominent Gileadites involved in the revolt. For discussion see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 173.
[15:26] 728 tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Pekahiah, and all which he did, look, they are written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel.”
[15:27] 729 map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.
[15:28] 730 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
[15:28] 731 tn Heb “turn away from.”
[15:29] 732 map For location see Map1 D2; Map2 D3; Map3 A2; Map4 C1.
[15:30] 734 tn Heb “and struck him down and killed him.”
[15:31] 735 tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Pekah, and all which he did, look, they are written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel.”
[15:33] 736 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[15:34] 737 tn Heb “he did what was proper in the eyes of the
[15:36] 738 tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Jotham, and that which he did, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah?”
[15:37] 739 tn Heb “the
[15:38] 740 tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
[16:2] 741 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[16:2] 742 tn Heb “and he did not do what was proper in the eyes of the
[16:3] 743 tn Heb “he walked in the way of.”
[16:3] 744 sn This may refer to child sacrifice, though some interpret it as a less drastic cultic practice. For discussion see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 266-67.
[16:3] 745 tn Heb “like the abominable practices of the nations.”
[16:5] 746 tn Heb “went up to Jerusalem for battle.”
[16:5] 747 tn That is, Jerusalem, Ahaz’s capital city.
[16:5] 748 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] 749 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] 750 tn Heb “from Elat.”
[16:6] 751 tc The consonantal text (Kethib), supported by many medieval Hebrew
[16:7] 752 tn Heb “son.” Both terms (“servant” and “son”) reflect Ahaz’s subordinate position as Tiglath-pileser’s subject.
[16:7] 753 tn Heb “hand, palm.”
[16:7] 754 tn Heb “who have arisen against.”
[16:8] 755 tn Heb “that was found.”
[16:8] 756 tn Or “bribe money.”
[16:9] 757 tn Heb “listened to him.”
[16:9] 758 tn Heb “the king of Assyria.”
[16:10] 760 tn Heb “in Damascus.”
[16:10] 761 tn Heb “the likeness of the altar and its pattern for all its work.”
[16:11] 762 tn Heb “according to all that King Ahaz sent from Damascus.”
[16:11] 763 tn Heb “so Uriah the priest did, until the arrival of King Ahaz from Damascus.”
[16:12] 764 tn Heb “and the king.”
[16:12] 765 tn Heb “the altar.”
[16:12] 766 tn Or “ascended it.”
[16:14] 767 tn The word “new” is added in the translation for clarification.
[16:15] 768 tn That is, the newly constructed altar.
[16:15] 769 tn Heb “for me to seek.” The precise meaning of בָּקַר (baqar), “seek,” is uncertain in this context. For discussion see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 189.
[16:16] 770 tn Heb “according to all which.”
[16:17] 771 sn See the note at 1 Kgs 7:23.
[16:17] 772 tn Heb “that [were] under it.”
[16:18] 773 tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew term מוּסַךְ (musakh; Qere) / מִיסַךְ (misakh; Kethib) is uncertain. For discussion see HALOT 557 s.v. מוּסַךְ and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 189-90.
[16:18] 774 tn Heb “that they built.”
[16:18] 775 sn It is doubtful that Tiglath-pileser ordered these architectural changes. Ahaz probably made these changes so he could send some of the items and materials to the Assyrian king as tribute. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 190, 193.
[16:19] 776 tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Ahaz, and that which he did, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah?”
[16:20] 777 tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
[17:1] 778 map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.
[17:2] 779 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
[17:3] 780 tn Heb “went up against.”
[17:4] 781 tn Heb “and the king of Assyria found in Hoshea conspiracy.”
[17:4] 782 sn For discussion of this name, see HALOT 744 s.v. סוֹא and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 196.
[17:4] 783 tn Heb “and bound him in the house of confinement.”
[17:5] 784 tn Heb “went up against.”
[17:6] 785 tn The Hebrew text has simply “Israel” as the object of the verb.
[17:7] 786 tn Heb “and from under the hand of.” The words “freed them” are added in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[17:8] 788 tn Heb “walked in the customs.”
[17:8] 789 tn Heb “and [the practices of] the kings of Israel which they did.”
[17:9] 790 tn The meaning of the verb וַיְחַפְּאוּ (vayÿkhappÿ’u), translated here “said,” is uncertain. Some relate it to the verbal root חָפַה (khafah), “to cover,” and translate “they did it in secret” (see BDB 341 s.v. חָפָא). However, the pagan practices specified in the following sentences were hardly done in secret. Others propose a meaning “ascribe, impute,” which makes good contextual sense but has little etymological support (see HALOT 339 s.v. חפא). In this case Israel claimed that the
[17:9] 791 sn That is, from the city’s perimeter to the central citadel.
[17:11] 792 tn Heb “and they did evil things, angering the
[17:12] 794 sn See the note at 1 Kgs 15:12.
[17:12] 795 tn Heb “about which the
[17:13] 796 tn Heb “obey my commandments and rules according to all the law which I commanded your fathers and which I sent to you by the hand of my servants the prophets.”
[17:14] 797 tn Heb and they stiffened their neck like the neck of their fathers.”
[17:15] 798 tn Or “and his warnings he had given them.”
[17:15] 799 tn Heb “They went [or, ‘followed’] after.” This idiom probably does not mean much if translated literally. It is found most often in Deuteronomy or in literature related to the covenant. It refers in the first instance to loyalty to God and to His covenant or His commandments (1 Kgs 14:8; 2 Chr 34:31) with the metaphor of a path or way underlying it (Deut 11:28; 28:14). To “follow other gods” was to abandon this way and this loyalty (to “abandon” or “forget” God, Judg 2:12; Hos 2:13) and to follow the customs or religious traditions of the pagan nations (2 Kgs 17:15). The classic text on “following” God or another god is 1 Kgs 18:18, 21 where Elijah taunts the people with “halting between two opinions” whether the
[17:15] 800 tn Heb “they followed after the worthless thing/things and became worthless.” The words “to the
[17:15] 801 tn Heb “and [they walked] after the nations which were around them, concerning which the
[17:16] 802 tn The phrase כָל צְבָא הַשָּׁמַיִם (khol tsÿva’ hashamayim), traditionally translated “all the host of heaven,” refers to the heavenly lights, including stars and planets. In 1 Kgs 22:19 these heavenly bodies are pictured as members of the Lord’s royal court or assembly, but many other texts view them as the illegitimate objects of pagan and Israelite worship.
[17:17] 804 sn See the note at 2 Kgs 16:3.
[17:17] 805 tn Heb “they sold themselves to doing what was evil in the eyes of the
[17:18] 806 tn Heb “very angry.”
[17:18] 807 tn Heb “turned them away from his face.”
[17:19] 808 tn Heb “they walked in the practices of Israel which they did.”
[17:20] 809 tn Or “afflicted.”
[17:21] 810 tn Heb “and they made Jeroboam son of Nebat king.”
[17:21] 811 tc The consonantal text (Kethib) assumes the verb is נָדָא (nada’), an alternate form of נָדָה (nadah), “push away.” The marginal reading (Qere) assumes the verb נָדָח (nadakh), “drive away.”
[17:21] 812 tn Heb “a great sin.”
[17:22] 813 tn Heb “turn away from.”
[17:23] 815 tn Heb “the
[17:23] 816 tn Heb “just as he said.”
[17:24] 817 tn The object is supplied in the translation.
[17:24] 818 sn In vv. 24-29 Samaria stands for the entire northern kingdom of Israel.
[17:25] 819 tn Heb “in the beginning of their living there.”
[17:26] 821 tn Heb “and they said to the king of Assyria, saying.” The plural subject of the verb is indefinite.
[17:26] 822 tn Heb “Look they are killing them.”
[17:27] 823 tc The second plural subject may refer to the leaders of the Assyrian army. However, some prefer to read “whom I deported,” changing the verb to a first person singular form with a third masculine plural pronominal suffix. This reading has some support from Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic witnesses.
[17:27] 824 tc Heb “and let them go and let them live there, and let him teach them the requirements of the God of the land.” The two plural verbs seem inconsistent with the preceding and following contexts, where only one priest is sent back to Samaria. The singular has the support of Greek, Syriac, and Latin witnesses.
[17:28] 825 map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.
[17:29] 827 sn The verb “make” refers to the production of idols. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 210-11.
[17:29] 828 tn Heb “Samaritans.” This refers to the Israelites who had been deported from the land.
[17:30] 829 sn No deity is known by the name Succoth Benoth in extant Mesopotamian literature. For speculation as to the identity of this deity, see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 211.
[17:30] 830 sn Nergal was a Mesopotamian god of the underworld.
[17:30] 831 sn This deity is unknown in extra-biblical literature. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 211-12.
[17:31] 832 sn Nibhaz and Tartak were two Elamite deities. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 212.
[17:31] 833 sn Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of the Sepharvaim are unknown in extra-biblical literature. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 212.
[17:32] 835 tn Heb “and they appointed for themselves from their whole people priests for the high places and they were serving for them in the house[s] of the high places.”
[17:34] 838 tn Heb “commanded.”
[17:35] 840 sn That is, the descendants of Jacob/Israel (see v. 35b).
[17:36] 841 tn Heb “and outstretched arm.”
[17:40] 842 sn This refers to the foreigners whom the king of Assyria settled in the land (see v. 35a).
[18:2] 843 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[18:2] 844 tn Heb “the name of his mother.”
[18:2] 845 tn The parallel passage in 2 Chr 29:1 has “Abijah.”
[18:3] 846 tn Heb “he did what was proper in the eyes of the
[18:4] 847 tn The term is singular in the MT but plural in the LXX and other ancient versions. It is also possible to regard the singular as a collective singular, especially in the context of other plural items.
[18:4] sn Asherah was a leading deity of the Canaanite pantheon, wife/sister of El and goddess of fertility. She was commonly worshiped at shrines in or near groves of evergreen trees, or, failing that, at places marked by wooden poles. These were to be burned or cut down (Deut 12:3; 16:21; Judg 6:25, 28, 30; 2 Kgs 18:4).
[18:4] 848 tn Heb “until those days.”
[18:4] 849 tn In Hebrew the name sounds like the phrase נְחַשׁ הַנְּחֹשֶׁת (nÿkhash hannÿkhoshet), “bronze serpent.”
[18:5] 850 tn Heb “and after him there was none like him among all the kings of Judah, and those who were before him.”
[18:6] 851 tn Heb “he hugged.”
[18:6] 852 tn Heb “and did not turn aside from after him.”
[18:6] 853 tn Heb “had commanded.”
[18:7] 854 tn Heb “in all which he went out [to do], he was successful.”
[18:7] 855 tn Heb “and did not serve him.”
[18:8] 856 sn See the note at 2 Kgs 17:9.
[18:9] 857 tn Heb “went” (also in v. 13).
[18:9] 858 map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.
[18:11] 859 tn The Hebrew text has simply “Israel” as the object of the verb.
[18:12] 860 tn Heb “listen to the voice of.”
[18:12] 861 tn Heb “his covenant.”
[18:12] 862 tn Heb “all that Moses, the
[18:14] 863 tn Or “I have done wrong.”
[18:14] 864 tn Heb “Return from upon me; what you place upon me, I will carry.”
[18:14] 865 tn The Hebrew term כִּכָּר (kikkar, “circle”) refers generally to something that is round. When used of metals it can refer to a disk-shaped weight made of the metal or to a standard unit of weight, generally regarded as a talent. Since the accepted weight for a talent of metal is about 75 pounds, this would have amounted to about 22,500 pounds of silver and 2,250 pounds of gold.
[18:15] 866 tn Heb “that was found.”
[18:16] 867 tn Heb “At that time Hezekiah stripped the doors of the
[18:17] 868 sn For a discussion of these titles see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 229-30.
[18:17] 869 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[18:17] 870 tn Heb “and they went up and came.”
[18:17] 871 tn Heb “the field of the washer.”
[18:19] 872 tn Heb “What is this object of trust in which you are trusting?”
[18:20] 873 tn Heb “you say only a word of lips, counsel and might for battle.” Sennacherib’s message appears to be in broken Hebrew at this point. The phrase “word of lips” refers to mere or empty talk in Prov 14:23.
[18:23] 874 tn Heb “exchange pledges.”
[18:24] 875 tn Heb “How can you turn back the face of an official [from among] the least of my master’s servants and trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen?” In vv. 23-24 the chief adviser develops further the argument begun in v. 21. His reasoning seems to be as follows: “In your weakened condition you obviously need military strength. Agree to the king’s terms and I will personally give you more horses than you are capable of outfitting. If I, a mere minor official, am capable of giving you such military might, just think what power the king has. There is no way the Egyptians can match our strength. It makes much better sense to deal with us.”
[18:25] 877 sn In v. 25 the chief adviser develops further the argument begun in v. 22. He claims that Hezekiah has offended the Lord and that the Lord has commissioned Assyria as his instrument of discipline and judgment.
[18:26] 878 sn Aramaic was the diplomatic language of the empire.
[18:27] 880 tn Heb “To your master and to you did my master send me to speak these words?” The rhetorical question expects a negative answer.
[18:27] 881 tn Heb “[Is it] not [also] to the men…?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Yes, it is.”
[18:27] sn The chief adviser alludes to the horrible reality of siege warfare, when the starving people in the besieged city would resort to eating and drinking anything to stay alive.
[18:28] 882 tn The Hebrew text also has, “and he spoke and said.”
[18:29] 883 tc The MT has “his hand,” but this is due to graphic confusion of vav (ו) and yod (י). The translation reads “my hand,” along with many medieval Hebrew
[18:31] 884 tn Heb “make with me a blessing and come out to me.”
[18:33] 885 tn Heb “Have the gods of the nations really rescued, each his land, from the hand of the king of Assyria?” The infinitive absolute lends emphasis to the main verb. The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course not!”
[18:34] 886 tn The parallel passage in Isa 36:19 omits “Hena and Ivvah.” The rhetorical questions in v. 34a suggest the answer, “Nowhere, they seem to have disappeared in the face of Assyria’s might.”
[18:34] 887 map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.
[18:34] 888 tn Heb “that they rescued Samaria from my hand?” But this gives the impression that the gods of Sepharvaim were responsible for protecting Samaria, which is obviously not the case. The implied subject of the plural verb “rescued” must be the generic “gods of the nations/lands” (vv. 33, 35).
[18:35] 889 tn Heb “that the
[18:37] 890 sn As a sign of grief and mourning.
[19:2] 891 tn Heb “elders of the priests.”
[19:3] 892 tn In the Hebrew text this verse begins with “they said to him.”
[19:3] 893 tn Or “rebuke,” “correction.”
[19:3] 895 tn Heb “when sons come to the cervical opening and there is no strength to give birth.”
[19:4] 896 tn Heb “all the words of the chief adviser whom his master, the king of Assyria, sent to taunt the living God.”
[19:4] 897 tn Heb “and rebuke the words which the
[19:4] 898 tn Heb “and lift up a prayer on behalf of the remnant that is found.”
[19:6] 899 tn Heb “by which the servants of the king of Assyria have insulted me.”
[19:7] 900 tn Heb “I will put in him a spirit.” The precise sense of רוּחַ (ruakh), “spirit,” is uncertain in this context. It may refer to a spiritual being who will take control of his mind (see 1 Kgs 22:19), or it could refer to a disposition of concern and fear. In either case the
[19:7] 902 tn Heb “cause him to fall,” that is, “kill him.”
[19:8] 903 tn Heb “and the chief adviser returned and he found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he heard that he had departed from Lachish.”
[19:9] 904 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[19:9] 905 tn Heb “heard concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, ‘Look, he has come out to fight with you.’”
[19:10] 906 tn Heb “will not be given.”
[19:11] 907 tn Heb “Look, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, annihilating them.”
[19:11] 908 tn Heb “and will you be rescued?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “No, of course not!”
[19:12] 909 tn Heb “Did the gods of the nations whom my fathers destroyed rescue them – Gozan and Haran, and Rezeph and the sons of Eden who are in Telassar?”
[19:13] 910 sn Lair is a city located in northeastern Babylon. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 235.
[19:14] 911 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] 912 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.
[19:15] 913 sn This refers to the cherub images that were above the ark of the covenant.
[19:15] 914 tn Or “the heavens.”
[19:16] 915 tn Heb “Hear the words of Sennacherib which he sent to taunt the living God.”
[19:18] 916 tn Heb “and they put their gods in the fire.”
[19:18] 917 tn Heb “so they destroyed them.”
[19:20] 918 tn Heb “That which you prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard.” The verb “I have heard” does not appear in the parallel passage in Isa 37:21, where אֲשֶׁר (’asher) probably has a causal sense, “because.”
[19:21] 919 tn Heb “this is the word which the
[19:21] 920 sn Zion (Jerusalem) is pictured here as a young, vulnerable daughter whose purity is being threatened by the would-be Assyrian rapist. The personification hints at the reality which the young girls of the city would face if the Assyrians conquer it.
[19:21] 921 sn Shaking the head was a mocking gesture of derision.
[19:22] 922 tn Heb “have you raised a voice.”
[19:22] 923 tn Heb “and lifted your eyes on high?”
[19:22] 924 sn This divine title pictures the Lord as the sovereign king who rules over his covenant people and exercises moral authority over them.
[19:23] 925 tn The word is אֲדֹנָי (’adonai), “lord,” but some Hebrew
[19:23] 926 tc The consonantal text (Kethib) has בְּרֶכֶב (bÿrekhev), but this must be dittographic (note the following רִכְבִּי [rikhbi], “my chariots”). The marginal reading (Qere) בְּרֹב (bÿrov), “with many,” is supported by many Hebrew
[19:23] 927 tn Heb “the lodging place of its extremity.”
[19:24] 928 tn Heb “I dug and drank foreign waters.”
[19:25] 929 tn Having quoted the Assyrian king’s arrogant words in vv. 23-24, the Lord now speaks to the king.
[19:25] 930 tn Heb “Have you not heard?” The rhetorical question expresses the Lord’s amazement that anyone might be ignorant of what he is about to say.
[19:25] 932 tn Heb “and it is to cause to crash into heaps of ruins fortified cities.” The subject of the third feminine singular verb תְּהִי (tÿhi) is the implied plan, referred to in the preceding lines with third feminine singular pronominal suffixes.
[19:26] 933 tn Heb “short of hand.”
[19:26] 934 tn Heb “they are plants in the field and green vegetation.” The metaphor emphasizes how short-lived these seemingly powerful cities really were. See Ps 90:5-6; Isa 40:6-8, 24.
[19:26] 935 tn Heb “[they are] grass on the rooftops.” See the preceding note.
[19:26] 936 tc The Hebrew text has “scorched before the standing grain” (perhaps meaning “before it reaches maturity”), but it is preferable to emend קָמָה (qamah), “standing grain,” to קָדִים (qadim), “east wind” (with the support of 1Q Isaa in Isa 37:27).
[19:27] 937 tc Heb “your going out and your coming in.” The MT also has here, “and how you have raged against me.” However, this line is probably dittographic (note the beginning of the next line).
[19:28] 938 tc Heb “and your complacency comes up into my ears.” The parallelism is improved if שַׁאֲנַנְךְ (sha’anankh), “your complacency,” is emended to שַׁאֲוַנְךְ (sha’avankh), “your uproar.” See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 237-38.
[19:28] 939 sn The word picture has a parallel in Assyrian sculpture. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 238.
[19:29] 940 tn At this point the word concerning the king of Assyria (vv. 21-28) ends and the Lord again directly addresses Hezekiah and the people (see v. 20).
[19:29] 941 tn Heb “and this is your sign.” In this case the אוֹת (’ot), “sign,” is a future confirmation of God’s intervention designated before the actual intervention takes place. For similar “signs” see Exod 3:12 and Isa 7:14-25.
[19:29] 942 sn This refers to crops that grew up on their own (that is, without cultivation) from the seed planted in past years.
[19:29] 943 tn Heb “and in the second year.”
[19:29] 944 tn The four plural imperatival verb forms in v. 29b are used rhetorically. The Lord commands the people to plant, harvest, etc. to emphasize the certainty of restored peace and prosperity. See IBHS 572 §34.4.c.
[19:30] 945 tn Heb “The remnant of the house of Judah that is left will add roots below and produce fruit above.”
[19:31] 946 tn Traditionally “the
[19:31] 947 tn Heb “the zeal of the
[19:32] 949 tn Heb “[with] a shield.” By metonymy the “shield” stands for the soldier who carries it.
[19:34] 950 tn Heb “for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.”
[19:35] 951 tn This refers to the Israelites and/or the rest of the Assyrian army.
[19:35] 952 tn Heb “look, all of them were dead bodies.”
[19:36] 953 tn Heb “and Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went and returned and lived in Nineveh.”
[19:37] 954 sn The assassination probably took place in 681
[19:37] 955 sn No such Mesopotamian god is presently known. Perhaps the name is a corruption of Nusku.
[19:37] 956 tc Although “his sons” is absent in the Kethib, it is supported by the Qere, along with many medieval Hebrew
[19:37] 957 sn Extra-biblical sources also mention the assassination of Sennacherib, though they refer to only one assassin. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 239-40.
[20:1] 958 tn Heb “was sick to the point of dying.”
[20:1] 959 tn Heb “will not live.”
[20:3] 960 tn Heb “walked before you.” For a helpful discussion of the background and meaning of this Hebrew idiom, see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 254.
[20:3] 961 tn Heb “and with a complete heart.”
[20:3] 962 tn Heb “and that which is good in your eyes I have done.”
[20:3] 963 tn Heb “wept with great weeping.”
[20:4] 964 tc Heb “and Isaiah had not gone out of the middle courtyard, and the word of the
[20:5] 965 tn Heb “on the third day.”
[20:6] 966 tn Heb “for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.”
[20:7] 967 tn Heb “and they got [a fig cake].”
[20:7] 968 tn Heb “and he lived.”
[20:9] 969 tn The Hebrew הָלַךְ (halakh, a perfect), “it has moved ahead,” should be emended to הֲיֵלֵךְ (hayelekh, an imperfect with interrogative he [ה] prefixed), “shall it move ahead.”
[20:10] 970 tn Heb “the shadow.” The noun has been replaced by the pronoun (“it”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[20:11] 971 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the
[20:11] 972 tn Heb “on the steps which [the sun] had gone down, on the steps of Ahaz, back ten steps.”
[20:11] sn These steps probably functioned as a type of sundial. See HALOT 614 s.v. מַעֲלָה and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 256.
[20:12] 973 tc The MT has “Berodach-Baladan,” but several Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic, and Latin witnesses agree with the parallel passage in Isa 39:1 and read “Merodach-Baladan.”
[20:13] 974 tc Heb “listened to.” Some Hebrew
[20:13] 975 tn Heb “there was nothing which Hezekiah did not show them in his house and in all his kingdom.”
[20:15] 976 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Isaiah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[20:15] 977 tn Heb “there was nothing I did not show them.”
[20:17] 978 tn Heb “days are.”
[20:18] 979 tn Heb “Some of your sons, who go out from you, whom you father.”
[20:19] 981 tn Heb “and he said.” Many English versions translate, “for he thought.” The verb אָמַר (’amar), “say,” is sometimes used of what one thinks (that is, says to oneself). Cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT.
[20:19] 982 tn Heb “Is it not [true] there will be peace and stability in my days?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Yes, there will be peace and stability.”
[20:20] 983 tn Heb “and he brought.”
[20:20] 984 tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Hezekiah, and all his strength, and how he made a pool and a conduit and brought water to the city, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah?”
[20:21] 985 tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
[21:1] 986 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[21:1] 987 tn Heb “the name of his mother.”
[21:2] 988 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
[21:2] 989 tn Heb “like the abominable practices of the nations.”
[21:3] 990 sn See the note at 2 Kgs 17:16.
[21:4] 992 tn Heb “In Jerusalem I will place my name.”
[21:6] 993 tc The LXX has the plural “his sons” here.
[21:6] 994 sn See the note at 2 Kgs 16:3.
[21:6] 995 tn Heb “and he set up a ritual pit, along with conjurers.” The Hebrew אוֹב (’ov), “ritual pit,” refers to a pit used by a magician to conjure up underworld spirits. In 1 Sam 28:7 the witch of Endor is called a בַעֲלַת אוֹב (ba’alat ’ov), “owner of a ritual pit.” See H. Hoffner, “Second millennium Antecedents to the Hebrew ’OñBù,” JBL 86 (1967), 385-401.
[21:6] 996 tc Heb “and he multiplied doing what is evil in the eyes of the
[21:7] 997 tn Heb “In this house and in Jerusalem, which I chose from all the tribes of Israel, I will place my name perpetually (or perhaps “forever”).”
[21:8] 998 tn Heb “I will not again make the feet of Israel wander from the land which I gave to their fathers.”
[21:10] 1000 tn Heb “spoke by the hand of.”
[21:11] 1001 tn Heb “these horrible sins.”
[21:11] 1002 sn See the note at 1 Kgs 15:12.
[21:12] 1003 tn Heb “so that everyone who hears it, his two ears will quiver.”
[21:13] 1004 map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.
[21:13] 1005 tn Heb “I will stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria, and the plumb line of the house of Ahab.” The measuring line and plumb line are normally used in building a structure, not tearing it down. But here they are used ironically as metaphors of judgment, emphasizing that he will give careful attention to the task of judgment.
[21:13] 1006 tn Heb “just as one wipes a plate, wiping and turning [it] on its face.” The word picture emphasizes how thoroughly the Lord will judge the city.
[21:14] 1007 tn Heb “the remnant of my inheritance.” In this context the Lord’s remnant is the tribe of Judah, which had been preserved when the Assyrians conquered and deported the northern tribes. See 17:18 and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 269.
[21:14] 1008 tn Heb “they will become plunder and spoils of war for all their enemies.”
[21:15] 1009 tn Heb “in my eyes.”
[21:16] 1010 tn Heb “and also Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, until he filled Jerusalem from mouth to mouth.”
[21:16] 1011 tn Heb “apart from his sin which he caused Judah to commit, by doing what is evil in the eyes of the
[21:17] 1012 tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Manasseh, and all which he did, and his sin which he committed, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah?”
[21:18] 1013 tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
[21:19] 1014 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[21:19] 1015 tn Heb “the name of his mother.”
[21:20] 1016 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
[21:21] 1017 tn Heb “walked in all the way which his father walked.”
[21:21] 1018 sn See the note at 1 Kgs 15:12.
[21:21] 1019 tn Heb “and he served the disgusting idols which his father served and he bowed down to them.”
[21:22] 1020 tn Heb “and did not walk in the way of the
[21:24] 1021 tn Heb “the people of the land.” The pronoun “they” has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons, to avoid the repetition of the phrase “the people of the land” from the beginning of the verse.
[21:25] 1022 tc Heb “As for the rest of the things of Amon which he did, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah?” Many Hebrew
[21:26] 1023 tn Heb “he buried him.” Here “he” probably refers to Amon’s son Josiah.
[22:1] 1024 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[22:1] 1025 tn Heb “the name of his mother.”
[22:2] 1026 tn Heb “he did what was proper in the eyes of the
[22:2] 1027 tn Heb “and walked in all the way of David his father.”
[22:3] 1028 tn Heb “with these orders, saying.”
[22:4] 1029 tc The MT has וְיַתֵּם (vÿyattem), “and let them add up” (Hiphil of תָּמָם [tammam], “be complete”), but the appearance of הִתִּיכוּ (hitikhu), “they melted down” (Hiphil of נָתַךְ [natakh], “pour out”) in v. 9 suggests that the verb form should be emended to וְיַתֵּךְ (vÿyattekh), “and let him melt down” (a Hiphil of נָתַךְ [natakh]). For a discussion of this and other options see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 281.
[22:5] 1030 tn Heb “doers of the work.”
[22:5] 1031 tn Heb “and let them give it to the doers of the work who are in the house of the
[22:6] 1032 tn Heb “and to buy wood and chiseled stone to repair the house.”
[22:7] 1033 tn Heb “only the silver that is given into their hand should not be reckoned with them, for in faithfulness they are acting.”
[22:9] 1034 tn Heb “returned the king a word and said.”
[22:9] 1035 tn Heb “that was found in the house.”
[22:13] 1036 tn Or “inquire of.”
[22:13] 1037 tn Heb “concerning.”
[22:13] 1038 tn Heb “for great is the anger of the
[22:13] 1039 tn Heb “by doing all that is written concerning us.” Perhaps עָלֵינוּ (’alenu), “concerning us,” should be altered to עָלָיו (’alav), “upon it,” in which case one could translate, “by doing all that is written in it.”
[22:14] 1040 tn Heb “the keeper of the clothes.”
[22:14] 1041 tn Or “second.” For a discussion of the possible location of this district, see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 283.
[22:14] 1042 tn Heb “and they spoke to her.”
[22:16] 1043 tn Heb “all the words of the scroll which the king of Judah has read.”
[22:17] 1044 tn Or “burned incense.”
[22:17] 1045 tn Heb “angering me with all the work of their hands.” The translation assumes that this refers to idols they have manufactured (note the preceding reference to “other gods,” as well as 19:18). However, it is possible that this is a general reference to their sinful practices, in which case one might translate, “angering me by all the things they do.”
[22:19] 1046 tn Heb “Because your heart was tender.”
[22:19] 1047 tn Heb “how I said concerning this place and its residents to become [an object of] horror and [an example of] a curse.” The final phrase (“horror and a curse”) refers to Judah becoming a prime example of an accursed people. In curse formulations they would be held up as a prime example of divine judgment. For an example of such a curse, see Jer 29:22.
[22:20] 1048 tn Heb “Therefore, look, I am gathering you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your tomb in peace.”
[22:20] 1049 tn Heb “your eyes will not see.”
[23:1] 1050 tn Heb “and the king sent and all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem gathered to him.”
[23:1] map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[23:2] 1051 tn Heb “read in their ears.”
[23:3] 1052 tn Heb “cut,” that is, “made, agreed to.”
[23:3] 1053 tn Heb “walk after.”
[23:3] 1056 tn Heb “stood in the covenant.”
[23:4] 1057 tn Heb “the priests of the second [rank],” that is, those ranked just beneath Hilkiah.
[23:4] 1058 tn Or “doorkeepers.”
[23:4] 1060 tn Heb “all the host of heaven” (also in v. 5).
[23:4] 1061 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[23:4] 1062 tn Or “fields.” For a defense of the translation “terraces,” see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 285.
[23:4] 1063 map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.
[23:5] 1064 tn Perhaps, “destroyed.”
[23:5] 1065 tn Or “burn incense.”
[23:5] 1066 tn Or “burned incense.”
[23:6] 1067 tn Heb “and he burned it in the Kidron Valley.”
[23:6] 1068 tc Heb “on the grave of the sons of the people.” Some Hebrew, Greek, Syriac, Aramaic, and Latin witnesses read the plural “graves.”
[23:6] tn The phrase “sons of the people” refers here to the common people (see BDB 766 s.v. עַם), as opposed to the upper classes who would have private tombs.
[23:7] 1069 tn Or “cubicles.” Heb “houses.”
[23:7] 1070 tn Heb “houses.” Perhaps tent-shrines made from cloth are in view (see BDB 109 s.v. בַּיִת). M. Cogan and H. Tadmor (II Kings [AB], 286) understand this as referring to clothes made for images of the goddess.
[23:8] 1071 tn Heb “defiled; desecrated,” that is, “made ritually unclean and unusable.”
[23:8] 1072 sn These towns marked Judah’s northern and southern borders, respectively, at the time of Josiah.
[23:8] 1073 tc The Hebrew text reads “the high places of the gates,” which is problematic in that the rest of the verse speaks of a specific gate. The translation assumes an emendation to בָּמוֹת הַשְּׁעָרִים (bamot hashÿ’arim), “the high place of the goats” (that is, goat idols). Worship of such images is referred to in Lev 17:7 and 2 Chr 11:15. For a discussion of the textual issue, see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 286-87.
[23:9] 1074 tn Heb “their brothers.”
[23:10] 1075 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[23:10] 1076 sn Attempts to identify this deity with a god known from the ancient Near East have not yet yielded a consensus. For brief discussions see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor II Kings (AB), 288 and HALOT 592 s.v. מֹלֶךְ. For more extensive studies see George C. Heider, The Cult of Molek, and John Day, Molech: A God of Human Sacrifice in the Old Testament.
[23:11] 1077 tn The MT simply reads “the horses.” The words “statues of” have been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[23:11] 1078 tn Heb “who/which was in the […?].” The meaning of the Hebrew term פַּרְוָרִים (parvarim), translated here “courtyards,” is uncertain. The relative clause may indicate where the room was located or explain who Nathan Melech was, “the eunuch who was in the courtyards.” See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 288-89, who translate “the officer of the precincts.”
[23:11] 1079 tn Heb “and the chariots of the sun he burned with fire.”
[23:12] 1080 tc The MT reads, “he ran from there,” which makes little if any sense in this context. Some prefer to emend the verbal form (Qal of רוּץ [ruts], “run”) to a Hiphil of רוּץ with third plural suffix and translate, “he quickly removed them” (see BDB 930 s.v. רוּץ, and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings [AB], 289). The suffix could have been lost in MT by haplography (note the mem [מ] that immediately follows the verb on the form מִשֳׁם, misham, “from there”). Another option, the one reflected in the translation, is to emend the verb to a Piel of רָצַץ (ratsats), “crush,” with third plural suffix.
[23:13] 1081 sn This is a derogatory name for the Mount of Olives, involving a wordplay between מָשְׁחָה (mashÿkhah), “anointing,” and מַשְׁחִית (mashÿkhit), “destruction.” See HALOT 644 s.v. מַשְׁחִית and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 289.
[23:14] 1082 tn Heb “their places.”
[23:15] 1083 map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.
[23:15] 1084 tn Heb “And also the altar that is in Bethel, the high place that Jeroboam son of Nebat who encouraged Israel to sin, also that altar and the high place he tore down.” The more repetitive Hebrew text is emphatic.
[23:15] 1085 tn Heb “he burned the high place, crushing to dust, and he burned the Asherah pole.” High places per se are never referred to as being burned elsewhere. בָּמָה (bamah) here stands by metonymy for the combustible items located on the high place. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 289.
[23:16] 1086 tn Heb “and he sent and took the bones from the tombs.”
[23:16] 1087 tn Heb “the king”; this has been specified as “King Josiah” in the translation for clarity (cf. TEV, CEV, NLT).
[23:16] 1088 tc The MT is much shorter than this. It reads, “according to the word of the
[23:16] sn This recalls the prophecy recorded in 1 Kgs 13:2.
[23:17] 1089 tn Heb “man of God.”
[23:18] 1090 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[23:18] 1091 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.
[23:19] 1092 tc Heb “which the kings of Israel had made, angering.” The object has been accidentally omitted in the MT. It appears in the LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate versions.
[23:19] 1093 tn Heb “and he did to them according to all the deeds he had done in Bethel.”
[23:19] map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.
[23:22] 1094 tn The Hebrew text has simply “because.” The translation attempts to reflect more clearly the logical connection between the king’s order and the narrator’s observation. Another option is to interpret כִּי (ki) as asseverative and translate, “indeed.”
[23:22] 1095 tn Heb “because there had not been observed [one] like this Passover from the days of the judges who judged Israel and all the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah.”
[23:24] 1096 tn Here בִּעֵר (bi’er) is not the well attested verb “burn,” but the less common homonym meaning “devastate, sweep away, remove.” See HALOT 146 s.v. בער.
[23:24] 1097 sn See the note at 2 Kgs 21:6.
[23:24] 1098 sn See the note at 1 Kgs 15:12.
[23:24] 1099 tn Heb “carrying out the words of the law.”
[23:25] 1100 tn Heb “and like him there was not a king before him who returned to the
[23:25] sn The description of Josiah’s devotion as involving his whole “heart, soul, and being” echoes the language of Deut 6:5.
[23:26] 1101 tn Heb “Yet the
[23:27] 1102 tn Heb “Also Judah I will turn away from my face.”
[23:27] 1103 tn Heb “My name will be there.”
[23:28] 1104 tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Josiah, and all which he did, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah?”
[23:29] 1105 tn Heb “went up to.” The idiom עַל…עָלָה (’alah …’al) can sometimes mean “go up against,” but here it refers to Necho’s attempt to aid the Assyrians in their struggle with the Babylonians.
[23:29] 1106 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Necho) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[23:29] 1107 map For location see Map1 D4; Map2 C1; Map4 C2; Map5 F2; Map7 B1.
[23:30] 1108 tn Heb “him, dead.”
[23:30] 1109 tn Or “anointed him.”
[23:31] 1110 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[23:31] 1111 tn Heb “the name of his mother.”
[23:32] 1112 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
[23:32] 1113 tn Heb “according to all which his fathers had done.”
[23:33] 1114 tc The consonantal text (Kethib) has “when [he was] ruling in Jerusalem,” but the marginal reading (Qere), which has support from Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic, and Latin witnesses, has “[preventing him] from ruling in Jerusalem.”
[23:33] 1116 tn The Hebrew term כִּכָּר (kikkar, “circle”) refers generally to something that is round. When used of metals it can refer to a disk-shaped weight made of the metal or to a standard unit of weight, generally regarded as a talent. Since the accepted weight for a talent of metal is about 75 pounds, this would have amounted to about 7,500 pounds of silver and 75 pounds of gold (cf. NCV, NLT); CEV “almost four tons of silver and about seventy-five pounds of gold.”
[23:34] 1117 tn Heb “and he took Jehoahaz, and he came to Egypt and he died there.”
[23:35] 1118 tn Heb “And the silver and the gold Jehoiakim gave to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the silver at the command of Pharaoh, [from] each according to his tax he collected the silver and the gold, from the people of the land, to give to Pharaoh Necho.”
[23:36] 1119 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[23:37] 1120 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
[24:1] 1121 tn Heb “In his days.”
[24:1] 1122 tn Heb “came up.” Perhaps an object (“against him”) has been accidentally omitted from the text. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 306.
[24:1] 1123 tn The Hebrew text has “and he turned and rebelled against him.”
[24:2] 1124 tn Heb “he sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the
[24:3] 1125 tn Heb “Certainly according to the word of the
[24:4] 1126 tn Heb “and also the blood of the innocent which he shed, and he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the
[24:5] 1127 tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Jehoiakim, and all which he did, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah?”
