2 Raja-raja 4:1

Elisha Helps a Widow and Her Sons

4:1 Now a wife of one of the prophets ¹  appealed ²  to Elisha for help, saying, “Your servant, my husband is dead. You know that your servant was a loyal follower of the Lord. ³  Now the creditor is coming to take away my two boys to be his servants.”

2 Raja-raja 4:39

4:39 Someone went out to the field to gather some herbs and found a wild vine. ⁴  He picked some of its fruit, ⁵  enough to fill up the fold of his robe. He came back, cut it up, and threw the slices ⁶  into the stew pot, not knowing they were harmful. ⁷ 

2 Raja-raja 5:7-8

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? ⁸  Certainly you must see that he is looking for an excuse to fight me!” ⁹ 

5:8 When Elisha the prophet ¹⁰  heard that the king had torn his clothes, he sent this message to the king, “Why did you tear your clothes? Send him ¹¹  to me so he may know there is a prophet in Israel.”

2 Raja-raja 5:15

5:15 He and his entire entourage returned to the prophet. Naaman ¹²  came and stood before him. He said, “For sure ¹³  I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel! Now, please accept a gift from your servant.”

2 Raja-raja 8:12

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.”

2 Raja-raja 9:11

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

2 Raja-raja 10:10

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.” ¹⁸ 

[4:1]  ¹ tn Heb “a wife from among the wives of the sons of the prophets.”

[4:1]  ² tn Or “cried out.”

[4:1]  ³ tn Heb “your servant feared the Lord.” “Fear” refers here to obedience and allegiance, the products of healthy respect for the Lord’s authority.

[4:39]  ⁴ tn Heb “a vine of the field.”

[4:39]  ⁵ tn Heb “[some] of the gourds of the field.”

[4:39]  ⁶ tn Heb “he came and cut [them up].”

[4:39]  ⁷ 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.

[5:7]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Heb “Indeed, know and see that he is seeking an occasion with respect to me.”

[5:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “man of God” (also in vv. 15, 20).

[5:8]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Let him come.”

[5:15]  ¹² tn Heb “he”; the referent (Naaman) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:15]  ¹³ tn Heb “look.”

[9:11]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “went out to.”

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

[9:11]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Is there peace?”

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

[10:10]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Know then that there has not fallen from the word of the Lord to the ground that which the Lord spoke against the house of Ahab. The Lord has done that which he spoke by the hand of his servant Elijah.”