2 Raja-raja 8:1

Elisha Again Helps the Shunammite Woman

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, ¹  for the Lord has decreed that a famine will overtake the land for seven years.”

2 Raja-raja 17:24

The King of Assyria Populates Israel with Foreigners

17:24 The king of Assyria brought foreigners ²  from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and settled them in the cities of Samaria ³  in place of the Israelites. They took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities.

2 Raja-raja 17:27

17:27 So the king of Assyria ordered, “Take back one of the priests whom you ⁴  deported from there. He must settle there and teach them the requirements of the God of the land.” ⁵ 

[8:1]  ¹ tn Heb “Get up and go, you and your house, and live temporarily where you can live temporarily.”

[17:24]  ² tn The object is supplied in the translation.

[17:24]  ³ sn In vv. 24-29 Samaria stands for the entire northern kingdom of Israel.

[17:27]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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.