1 sn (1:1) This statement may fit better with the final paragraph of 1 Kings 22.
2tn (1:2) Heb "and he sent messengers and said to them."
3tn (1:2) That is, "seek an oracle from."
4sn (1:2) 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 and Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 25.
5tn (1:3) 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.
6tn (1:5) Heb "to him."
sn (1:5) 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.
7tn (1:6) 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).
8tn (1:7) Heb "he"; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
9tn (1:7) Heb "What was the manner...?"
10tn (1:8) 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. 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).
11tn (1:8) Heb "belt of skin" (i.e., one made from animal hide).
12tn (1:8) Heb "he"; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
13tn (1:9) Heb "he"; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
14tn (1:9) Heb "officer of fifty and his fifty."
15tn (1:9) Heb "to him."
16tn (1:9) Heb "he"; the referent (the captain) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
17sn (1:9) The prophet Elijah's position on the top of the hill symbolizes his superiority to the king and his messengers.
18tn (1:9) Heb "man of God" (also in vv. 10, 11, 12, 13).
19tn (1:10) Heb "answered and said to the officer of fifty."
20tn (1:10) Wordplay contributes to the irony here. The king tells Elijah to "come down" (Hebrew dry), but Elijah calls fire down (dry) on the arrogant king's officer.
21tn (1:11) Heb "he"; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
22tc (1:11) The MT reads, "he answered and said to him." The verb "he answered" (/uyw) is probably a corruption of "he went up" (luyw). See v. 9.
23sn (1:11) 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.
24tc (1:12) Two medieval Hebrew MSS, the LXX, and the Syriac Peshitta have the singular "to him."
25tn (1:12) Or "intense fire." The divine name may be used idiomatically to emphasize the intensity of the fire. Whether one translates <yhla 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.
26tn (1:13) Heb "he"; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
27tn (1:13) Heb "went up and approached and kneeled."
28tn (1:14) Heb "look."
29tn (1:14) Heb "their fifty."
30sn (1:15) In this third panel the verb "come down" (dry) 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.
31tn (1:16) Heb "he"; the referent (Elijah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
32tn (1:16) Heb "him"; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
33tn (1:16) 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?"
34sn (1:16) 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.
35tn (1:17) Heb "according to the word of the LORD which he spoke through Elijah."
36tn (1:17) 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.
37tn (1:18) 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?"
1tn (2:1) Or "when."
2tn (2:3) Heb "the sons of the prophets."
3tn (2:3) Heb "from your head." The same expression occurs in v. 5.
4tn (2:7) Heb "the two of them."
5tn (2:9) Heb "Ask! What can I do for you....?"
6tn (2:9) Heb "May a double portion of your spirit come to me."
7tn (2:10) Heb "he"; the referent (Elijah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
8tn (2:10) Heb "You have made difficult [your] request."
9tn (2:11) Though the noun is singular here, it may be collective, in which case it could be translated "chariots."
10tn (2:11) Heb "look, a chariot of fire and horses of fire."
11tn (2:11) Heb "and they made a division between the two of them."
12sn (2:12) 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)," OTS 17 (1972): 1-10.
13tn (2:14) Heb "Elijah's robe, which had fallen off him." The wording is changed slightly in the translation for the sake of variety of expression (see v. 13).
14tn (2:15) Heb "and the sons of the prophets who were in Jericho, [who were standing] opposite, saw him and said."
15tn (2:15) Heb "the spirit of Elijah."
16tn (2:16) Or "the spirit of the LORD."
17tn (2:19) Lit. "my."
18tn (2:19) Heb "miscarries" or "is barren."
19tn (2:20) Heb "he"; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
20tn (2:21) Or "healed."
21tn (2:21) Heb "there will no longer be from there death and miscarriage [or, `barrenness']."
22tn (2:22) Heb "according to the word of Elisha which he spoke."
23tn (2:23) The word run, 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.
24tn (2:24) Heb "he cursed them in the name of the LORD." A curse was a formal appeal to a higher authority (here the Lord) to vindicate one's cause through judgment. As in chapter one, this account makes it clear that disrespect for the Lord's designated spokesmen can be deadly, for it is ultimately rejection of the Lord's authority.
25sn (2:25) 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.
1tn (3:2) Heb "in the eyes of."
2tn (3:3) Lit. "held tight," or "clung to."
3tc (3:3) 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."
4tn (3:4) For a discussion of the meaning of this term (dqn), see Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 43.
5tn (3:4) The vav + perfect here indicates customary action contemporary with the situation described in the preceding main clause. See IBHS, 533-34.
6tn (3:7) Heb "went and sent."
7tn (3:7) Heb "he"; the referent (Jehoshaphat) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
8tn (3:7) Heb "I will go up--like me, like you; like my people, like your people; like my horses; like your horses."
9tn (3:8) Heb "Where is the road we will go up?"
10tn (3:8) Heb "he"; the referent (Jehoram) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
11tn (3:9) Heb "the king of Israel and the king of Judah and the king of Edom."
12tn (3:10) Or "ah."
13tn (3:11) Heb "that we might inquire of the LORD through him?"
14tn (3:11) Heb "who poured water on the hands of Elijah." This refers to one of the typical tasks of a servant.
15tn (3:12) Heb "the word of the LORD is with him."
16tn (3:13) Or "What do we have in common?" The text reads literally, "What to me and to you?"
17tn (3:14) Traditionally "the LORD of hosts."
18tn (3:14) Heb "before whom I stand."
19tn (3:14) Heb "if I did not lift up the face of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah."
20tn (3:14) Heb "I would not look at you or see you."
21tn (3:15) The term used refers to one who plays a stringed instrument, perhaps a harp.
22tn (3:15) Heb "the hand of the LORD came on him." This may refer to what typically happened, "[for] when a musician played, the hand of the LORD would come upon him."
23tn (3:16) Heb "making this valley cisterns, cisterns." The Hebrew noun bg 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."
24tn (3:17) Heb "see."
25tn (3:18) Heb "and this is easy in the eyes of the LORD."
26tn (3:19) Heb "choice" or "select."
27tn (3:19) 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.
28tn (3:19) Heb "good."
29tn (3:19) Heb "and ruin every good portion with stones."
30tn (3:20) 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."
31tn (3:21) Heb "had come up to fight them."
32tn (3:21) Heb "and they mustered all who tied on a belt and upwards, and they stood at the border."
33tn (3:23) Heb "they"; the referent (the Moabites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
34tn (3:23) The translation assumes the verb is brj, "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.) Some prefer to derive the verb from a proposed homonym meaning "attack" or "fight" (see HALOT 349 and BDB 352).
35tn (3:24) Heb "they."
36tc (3:24) 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 Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 46.
37tn (3:25) 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.
38tn (3:25) Heb "until he had allowed its stones to remain in Kir Hareseth."
39tn (3:26) Heb "and the king of Moab saw that the battle was too strong for him."
40tn (3:26) Heb "he took with him seven hundred men, who drew the sword, to break through against."
41tn (3:27) Heb "there was great anger against Israel."
sn (3:27) The meaning of this statement is uncertain, for the subject of the anger is not indicated. Except for two relatively late texts, the noun [xq 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). 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." (See footnote 8 in Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 52.) 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 Cogan and Tadmor, 47-48, 51-52.
42tn (3:27) Heb "they departed from him."
1tn (4:1) Heb "a wife from among the wives of the sons of the prophets."
2tn (4:1) Or "cried out."
3tn (4:1) Heb "your servant feared the LORD." "Fear" refers here to obedience and allegiance, the products of healthy respect for the Lord's authority.
4tn (4:3) Heb "Go, ask for containers from outside, from all your neighbors, empty containers."
5tn (4:3) Heb "Do not borrow just a few."
6tn (4:4) Heb "all these vessels."
7tn (4:6) Heb "to her son."
8tn (4:7) Heb "man of God" (also in vv. 16, 22, 25, 27 [twice]).
9tn (4:8) Heb "great," perhaps "wealthy."
10tn (4:8) Or "she urged him to eat some food."
11tn (4:8) Or "he would turn aside there to eat some food."
12tn (4:9) Heb "I know."
13tn (4:9) Heb "holy man of God."
14tn (4:10) Heb "a small upper room of a wall." According to HALOT 832, this refers to "a fully walled upper room."
15tn (4:10) Heb "and let's put there for him."
16tn (4:11) Heb "he"; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
17tn (4:11) Heb "turned aside."
18tn (4:11) Or "slept there."
19tn (4:12) Heb "Call for this Shunammite woman."
20tn (4:12) Heb "and he called for her and she stood before him."
21tn (4:13) Heb "he said to him."
22tn (4:13) 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.
23tn (4:13) Heb "Among my people I am living." This answer suggests that she has security within the context of her family.
24tn (4:14) Heb "and he said."
25tn (4:15) Heb "Call for her."
26tn (4:15) Heb "and he called her."
27tn (4:15) Heb "and he called for her and she stood in the door."
28tn (4:16) Heb "at this appointed time, at the time [when it is] reviving." For a discussion of the second phrase see Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 57.
29tn (4:18) Heb "to his father, to the harvesters."
30tn (4:19) Heb "He"; the referent (the boy's father) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
31tn (4:20) Heb "knees."
32tn (4:21) Heb "man of God's."
33sn (4:23) 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 Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 57.
34tn (4:23) Heb "peace."
35tn (4:24) Heb "lead [the donkey on] and go."
36tn (4:24) Heb "do not restrain for me the riding unless I say to you."
37tn (4:25) Heb "went and came."
38tn (4:25) Heb "the man of God." The phrase has been replaced by the relative pronoun "he" in the translation for stylistic reasons.
39tn (4:26) 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.
40tn (4:27) Heb "her soul [i.e., `disposition'] is bitter."
41tn (4:29) Heb "he"; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
42tn (4:29) Heb "take my staff in your hand."
43tn (4:29) Heb "If you meet a man, do not greet him with a blessing; if a man greets you with a blessing, do not answer."
44tn (4:31) Heb "to meet him."
45tn (4:32) Heb "look."
46tn (4:33) Heb "and closed the door behind the two of them."
47tn (4:34) Heb "he went up and lay down over."
48tn (4:34) Heb "his" (also in the next two clauses).
49tn (4:34) Or perhaps, "body"; Heb "flesh."
50tn (4:35) Heb "he"; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
51tn (4:35) Heb "and he returned and went into the house, once here and once there."
52tn (4:35) Heb "and he went up."
53tn (4:36) Heb "he"; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
54tn (4:36) Heb "and he called for her."
55tn (4:38) Heb "the sons of the prophets were sitting before him."
56tn (4:38) The words "the fire" are added for clarification.
57tn (4:38) Heb "sons of the prophets."
58tn (4:39) Heb "a vine of the field."
59tn (4:39) Heb "[some] of the gourds of the field."
60tn (4:39) Heb "he came and cut [them up]."
61tc (4:39) The Hebrew text reads, "for they did not know" (Wud´y´) but some emend the final shureq (indicating a third plural subject) to holem vav (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 Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 59.
62tn (4:40) Heb "and they poured out [the stew]." The plural subject is probably indefinite.
63tn (4:41) Or "and let them eat."
64tn (4:42) Heb "man of God."
65tn (4:42) On the meaning of the word /lqx, "ear of grain," see HALOT 148 and Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 59.
66tn (4:42) Heb "he"; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
67tn (4:43) Heb "How can I set this before a hundred men?"
68tn (4:43) The verb forms are infinitives absolute (Heb "eating and leaving over") and have to be translated in light of the context.
69tn (4:44) Heb "according to the word of the LORD."
1tn (5:1) Heb "was a great man before his master and lifted up with respect to the face."
2tn (5:1) For a discussion of urxm, traditionally translated "leprous," see Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 63. Naaman probably had a skin disorder of some type, not leprosy/Hansen's disease.
3tn (5:4) Heb "he"; the referent (Naaman) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
4sn (5:5) Hebrew rkk, "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.
5tn (5:5) Heb "six thousand gold [...]." The unit of measure is not given in the Hebrew text.
6tn (5:6) Heb "and now when this letter comes to you, look, I have sent to you Naaman my servant."
7tn (5:7) 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.
8tn (5:7) Heb "Indeed, know and see that he is seeking an occasion with respect to me."
9tn (5:8) Heb "man of God" (also in vv. 15, 20).
10tn (5:8) Heb "Let him come."
11tn (5:10) Heb "will return to you."
12tn (5:12) 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.
13tn (5:13) 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 and the similar idiomatic use of "father" in 2 Kgs 2:12.
14tn (5:13) Heb "a great thing."
15tn (5:13) Heb "would you not do [it]?" The rhetorical question expects the answer, "Of course you would."
16tn (5:13) 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").
17tn (5:14) Heb "according to the word of the man of God."
18tn (5:14) Heb "and his skin was restored, like the skin of a small child."
19tn (5:15) Heb "he"; the referent (Naaman) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
20tn (5:15) Heb "look."
21tn (5:16) Heb "he"; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
22tn (5:16) Heb "before whom I stand."
23tn (5:16) Heb "he"; the referent (Naaman) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
24tn (5:17) Heb "and [if] not, may there be given to your servant a load [for] a pair of mules, earth."
25tn (5:17) Heb "for your servant will not again make a burnt offering and sacrifice to other gods, only to the LORD."
26tn (5:18) 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 LORD forgive your servant for this thing."
sn (5:18) Rimmon was the Syrian storm god. See Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 65.
27tn (5:19) Heb "he"; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
28tn (5:19) Heb "and he went from him a distance of land." The precise meaning of hrbk, "distance," is uncertain. See BDB 460, HALOT 459-60, and Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 65.
29tn (5:20) Heb "said" (i.e., to himself).
30tn (5:20) Heb "Look, my master spared this Syrian Naaman by not taking from his hand what he brought."
31tn (5:21) Heb "Is there peace?"
32tn (5:22) Heb "peace."
33tn (5:22) Heb "Look now, here, two servants came to me from the Ephraimite hill country, from the sons of the prophets."
34sn (5:22) See the note at 2 Kgs 5:5.
35tn (5:23) Heb "Be resolved and accept two units."
36tn (5:23) Heb "before him."
37tn (5:24) Heb "from their hand."
38tn (5:24) Heb "and he sent the men away and they went."
39tn (5:26) Heb "he"; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
40tn (5:26) 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.
41tn (5:26) In the MT the statement is phrased as a rhetorical question, "Is this the time...?" It expects an emphatic negative response.
42tn (5:27) Heb "cling to."
43tn (5:27) Heb "he"; the referent (Gehazi) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
44tn (5:27) Traditionally, "he went from before him, leprous like snow." But see the note at 5:1, as well as Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 66.
1tn (6:1) Heb "the sons of the prophets."
2tn (6:1) Heb "sit before you."
3tn (6:1) Heb "narrow, tight."
4tn (6:5) Heb "iron."
5tn (6:5) Or "ah."
6tn (6:6) Heb "man of God" (also in v. 9).
7tn (6:6) Heb "he"; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
8tc (6:8) The verb form used here is difficult to analyze. On the basis of the form <ytjn in v. 9 (from the root tjn) it is probably best to emend the verb to wtjnt (a Qal imperfect form from the root tjn). The verb tjn in at least two other instances carries the nuance "go down, descend" in a military context. For a defense of this view, see Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 72.
9sn (6:8) The advisers would have mentioned a specific location, but the details are not significant to the narrator's purpose, so he simply paraphrases here.
10tn (6:10) The vav + perfect here indicates action contemporary with the preceding main verb ("sent"). See IBHS, 533-34.
11tn (6:10) 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."
12tn (6:11) Heb "and the heart of the king of Syria was stirred up over this thing."
13tn (6:11) Heb "servants."
14tn (6:11) Heb "Will you not tell me who among us [is] for the king of Israel?" The sarcastic rhetorical question expresses the king's suspicion.
15tn (6:13) Heb "he" (also a second time in this verse); the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
16tn (6:13) Heb "Go and see where he [is] so I can send and take him."
17tn (6:14) Heb "heavy force."
18tn (6:15) Heb "man of God's."
19tn (6:15) Heb "his young servant said to him."
20tn (6:16) Heb "for those who are with us are more than those who are with them."
21tn (6:17) Heb "and he saw, and look."
22tn (6:18) Heb "and they came down to him."
23tn (6:18) Or "this nation," perhaps emphasizing the strength of the Syrian army.
24tn (6:18) On the basis of the Akkadian etymology of the word, Cogan and Tadmor (II Kings, 74) translate "blinding light." HALOT 761 suggests the glosses "dazzling, deception."
25tn (6:18) Heb "he"; the referent (the LORD) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
26tn (6:18) Heb "according to the word of Elisha."
27tn (6:20) Heb "and they saw, and look, [they were] in the middle of Samaria."
28tn (6:21) 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.
29tn (6:21) Heb "my father." The king addresses the prophet in this way to indicate his respect. See 2 Kgs 2:12.
30tn (6:22) Heb "Are [they] ones you captured with your sword or your bow (that) you can strike (them) down?"
31tn (6:23) Or "held a great feast."
32tn (6:23) Heb "they went back."
33tn (6:24) Heb "went up."
34tn (6:25) Heb "and there was a great famine in Samaria."
35tn (6:25) Heb "and look, [they] were besieging it until."
36tn (6:25) Heb "eighty, silver." The unit of measurement is omitted.
37sn (6:25) A kab was a unit of dry measure, equivalent to approximately one quart.
38tn (6:25) The consonantal text (Kethib) reads, "dove manure" (<ynwyyrj), while the marginal reading (Qere) has "discharge" (<ynwybd). Based on evidence from Akkadian, Cogan and Tadmor (II Kings, 79) suggest that "dove's manure" was a popular name for the inedible husks of seeds.
39tn (6:25) Heb "five, silver." The unit of measurement is omitted.
40tn (6:27) 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.
41tn (6:30) Heb "the people saw, and look, [there was] sackcloth against his skin underneath."
42tn (6:31) Heb "So may God do to me, and so may he add."
43tn (6:31) Heb "if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat stays on him today."
1tn (6:32) Heb "and the elders were sitting with him."
2tn (6:32) Heb "he"; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3tn (6:32) Heb "sent a man from before him, before the messenger came to him."
4tn (6:32) Heb "he"; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
5tn (6:32) Heb "elders."
6tn (6:32) Heb "Do you see that this son of an assassin has sent to remove my head?"
7tn (6:32) Heb "Is not the sound of the his master's footsteps behind him?"
8tn (6:33) The Hebrew text also has "look" here.
9tn (6:33) Heb "came down to him."
10tn (6:33) Heb "Look, this is a disaster from the LORD."
11sn (7:1) A seah was a dry measure equivalent to about 7 quarts.
12tn (7:2) Heb "the officer on whose hand the king leans."
13tn (7:2) Heb "man of God."
14tn (7:2) Heb "the LORD was making holes in the sky, could this thing be?" Opening holes in the sky would allow the waters stored up there to pour to the earth and assure a good crop. But, the officer argues, even if this were to happen, it would take a long time to grow and harvest the crop.
15tn (7:2) Heb "he"; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
16tn (7:2) Heb "you will not eat from there."
17sn (7:3) See the note at 2 Kgs 5:1.
18tn (7:3) Heb "until we die."
19tn (7:4) Heb "If we say, `We will enter the city,' the famine is in the city and we will die there."
20tn (7:4) Heb "fall."
21tn (7:4) Heb "keep us alive."
22tn (7:4) Heb "we will die." The paraphrastic translation attempts to bring out the logical force of their reasoning.
23tn (7:5) Heb "they arose to go to."
24tn (7:8) Heb "they ate and drank."
25tn (7:8) Heb "and they hid [it]."
26tn (7:8) Heb "and they took from there."
27tn (7:9) Heb "this day is a day of good news and we are keeping silent."
28tn (7:9) Heb "the light of the morning."
29tn (7:9) Heb "punishment will find us."
30tn (7:10) 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.
31tn (7:10) Heb "and, look, there was no man or voice of a man there."
32tn (7:10) Heb "but the horses are tied up and the donkeys are tied up and the tents are as they were."
33tn (7:11) Heb "and the gatekeepers called out and they told [it] to the house of the king."
34tn (7:12) Heb "servants" (also in v. 13).
35tn (7:13) 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."
36tn (7:13) Heb "and let us send so we might see."
37tn (7:14) Heb "and the king sent [them] after the Syrian camp."
38tn (7:14) Heb "Go and see."
39tn (7:15) Heb "went after."
40tn (7:15) Heb "and look, all the road was full of clothes and equipment that Syria had thrown away in their haste."
41tn (7:15) Or "messengers."
42sn (7:16) A seah was a dry measure equivalent to about 7 quarts.
43tn (7:16) Heb "according to the word of the LORD."
44tn (7:17) Heb "the officer on whose hand he leans."
45tn (7:17) Heb "and the people trampled him in the gate and he died."
46tn (7:17) Heb "just as the man of God had spoken, [the word] which he spoke when the king came down to him."
47tn (7:19) Heb "the LORD was making holes in the sky, could this thing be?" See the note at 7:2.
48tn (7:19) Heb "he"; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
49tn (7:19) Heb "you will not eat from there."
tn (7:19) 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.
1tn (8:1) Heb "Get up and go, you and your house, and live temporarily where you can live temporarily."
2tn (8:2) Heb "and the woman got up and did according to the word of the man of God."
3tn (8:3) Heb "and went out to cry out to the king for her house and her field."
4tn (8:4) Heb "man of God's."
5tn (8:5) Heb "he"; the referent (Gehazi) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
6tn (8:5) Heb "he"; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
7tn (8:5) 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."
sn (8:5) The legal background of the situation is uncertain. For a discussion of possibilities, see Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 87-88.
8tn (8:6) Heb "and the king asked the woman and she told him."
9tn (8:6) Heb "and he assigned to her an official, saying."
10tn (8:7) Heb "he"; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
11tn (8:7) Heb "man of God" (also a second time in this verse and in v. 11).
12tn (8:8) The Hebrew text also has "in your hand."
13tn (8:8) Heb "Inquire of the LORD through him, saying."
14tn (8:9) The Hebrew text also has "in his hand."
15tn (8:9) 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."
16sn (8:9) The words "your son" emphasize the king's respect for the prophet.
17tn (8:9) Heb "saying."
18tc (8:10) The consonantal text (Kethib) reads, "Go, say, `Surely you will not (al) recover" In this case the vav beginning the next clause should be translated, "for, because." The marginal reading (Qere) has, "Go, say to him (wl), `You will surely recover." In this case the vav beginning the next clause should be translated, "although, but." The Qere has the support of some medieval Hebrew MSS and the ancient versions, and is consistent with v. 14, where Hazael tells the king, "You will surely recover." It is possible that a scribe has changed wl, "to him," to al, "not," because he felt that Elisha would not lie to the king. See Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 90. Another possibility is that a scribe has decided to harmonize Elisha's message with Hazael's words in v. 14. But it is possible that Hazael, once he found out he would become the next king, decided to lie to the king to facilitate his assassin plot by making the king feel secure.
19tn (8:11) Heb "and he made his face stand [i.e., be motionless] and set [his face?] until embarrassment."
20tn (8:13) 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.
21tn (8:13) Heb "The LORD has shown me you [as] king over Syria."
22tn (8:14) Heb "he"; the referent (Ben Hadad) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
23tn (8:14) Heb "he"; the referent (Hazael) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
24tc (8:16) 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.
25tn (8:18) 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."
26tn (8:18) Heb "in the eyes of."
27tn (8:19) The Hebrew has only one sentence, "and the LORD was unwilling to destroy Judah for the sake of." The translation divides it for the sake of clarity.
28tn (8:19) 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.
29tn (8:20) Heb "in his days Edom rebelled from under the hand of Judah and enthroned a king over them."
30sn (8:21) Joram is a short form of the name Jehoram.
31tn (8:21) 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 wta, "him," instead of just ta) 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.
32tn (8:21) Heb "and the people fled to their tents."
33tn (8:22) Heb "and Edom rebelled from under the hand of Judah until this day."
34tn (8:23) 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?"
35tn (8:24) Heb "lay down with his fathers."
36tn (8:26) Hebrew tb, "daughter," can refer, as here, to a granddaughter. See HALOT 166.
37tn (8:27) Heb "and he walked in the way of the house of Ahab and did evil in the eyes of the LORD like the house of Ahab, for he was a relative by marriage of the house of Ahab." For this use of /tj, normally "son-in-law," see HALOT 365. Ahab was Ahaziah's grandfather on his mother's side.
38tn (8:29) Heb "which the Syrians inflicted [on] him."
39tn (8:29) Heb "to see."
1tn (9:1) Heb "one of the sons of the prophets."
2tn (9:1) Or "flask."
3tn (9:2) Heb "and go and set him apart from his brothers and bring him into an inner room in an inner room.
4tn (9:3) Heb "anointed."
5tn (9:3) Heb "and open the door and run away and do not delay."
6tc (9:4) 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.
7tn (9:5) Heb "and he arrived and look, the officers of the army were sitting."
8tn (9:5) Heb "[there is] a word for me to you, O officer."
9tn (9:5) Heb "To whom from all of us?"
10tn (9:6) Heb "he"; the referent (Jehu) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
11tn (9:6) Heb "he"; the referent (the prophet) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
12tn (9:7) Or "strike down the house of Ahab your master."
13tn (9:7) Heb "I will avenge the shed blood of my servants the prophets and the shed blood of all the servants of the LORD from the hand of Jezebel."
14tc (9:8) The LXX has the second person, "you."
15tn (9:8) 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 bwzuw rwxu (translated here "weak and incapacitated") see the note at 1 Kgs 14:10.
16tn (9:9) Heb "house."
17sn (9:10) 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 LORD's people"), he goes on to tell how Jehu will become king (by a revolt against Ahab's dynasty), makes it clear that Jehu will be an instrument of divine vengeance, and predicts the utter annihilation of Ahab's family and the violent death of Jezebel.
18tn (9:10) Heb "opened the door."
19tn (9:11) Heb "went out to."
20tc (9:11) The MT has the singular, "he said," but many witnesses correctly read the plural.
21tn (9:11) Heb "Is there peace?"
22tn (9:11) 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.
23tn (9:12) 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.
24tn (9:13) 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 <rg, "bone," is unclear. Some suggest the nuance "bare" here; it may be a technical architectural term in this context.
25tn (9:13) 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.
26tn (9:13) Or "has become."
27tn (9:14) Heb "he and all Israel."
28tn (9:15) Heb "which the Syrians inflicted [on] him."
29sn (9:15) See 2 Kgs 8:28-29a.
30tn (9:15) The words "his supporters" are added for clarification.
31tn (9:15) Heb "If this is your desire." vpn refers here to the seat of the emotions and will. For other examples of this use of the word, see BDB 660-61.
32tn (9:16) Heb "rode [or, `mounted'] and went."
33tn (9:16) Heb "lying down."
34tn (9:16) Heb "to see."
35tn (9:17) Heb "the quantity [of the men] of Jehu, when he approached." Elsewhere hupv, "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).
36tn (9:17) The term tupv appears to be a construct form of the noun, but no genitive follows.
37tn (9:17) Heb "said."
38tn (9:17) Heb "Get a rider and send [him] to meet him and let him ask, `Is there peace?'"
39tn (9:18) Heb "the rider of the horse."
40tn (9:18) Heb "Is there peace?"
41tn (9:18) Heb "What concerning you and concerning peace?" That is, "What concern is that to you?"
42tn (9:19) Heb "and he came to them."
43tc (9:19) 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.
44tn (9:20) Heb "and the driving is like the driving of Jehu son of Nimshi."
45tn (9:21) The words "my chariot" are added for clarification.
46tn (9:21) Heb "and he hitched up his chariot."
47tn (9:21) Heb "each in his chariot and they went out."
48tn (9:21) Heb "they found him."
49tn (9:22) 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.
50tn (9:23) 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.
51tn (9:23) Heb "Deceit, Ahaziah."
52tn (9:24) Heb "and Jehu filled his hand with the bow and he struck Jehoram between his shoulders."
53tn (9:24) Heb "went out from."
54tn (9:25) Heb "said to."
55tn (9:26) Heb "and I will repay you in this plot of land."
56tn (9:26) Heb "according to the word of the LORD."
57tn (9:27) Heb "and Ahaziah king of Judah saw and fled."
58tn (9:27) 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" (whkyw), has been accidentally omitted by virtual haplography/homoioteleuton. Note that the immediately preceding form whkh, "shoot him," ends with the same suffix.
59tn (9:28) Heb "drove him."
60tn (9:30) Heb "she fixed her eyes with antimony." Antimony (Ewp) 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).
61sn (9:31) 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!"
62tn (9:32) Heb "two, three." The narrator may be intentionally vague or uncertain here, or the two numbers may represent alternate traditions.
63tn (9:33) The words "when she hit the ground" are added for stylistic reasons.
64tn (9:33) Heb "and he trampled her."
65tn (9:34) Heb "and he went and ate and drank."
66tn (9:34) Heb "Attend to this accursed woman and bury her for she was the daughter of a king."
67tn (9:35) Heb "they did not find her, except for."
68tn (9:36) Heb "It is the word of the LORD, which he spoke by the hand of his servant, Elijah the Tishbite, saying."
69tn (9:37) Heb "so that they will not say, `This is Jezebel.'"
1tn (10:1) 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.
2tn (10:2) 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."
3tn (10:3) Hebrew rvy 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.
4tn (10:3) Or "fight for."
5tn (10:4) Heb "they were very, very afraid." The term dam, "very," is repeated for emphasis.
6tn (10:4) Heb "did not stand before him."
7tn (10:4) Heb "How can we stand?"
8tn (10:5) Heb "the one who was over the house."
9tn (10:5) Heb "the one who was over the city."
10tn (10:5) Or "elders."
11tn (10:5) Heb "servants."
12tn (10:5) Heb "Do what is good in your eyes."
13tn (10:6) Heb "If you are mine and you are listening to my voice."
14sn (10:6) 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 MSS of the Targum) The city leaders interpret his words in the literal sense, but Jehu's command is so ambiguous he is able to deny complicity in the executions (see v. 9).
15tn (10:6) Heb "great," probably in wealth, position, and prestige.
16tn (10:7) Heb "and when the letter came to them, they took the sons of the king and slaughtered seventy men."
17tn (10:8) Heb "him"; the referent (Jehu) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
18tn (10:8) Heb "He"; the referent (Jehu) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
19tn (10:10) 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."
20tn (10:12) Heb "and he arose and went and came to Samaria."
21tn (10:13) Heb "found."
22tn (10:13) Or "brothers."
23tn (10:13) Heb "for the peace of."
24tn (10:15) Heb "found."
25tn (10:15) Heb "and he went from there and found Jehonadab son of Rekab [who was coming] to meet him."
26tn (10:15) Heb "and he blessed him and said to him."
27tn (10:15) Heb "Is there with your heart [what is] right, as my heart [is] with your heart?"
28tc (10:15) 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 vyw, "and there is": (1) The repetition of vy (Heb "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) vyw 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 rmayw, "and he said," or awhy rmayw, "and Jehu said," originally appeared between vy and vyw and has accidentally dropped from the text by homoioarcton (note that both the proposed rmaw and vyw begin with vav). The present translation assumes such a textual reconstruction; it is supported by the LXX, Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate.
29tn (10:15) Heb "he"; the referent (Jehu) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
30tn (10:16) Heb "he"; the referent (Jehu) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
31tn (10:16) Heb "and see my zeal for the LORD."
32tc (10:16) The MT has a plural form, but this is most likely an error. The LXX, Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate all have the singular.
33tn (10:17) Heb "and he struck down all the remaining ones to Ahab in Samaria until he destroyed him."
34tn (10:17) Heb "according to the word of the LORD which he spoke to Elijah."
35tn (10:18) Or "served.
36tn (10:18) Or "serve."
37tn (10:18) Heb "much" or "greatly."
38tn (10:19) Heb "and now, all the prophets of Baal, all his servants and all his priests summon to me."
39tn (10:19) Heb "acted with deception [or, `trickery']."
40tn (10:20) Heb "set apart"; or "observe as holy."
41tn (10:21) Heb "and the house of Baal was filled mouth to mouth."
42tn (10:22) Heb "and he said to the one who was over the wardrobe."
43tn (10:23) Heb "he"; the referent (Jehu) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
44tn (10:23) Heb "Search carefully and observe so that there are not here with you any servants of the LORD, only the servants of Baal."
45tn (10:24) 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."
46tn (10:25) Heb "runners."
47tn (10:25) Heb "and they threw." No object appears. According to Cogan and Tadmor (II Kings, 116), this is an idiom for leaving a corpse unburied.
48tn (10:25) Heb "and they came to the city of the house of Baal." It seems unlikely that a literal city is meant. Some emend ryu, "city," to rybd, "holy place," or suggest that ryu is due to dittography of the immediately preceding du, "to." Perhaps ryu is here a technical term meaning "fortress" or, more likely, "inner room."
49tn (10:27) Or "pulled down."
50tn (10:27) The verb "they demolished" is repeated in the Hebrew text.
51tn (10:27) Heb "and they made it into."
52tn (10:27) The consonantal text (Kethib) has the hapax legomenon twarjm, "places to defecate" or "dung houses" (note the related noun arj / yrj, "dung, excrement," HALOT 348-49). The marginal reading (Qere) glosses this, perhaps euphemistically, twaxwm, "outhouses."
53tn (10:28) Heb "destroyed Baal."
54tn (10:29) 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."
55tn (10:30) 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.
sn (10:30) Jehu ruled over Israel from approximately 841-814 B.C. Four of his descendants (Jehoahaz, Jehoash, Jeroboam II, and Zechariah) ruled from approximately 814-753 B.C. The dynasty came to an end when Shallum assassinated Zechariah in 753 B.C. See 2 Kgs 15:8-12.
56tn (10:31) Heb "But Jehu was not careful to walk in the law of the LORD God of Israel with all his heart."
57tn (10:31) Heb "He did not turn aside from the sins of Jeroboam which he caused Israel to commit."
58tn (10:32) Heb "began to cut off Israel."
59tn (10:32) 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.
60tn (10:33) Heb "all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Aroer which is near the Arnon Valley, and Gilead, and Bashan."
61tn (10:34) 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?"
62tn (10:35) Heb "lay down with his fathers."
1tn (11:1) Heb "she arose and she destroyed all the royal offspring." The verb <wq, "arise," is here used in an auxiliary sense to indicate that she embarked on a campaign to destroy the royal offspring. See Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 125.
2tn (11:2) Heb "stole."
3tn (11:2) 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. Cogan and Tadmor (II Kings, 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 twfmh rdjb, "an inner room of beds," is sometimes understood as referring to a "bedroom" (see HALOT 293), though some prefer to see here a "room where the covers and cloths were kept" for the beds (see HALOT 573). In either case, it may have been a temporary hideout, for v. 3 indicates that the child hid in the temple for six years.
4tn (11:2) 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.
5tn (11:3) Heb "and he was with her [in] the house of the LORD hiding."
6tn (11:4) Heb "Jehoiada sent and took."
7sn (11:4) The Carians were apparently a bodyguard, probably comprised of foreigners. See HALOT 497 and Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 126.
8tn (11:4) Heb "the runners."
9tn (11:4) Heb "he brought them to himself."
10tn (11:4) Or "covenant."
11tn (11:6) Heb "the gate of Sur," but no such gate is mentioned elsewhere in the OT. The parallel account in 2 Chr 23:5 has "Foundation Gate." rws, "Sur," may be a corruption of dwsy, "foundation," involving in part dalet-resh confusion.
12tn (11:6) Heb "the runners."
13tn (11:6) The meaning of jsm 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 for the proposed meaning "alternating" (i.e., "in turns").
14tn (11:7) 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 LORD for the king." The precise meaning of this text is impossible to determine. It would appear that the Carians and royal bodyguard were divided into three units. One unit would serve during the Sabbath; the other two would be off duty on the Sabbath. Jehoiada divided the first unit into three groups and assigned them different locations. The two off duty units were assigned the task of guarding the king.
15tn (11:8) Heb "and be with the king in his going out and in his coming in."
16tn (11:9) Heb "according to all that."
17tn (11:9) Heb "came."
18tn (11:11) Heb "the runners" (also in v. 19).
19tn (11:11) 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."
20tn (11:12) Heb "he"; the referent (Jehoiada) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
21tn (11:12) The Hebrew term twdu 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 Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 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.
22tn (11:12) Or "they made him king and anointed him."
23tc (11:13) The MT reads, "and Athaliah heard the sound of the runners, the people." The term <uh, "the people," is probably a scribal addition anticipating the reference to the people later in the verse and in v. 14.
24tn (11:13) Heb "she came to the people."
25tn (11:14) Heb "and she saw, and look."
26tn (11:14) Or "conspiracy, conspiracy."
27tn (11:15) The Hebrew text also has, "and said to them."
28tn (11:15) Heb "ranks."
29tn (11:15) Heb "for the priest had said, `Let her not be put to death in the house of the LORD.'"
30tn (11:16) Heb "and they placed hands on her, and she went the way of the entrance of the horses [into] the house of the king."
31tn (11:17) Heb "and Jehoiada made a covenant between the LORD and [between] the king and [between] the people, to become a people for the LORD, and between the king and [between] the people." The final words of the verse ("and between the king and [between] the people") are probably accidentally repeated from earlier in the verse. They do not appear in the parallel account in 2 Chr 23:16. If retained, they probably point to an agreement governing how the king and people should relate to one another.
32tn (11:18) Or "tore down."
33tn (11:18) Or "images."
34tn (11:18) The Hebrew construction translated "smashed...to bits" is emphatic. The adverbial infinitive absolute (bfyh, "well") accompanying the Piel form of the verb rbv, "break," suggests thorough demolition.
35tn (11:18) Heb "the priest." Jehoiada's name is added for clarification.
36tn (11:19) Heb "the Gate of the Runners of the House of the King."
37tn (11:19) Heb "he"; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
1sn (12:1) 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.
2tn (12:1) Jehoash is an alternate name for Joash (see 11:2).
3tn (12:2) Heb "and Jehoash did what was proper in the eyes of the LORD all his days."
4tn (12:2) Heb "that which." Jehoiada taught the king the Lord's will.
5tn (12:4) The words "I place at your disposal" are added in the translation for clarification.
6tn (12:4) Heb "the silver of passing over a man." The precise meaning of the phrase is debated, but rbu, "pass over," probably refers here to counting, suggesting the reference is to a census conducted for taxation purposes. See Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 137.
7tn (12:4) 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 Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 137.
8tn (12:4) Heb "all the silver which goes up on the heart of a man to bring to the house of the LORD."
9tn (12:5) 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 rkm, 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.
10tn (12:7) Heb "Now, do not take silver from your treasurers, because for the damages to the temple you must give it."
11tn (12:8) Outside of this passage the verb twa appears only in Gen 34:15-22.
12tn (12:8) 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.
13tn (12:9) Heb "on the right side of the altar as a man enters."
14tn (12:10) Heb "went up and tied [it] and counted the silver that was found in the house of the LORD."
15tn (12:11) Heb "would give."
16tn (12:11) Heb "doers of the work."
17tn (12:12) Heb "and for all that which was going out concerning the house for repair."
18tn (12:14) Heb "was given."
19tn (12:15) Heb "gave."
20tn (12:15) 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."
21tn (12:17) Heb "went up and fought against."
22tn (12:17) Heb "Hazael set his face to go up against Jerusalem."
23tn (12:18) The object ("it all") is supplied in the translation for clarification.
24tn (12:18) Heb "went up."
25tn (12:19) 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?"
26tn (12:20) Heb "rose up and conspired [with] a conspiracy."
27tn (12:20) Heb "which goes down [toward]."
28tn (12:21) Heb "struck him down and he died."
29tn (12:21) Heb "they buried him."
1tn (13:2) Heb "in the eyes of."
2tn (13:2) Heb "walked after."
3tn (13:2) Heb "he did not turn aside from it."
4tn (13:3) Heb "and the anger of the LORD burned against."
5tn (13:3) Heb "he gave them into the hand of."
6tn (13:3) Heb "all the days."
7tn (13:4) Heb "appeased the face of the LORD."
8tn (13:4) Heb "and the LORD heard."
9tn (13:4) Heb "for he saw the oppression of Israel, for the king of Syria oppressed them."
10sn (13:5) The identity of this unnamed "deliverer" is debated. For options see Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 143.
11tn (13:5) Heb "and they went from under the hand of Syria."
12tn (13:5) Heb "and the sons of Israel lived in their tents as before."
13tn (13:6) Heb "they did not turn away from."
14tn (13:6) Heb "house."
15tc (13:6) Heb "in it he walked." The singular verb (Elh) is probably due to an error of haplography and should be emended to the plural (wklh). Note that a vav immediately follows (on the form <gw).
16tn (13:7) 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.
17tn (13:7) Heb "them," i.e., the remainder of this troops.
18tn (13:7) Heb "and made them like dust for trampling."
19tn (13:8) 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?"
20tn (13:9) Heb "lay down with his fathers."
21tn (13:9) Heb "and they buried him."
22tn (13:11) Heb "in the eyes of."
23tn (13:11) Heb "turn away from all."
24tn (13:11) Heb "in it he walked."
25sn (13:12) Jehoash and Joash are alternate forms of the same name.
26tn (13:12) 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?"
27tn (13:13) Heb "lay down with his fathers."
28tn (13:13) Heb "sat on his throne."
29tn (13:14) Heb "Now Elisha was ill with the illness by which he would die."
30tn (13:14) Heb "went down to him."
31tn (13:14) Though the noun is singular here, it may be collective, in which case it could be translated "chariots."
32sn (13:14) By comparing Elisha to a one-man army, the king emphasizes the power of the prophetic word. See the note at 2:12.
33tn (13:15) Heb "and he grabbed a bow and some arrows."
34tn (13:16) Heb "he"; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
35tn (13:16) Heb "Cause your hand to ride on the bow."
36tn (13:16) Heb "and he caused his hand to ride."
37tn (13:17) Heb "he"; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
38tn (13:17) Heb "He opened [it]."
39tn (13:17) Heb "and he shot."
40tn (13:17) Heb "he"; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
41tn (13:17) Heb "The arrow of victory of the LORD and the arrow of victory over Syria."
42tn (13:17) Heb "you will strike down Syria in Aphek until destruction."
43tn (13:18) Heb "he"; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
44tn (13:18) Heb "and he took [them]."
45tn (13:19) Heb "man of God."
46tn (13:19) 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.
47tn (13:20) Heb "and they buried him."
48tn (13:20) Heb "entered."
49tc (13:20) The MT reading hnv ab, "it came, year," should probably be emended to hnvh abb, "at the coming [i.e., `beginning'] of the year." See Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 148.
50tn (13:21) Heb "and it so happened [that] they."
51tn (13:21) Heb "and look, they saw."
52tn (13:21) Heb "the man"; the adjective "dead" has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
53tn (13:21) Heb "the man."
54tn (13:21) 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.
55tn (13:22) Heb "all the days of Jehoahaz."
56tn (13:23) Or "showed them compassion."
57tn (13:23) Heb "he turned to them."
58tn (13:23) Heb "because of his covenant with."
59tn (13:23) Heb "until now."
60tn (13:25) Heb "from the hand of."
1sn (14:1) The name Joahaz is an alternate form of Jehoahaz.
2sn (14:1) The referent here is Joash of Judah (see 12:21), not Joash of Israel, mentioned earlier in the verse.
3tn (14:2) Heb "the name of his mother."
4tn (14:3) Heb "he did what was proper in the eyes of the LORD."
5tn (14:3) Heb "according to all which Joash his father had done, he did."
6tn (14:5) Heb "when the kingdom was secure in his hand."
7tn (14:5) Heb "he struck down his servants, the ones who had struck down the king, his father."
8tn (14:6) Heb "as it is written in the scroll of the law of Moses which the LORD commanded, saying."
9tn (14:6) Heb "on account of sons."
10tn (14:6) Heb "on account of fathers."
11sn (14:6) This law is recorded in Deut 24:16.
12tn (14:7) Or "struck down."
13tn (14:8) Heb "let us look at each other [in the] face." The expression refers here to meeting in battle. See v. 11.
14tn (14:9) Heb "the animal of the field."
15sn (14:9) 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).
16tn (14:10) Or "you have indeed defeated Edom."
17tn (14:10) Heb "and your heart has lifted you up."
18tn (14:10) Heb "be glorified."
19tn (14:10) Heb "Why get involved in calamity and fall, you and Judah with you?"
20tn (14:11) Heb "did not listen."
21tn (14:11) Heb "went up."
22tn (14:11) Heb "looked at each other [in the] face."
23tn (14:12) Heb "and Judah was struck down before Israel and they fled, each to his tent."
24tc (14:13) The MT has the plural form of the verb, but the final vav is virtually dittographic (note the initial yod that immediately follows). The form should be emended to the singular, which is consistent in number with the verb ("he broke down") that follows.
25tn (14:13) Heb "came to."
26tn (14:13) Heb "four hundred cubits." The standard cubit in the OT is assumed by most authorities to be about eighteen inches (45 cm) long.
27tn (14:14) Heb "the sons of the pledges."
28sn (14:15) Jehoash and Joash are alternate forms of the same name.
29tn (14:15) 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?"
30tn (14:16) Heb "lay down with his fathers."
31tn (14:18) 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?"
32tn (14:19) Heb "and they conspired against him [with] a conspiracy in Jerusalem."
33tn (14:19) Heb "and they sent after him to Lachish."
34tn (14:20) Heb "and they carried him on horses."
35tn (14:22) Heb "he"; the referent (Azariah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
36sn (14:22) This must refer to Amaziah.
37tn (14:22) Heb "lay with his fathers."
38tn (14:24) Heb "in the eyes of."
39tn (14:24) Heb "turn away from all."
40tn (14:25) The phrases "in the north" and "in the south" are added in the translation for clarification.
41tn (14:25) Heb "which he spoke by the hand of."
42tc (14:26) Heb "for the LORD saw the very bitter affliction of Israel." This translation assumes an emendation of hrm, which is meaningless here, to rmh, the adjective "bitter" functioning attributively with the article prefixed. This emendation is supported by the LXX, Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate. Another option would be awh rm, "it was bitter."
43tn (14:26) 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 rwxu and bwzu, see the note at 1 Kgs 14:10.
44tn (14:27) Heb "name."
45tn (14:27) The phrase "from under heaven" adds emphasis to the verb "blot out" and suggest total annihilation. For other examples of the verb hjm, "blot out," combined with "from under heaven," see Exod 17;14; Deut 9:14; 25:19; 29:20.
46tn (14:28) 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." Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 162, offer this proposal, but acknowledge that it is "highly speculative."
47tn (14:29) Heb "lay down with his fathers."
48tn (14:29) 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.
1tn (15:3) Heb "he did what was proper in the eyes of the LORD, according to all which Amaziah his father had done."
2tn (15:5) Traditionally, "he was a leper." But see the note at 5:1.
3tn (15:5) The precise meaning of tyvpjh tyb, "house of [...?]," is uncertain. For a discussion of various proposals, see Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 166-67.
4tn (15:6) 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?"
5tn (15:7) Heb "lay down with his fathers."
6tn (15:7) Heb "and they buried him."
7tn (15:9) Heb "in the eyes of."
8tn (15:9) Heb "turn away from."
9tc (15:10) The MT reads, "and he struck him down before the people and killed him." However, the reading <u lbq, "before the people," is problematic to some because lbq is a relatively late Aramaic term. However, 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 prefer to follow Lucian's Greek version and read "in Ibleam" (<ulbyb).
10tn (15:11) 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."
11tn (15:12) Heb "It was the word of the LORD which he spoke to Jehu, saying."
12tn (15:12) "sons of four generations will sit for you on the throne of Israel."
sn (15:12) See the note at 2 Kgs 10:30.
13tn (15:12) Heb "and it was so."
14sn (15:13) Azariah was also known by the name Uzziah.
15tn (15:13) Heb "a month of days."
16tn (15:14) Heb "and came to."
17tn (15:14) Heb "went up from Tirzah and arrived in Samaria and attacked Shallum son of Jabesh in Samaria."
18tn (15:15) 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."
19tn (15:16) Heb "then Menahem attacked Tiphsah and all who were in it and its borders from Tirzah, for it would not open, and he attacked."
tn (15:16) Instead of "Tiphsah," the LXX has "Tirzah," while Lucian's Greek version reads "Tappuah." For discussion see Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 171.
20tn (15:18) Heb "in the eyes of."
21tn (15:18) Heb "turn away from."
22tc (15:18) 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 wymyb, "in his days," and join the phrase to what follows. The translation assumes this change.
23sn (15:19) Pul was a nickname of Tiglath-pileser III. See Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 171-72.
24tn (15:19) Heb "gave."
25tn (15:19) Heb "Pul." The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun ("him") in the translation for stylistic reasons.
26sn (15:19) See the note at 1 Kgs 9:14.
27tn (15:19) Heb "so his hands would be with him."
28tn (15:19) Heb "to keep hold of the kingdom in his hand."
29tn (15:20) 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."
30tn (15:21) 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?"
31tn (15:22) Heb "lay down with his fathers."
32tn (15:24) Heb "in the eyes of."
33tn (15:24) Heb "turn away from."
34tn (15:25) 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."
sn (15:25) 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 Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 173.
35tn (15:26) 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."
36tn (15:28) Heb "in the eyes of."
37tn (15:28) Heb "turn away from."
38tn (15:29) Heb "them."
39tn (15:30) Heb "and struck him down and killed him."
40tn (15:31) 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."
41tn (15:34) Heb "he did what was proper in the eyes of the LORD, according to all which Uzziah his father had done."
42tn (15:36) 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?"
43tn (15:37) Heb "the LORD began to send against Judah Rezin...and Pekahiah...."
44tn (15:38) Heb "lay down with his fathers."
1tn (16:2) Heb "and he did not do what was proper in the eyes of the LORD his God, like David his father."
2tn (16:3) Heb "he walked in the way of."
3sn (16:3) This may refer to child sacrifice, though some interpret it as a less drastic cultic practice. For discussion see Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 266-67.
4tn (16:3) Heb "like the abominable practices of the nations."
5tn (16:5) Heb "went up to Jerusalem for battle."
6tn (16:5) That is, Jerusalem, Ahaz's capital city.
7tn (16:5) Heb "they were unable to fight." The object must be supplied from the preceding sentence. Elsewhere when the Niphal infinitive of <jl follows the verb lky, 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.
8tc (16:6) Some prefer to read "the king of Edom" and "for Edom" here. The names Syria (Heb "Aram," <ra) and Edom (<da) are easily confused in the Hebrew consonantal script.
9tn (16:6) Heb "from Elath."
10tc (16:6) The consonantal text (Kethib), supported by many medieval Hebrew MSS, the Syriac version, and some MSS of the Targum and Vulgate, read "Syrians" (Heb "Arameans"). The marginal reading (Qere), supported by the LXX, Targums, and Vulgate read "Edomites."
11tn (16:7) Heb "son." Both terms ("servant" and "son") reflect Ahaz's subordinate position as Tiglath-pileser's subject.
12tn (16:7) Heb "hand, palm."
13tn (16:7) Heb "who have arisen against."
14tn (16:8) Heb "that was found."
15tn (16:8) Or "bribe money."
16tn (16:9) Heb "listened to him."
17tn (16:9) Heb "the king of Assyria."
18tn (16:9) Heb "it."
19tn (16:10) Heb "in Damascus."
20tn (16:10) Heb "the likeness of the altar and its pattern for all its work."
21tn (16:11) Heb "according to all that King Ahaz sent from Damascus."
22tn (16:11) Heb "so Uriah the priest did, until the arrival of King Ahaz from Damascus."
23tn (16:12) Heb "and the king."
24tn (16:12) Heb "the altar."
25tn (16:12) Or "ascended it."
26tn (16:14) The word "new" is added in the translation for clarification.
27tn (16:15) That is, the newly constructed altar.
28tn (16:15) Heb "for me to seek." The precise meaning of rqb, "seek," is uncertain in this context. For discussion see Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 189.
29tn (16:16) Heb "according to all which."
30sn (16:17) See the note at 1 Kgs 7:23.
31tn (16:17) Heb "that [were] under it."
32tn (16:18) The precise meaning of the Hebrew term Eswm (Qere) / Esym (Kethib) is uncertain. For discussion see HALOT 557 and Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 189-90.
33tn (16:18) Heb "that they built."
34sn (16:18) 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 Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 190, 193.
35tn (16:19) 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?"
36tn (16:20) Heb "lay down with his fathers."
1tn (17:2) Heb "in the eyes of."
2tn (17:3) Heb "went up against."
3tn (17:4) Heb "and the king of Assyria found in Hoshea conspiracy."
4sn (17:4) For discussion of this name, see HALOT 744 and Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 196.
5tn (17:4) Heb "and bound him in the house of confinement."
6tn (17:5) Heb "went up against."
7tn (17:6) The Hebrew text has simply "Israel" as the object of the verb.
8tn (17:7) Heb "and from under the hand of." The words "freed them" are added in the translation for stylistic reasons.
9tn (17:7) Heb "feared."
10tn (17:8) Heb "walked in the customs."
11tn (17:8) Heb "and [the practices of] the kings of Israel which they did."
12tn (17:9) The meaning of the verb wapjy, translated here "said," is uncertain. Some relate it to the verbal root hpj, "to cover," and translate "they did in secret" (see BDB 341). 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). In this case Israel claims that the LORD authorized their pagan practices.
13sn (17:9) That is, from the city's perimeter to the central citadel.
14tn (17:11) Heb "and they did evil things, angering the LORD."
15tn (17:12) Or "served."
16sn (17:12) See the note at 1 Kgs 15:12.
17tn (17:12) Heb "about which the LORD had said to them, `You must not do this thing.'"
18tn (17:13) 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."
19tn (17:14) Heb and they stiffened their neck like the neck of their fathers."
20tn (17:15) Or "and his warnings he had given them."
21 tn (17:15) Heb "They went [or, `followed'] after."
tn (17:15) 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 LORD was the true God or Baal was. The idiom is often found followed by "to serve and to worship" or "they served and worshiped" such and such a god or entity (Jer 8:2; 11:10; 13:10; 16:11; 25:6; 35:15).
22 tn (17:15) Heb "they followed after the worthless thing/things and became worthless." The words "to me" are not in the Hebrew text but are implicit from the context. There is an obvious word play on the verb "became worthless" and the noun "worthless thing", which is probably to be understood collectively and to refer to idols as it does in Jer 8:19; 10:8; 14:22; Jonah 2:8.
23tn (17:15) Heb "and [they walked] after the nations which were around them, concerning which the LORD commanded them not to do like them."
24tn (17:16) The phrase <ymvh abx lk, 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.
25tn (17:16) Or "served."
26sn (17:17) See the note at 2 Kgs 16:3.
27tn (17:17) Heb "they sold themselves to doing what was evil in the eyes of the LORD, angering him."
28tn (17:18) Heb "very angry."
29tn (17:18) Heb "turned them away from his face."
30tn (17:19) Heb "they walked in the practices of Israel which they did."
31tn (17:20) Or "afflicted."
32tn (17:20) Heb "until he had thrown them from his presence."
33tn (17:21) Heb "and they made Jeroboam son of Nebat king."
34tc (17:21) The consonantal text (Kethib) assumes the verb is adn, an alternate form of hdn, "push away." The marginal reading (Qere) assumes the verb jdn, "drive away."
35tn (17:21) Heb "a great sin."
36tn (17:22) Heb "turn away from."
37tn (17:23) Heb "until."
38tn (17:23) Heb "the LORD turned Israel away from his face."
39tn (17:23) Heb "just as he said."
40tn (17:24) The object is supplied in the translation.
41sn (17:24) In vv. 24-29 Samaria stands for the entire northern kingdom of Israel.
42tn (17:25) Heb "in the beginning of their living there."
43tn (17:25) Heb "fear."
44tn (17:26) Heb "and they said to the king of Assyria, saying." The plural subject of the verb is indefinite.
45tn (17:26) Heb "Look they are killing them."
46tc (17:27) 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.
47tc (17:27) 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.
48tn (17:28) Heb "fear."
49sn (17:29) The verb "make" refers to the production of idols. See Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 210-11.
50tn (17:29) Heb "Samaritans." This refers to the Israelites who had been deported from the land.
51sn (17:30) No deity is known by the name Succoth Benoth in extant Mesopotamian literature. For speculation as to the identity of this deity, see Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 211.
52sn (17:30) Nergal was a Mesopotamian god of the underworld.
53sn (17:30) This deity is unknown in extra-biblical literature. See Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 211-12.
54sn (17:31) Nibhaz and Tartak were two Elamite deities. See Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 212.
55sn Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of the Sepharvaim are unknown in extra-biblical literature. See Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 212.
56tn (17:32) Heb "feared."
57tn (17:32) 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."
58tn (17:33) Heb "fearing."
59tn (17:34) Heb "fear."
60tn (17:34) Heb "commanded."
61tn (17:35) Or "covenant."
62sn (17:35) That is, the descendants of Jacob/Israel (see v. 35b).
63tn (17:36) Heb "and outstretched arm."
64sn (17:40) This refers to the foreigners whom the king of Assyria settled in the land (see v. 35a).
1tn (18:2) Heb "the name of his mother."
2tn (18:2) The parallel passage in 2 Chr 29:1 has "Abijah."
3tn (18:3) Heb "he did what was proper in the eyes of the LORD, according to all which David his father had done."
4tn (18:4) Heb "until those days."
5tn (18:4) In Hebrew the name sounds like the phrase tvjnh vjn, "bronze serpent."
6tn (18:5) Heb "and after him there was none like him among all the kings of Judah, and those who were before him."
7tn (18:6) Heb "he hugged."
8tn (18:6) Heb "and did not turn aside from after him."
9tn (18:6) Heb "had commanded."
10tn (18:7) Heb "in all which he went out [to do], he was successful."
11tn (18:7) Heb "and did not serve him."
12sn (18:8) See the note at 2 Kgs 17:9.
13tn (18:9) Heb "went" (also in v. 13).
14tn (18:11) The Hebrew text has simply "Israel" as the object of the verb.
15tn (18:12) Heb "listen to the voice of."
16tn (18:12) Heb "his covenant."
17tn (18:12) Heb "all that Moses, the LORD's servant, had commanded, and they did not listen and they did not act."
18tn (18:14) Or "I have done wrong."
19tn (18:14) Heb "Return from upon me; what you place upon me, I will carry."
20sn (18:14) See the note at 1 Kgs 9:14.
21tn (18:15) Heb "that was found."
22tn (18:16) Heb "At that time Hezekiah stripped the doors of the LORD's temple, and the posts which Hezekiah king of Judah had plated."
23sn (18:17) For a discussion of these titles see Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 229-30.
24tn (18:17) Heb "and they went up and came."
25tn (18:17) Heb "the field of the washer."
26tn (18:19) Heb "What is this object of trust in which you are trusting?"
27tn (18:20) 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.
28tn (18:23) Heb "exchange pledges."
29tn (18:24) 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."
30tn (18:25) Heb "Go."
31sn (18:25) 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.
32sn (18:26) Aramaic was the diplomatic language of the empire.
33tn (18:26) Or "Hebrew."
34tn (18:27) Heb "To your master and to you did my master send me to speak these words?" The rhetorical question expects a negative answer.
35tn (18:27) Heb "[Is it] not [also] to the men...?" The rhetorical question expects the answer, "Yes, it is."
sn (18:27) 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.
36tn (18:28) The Hebrew text also has, "and he spoke and said."
37tc (18:29) The MT has "his hand," but this is due to graphic confusion of vav and yod. The translation reads "my hand," along with many medieval Hebrew MSS, the LXX, Syriac Peshitta, Targum, and Vulgate.
38tn (18:31) Heb "make with me a blessing and come out to me."
39tn (18:33) 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!"
40tn (18:34) 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."
41tn (18:34) 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).
42tn (18:35) Heb "that the LORD might rescue Jerusalem from my hand?" The logic runs as follows: Since no god has ever been able to withstand the Assyrian onslaught, how can the people of Jerusalem possibly think the LORD will rescue them?
1sn (18:37) As a sign of grief and mourning.
2tn (19:2) Heb "elders of the priests."
3tn (19:3) In the Hebrew text this verse begins with "they said to him."
4tn (19:3) Or "rebuke," "correction."
5tn (19:3) Or "contempt."
6tn (19:3) Heb "when sons come to the cervical opening and there is no strength to give birth."
7tn (19:4) Heb "all the words of the chief adviser whom his master, the king of Assyria, sent to taunt the living God."
8tn (19:4) Heb "and rebuke the words which the LORD your God hears."
9tn (19:4) Heb "and lift up a prayer on behalf of the remnant that is found."
10tn (19:6) Heb "by which the servants of the king of Assyria have insulted me."
11tn (19:7) Heb "I will put in him a spirit." The precise sense of jwr, "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 LORD's sovereignty over the king is apparent.
12tn (19:7) Heb "hear."
13tn (19:7) Heb "cause him to fall," that is, "kill him."
14tn (19:8) 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."
15tn (19:9) Heb "he"; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
16tn (19:9) Heb "heard concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, `Look, he has come out to fight with you.'"
17tn (19:10) Heb "will not be given."
18tn (19:11) Heb "Look, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, annihilating them."
19tn (19:11) Heb "and will you be rescued?" The rhetorical question expects the answer, "No, of course not!"
20tn (19:12) 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?"
21sn (19:13) Lair is a city located in northeastern Babylon. See Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 235.
22tc (19:14) 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.
23tc (19:14) 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.
24sn (19:15) This refers to the cherub images that were above the ark of the covenant.
25tn (19:15) Or "the heavens."
26tn (19:16) Heb "Hear the words of Sennacherib which he sent to taunt the living God."
27tn (19:18) Heb "and they put their gods in the fire."
28tn (19:18) Heb "so they destroyed them."
29tn (19:20) 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 rva probably has a causal sense, "because."
30tn (19:21) Heb "this is the word which the LORD has spoken about him."
31sn (19:21) 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.
32sn (19:21) Shaking the head was a mocking gesture of derision.
33tn (19:22) Heb "have you raised a voice."
34tn (19:22) Heb "and lifted your eyes on high?"
35tn (19:22) Heb "the holy one of Israel." This divine title pictures the Lord as the sovereign king who rules over his covenant people and exercises moral authority over them. See the note at Isa 6:3.
36tn (19:23) The word is ynda, "lord," but some Hebrew MSS have hwhy, "LORD."
37tc (19:23) The consonantal text (Kethib) has bkrb, but this must be dittographic (note the following ybkr, "my chariots"). The marginal reading (Qere) brb, "with many," is supported by many Hebrew MSS and ancient versions, as well as the parallel passage in Isa 37:24.
38tn (19:23) Heb "the lodging place of its extremity."
39tn (19:24) Heb "I dug and drank foreign waters."
40tn (19:25) Having quoted the Assyrian king's arrogant words in vv. 23-24, the Lord now speaks to the king.
41tn (19:25) 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.
42tn (19:25) Heb "formed."
43tn (19:25) Heb "and it is to cause to crash into heaps of ruins fortified cities." The subject of the third feminine singular verb yht is the implied plan, referred to in the preceding lines with third feminine singular pronominal suffixes.
44tn (19:26) Heb "short of hand."
45tn (19:26) 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.
46tn (19:26) Heb "[they are] grass on the rooftops." See the preceding note.
47tc (19:26) The Hebrew text has "scorched before the standing grain" (perhaps meaning "before it reaches maturity"), but it is preferable to emend hmq, "standing grain," to <ydq, "east wind" (with the support of 1Q Isaa in Isa 37:27).
48tc (19:27) 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).
49tc (19:28) Heb "and your complacency comes up into my ears." The parallelism is improved if Ennav, "your complacency," is emended to Enwav, "your uproar." See Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 237-38.
50sn (19:28) The word picture has a parallel in Assyrian sculpture. See Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 238.
51tn (19:29) 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).
52tn (19:29) Heb "and this is your sign." In this case the twa, "sign," is a future reminder of God's intervention designated before the actual intervention takes place. For similar "signs" see Exod 3:12 and Isa 7:14-25.
53sn (19:29) This refers to crops that grew up on their own (that is, without cultivation) from the seed planted in past years.
54tn (19:29) Heb "and in the second year."
55tn (19:29) Heb "in the third year."
56tn (19:29) 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.
57tn (19:30) Heb "The remnant of the house of Judah that is left will add roots below and produce fruit above."
58tn (19:31) Traditionally "the LORD of hosts."
59tn (19:31) Heb "the zeal of the LORD." In this context the Lord's "zeal" refers to his intense devotion to and love for his people which prompts him to protect and restore them. The Qere, along with many medieval Hebrew MSS and the ancient versions, has "the zeal of the LORD of hosts" rather than "the zeal of the LORD" (Kethib). The translation follows the Qere here.
60tn (19:32) Heb "there."
61tn (19:32) Heb "[with] a shield."
62tn (19:34) Heb "for my sake and for the sake of David my servant."
63tn (19:35) This refers to the Israelites and/or the rest of the Assyrian army.
64tn (19:35) Heb "look, all of them were dead bodies."
65tn (19:36) Heb "and Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went and returned and lived in Nineveh."
66sn (19:37) The assassination probably took place in 681 B.C.
67sn (19:37) No such Mesopotamian god is presently known. Perhaps the name is a corruption of Nusku.
68tc (19:37) Although "his sons" is absent in the Kethib, it is supported by the Qere, along with many medieval Hebrew MSS and the ancient versions. Cf. Isa 37:38.
69sn (19:37) Extra-biblical sources also mention the assassination of Sennacherib, though they refer to only one assassin. See Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 239-40.
1tn (20:1) Heb "was sick to the point of dying."
2tn (20:1) Heb "will not live."
3tn (20:3) Heb "walked before you." For a helpful discussion of the background and meaning of this Hebrew idiom, see Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 254.
4tn (20:3) Heb "and with a complete heart."
5tn (20:3) Heb "and that which is good in your eyes I have done."
6tn (20:3) Heb "wept with great weeping."
7tc (20:4) Heb "and Isaiah had not gone out of the middle courtyard, and the word of the LORD came to him, saying." Instead of "courtyard" (rxj, the marginal reading, Qere), the Hebrew consonantal text (Kethib) has ryuh, "the city."
8tn (20:5) Heb "on the third day."
9tn (20:6) Heb "for my sake and for the sake of David my servant."
10tn (20:7) Heb "and they got [a fig cake]."
11tn (20:7) Heb "and he lived."
12tn (20:9) The Hebrew Elh (a perfect), "it has moved ahead," should be emended to Elyh (an imperfect with interrogative he prefixed), "shall it move ahead."
13tn (20:10) Heb "the shadow." The noun has been replaced by the pronoun ("it") in the translation for stylistic reasons.
14tn (20:11) Heb "he"; the referent (the LORD) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
15tn (20:11) Heb "on the steps which [the sun] had gone down, on the steps of Ahaz, back ten steps."
sn (20:11) These steps probably functioned as a type of sundial. See HALOT 614 and Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 256.
16tc (20:12) 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."
17tc (20:13) Heb "listened to." Some Hebrew MSS, as well as the LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate versions agree with the parallel passage in Isa 39:2 and read, "was happy with."
18tn (20:13) Heb "there was nothing which Hezekiah did not show them in his house and in all his kingdom."
19tn (20:15) Heb "he"; the referent (Isaiah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
20tn (20:15) Heb "there was nothing I did not show them."
21tn (20:17) Heb "days are."
22tn (20:18) Heb "Some of your sons, who go out from you, whom you father."
23tn (20:19) Heb "good."
24tn (20:19) Heb "and he said." Many translate, "for he thought." The verb rma, "say," is sometimes used of what one thinks (that is, says to oneself).
25tn (20:19) 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."
26tn (20:20) Heb "and he brought."
27tn (20:20) 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?"
28tn (20:21) Heb "lay down with his fathers."
1tn (21:1) Heb "the name of his mother."
2tn (21:2) Heb "in the eyes of."
3tn (21:2) Heb "like the abominable practices of the nations."
4sn (21:3) See the note at 2 Kgs 17:16.
5tn (21:3) Or "served."
6tn (21:4) Heb "In Jerusalem I will place my name."
7tc (21:6) The LXX has the plural "his sons" here.
8sn (21:6) See the note at 2 Kgs 16:3.
9tn (21:6) Heb "and he set up a ritual pit, along with conjurers." The Hebrew bwa, "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 bwa tlub, "owner of a ritual pit." See H. Hoffner, JBL 86 (1967), 385-401.
10tc (21:6) Heb "and he multiplied doing what is evil in the eyes of the LORD, angering." The third masculine singular pronominal suffix ("him") has been accidentally omitted in the MT by haplography (note the vav that immediately follows).
11tn (21:7) 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")."
12tn (21:8) Heb "I will not again make the feet of Israel wander from the land which I gave to their fathers."
13tn (21:9) Heb "listen."
14tn (21:10) Heb "spoke by the hand of."
15tn (21:11) Heb "these horrible sins."
16sn (21:11) See the note at 1 Kgs 15:12.
17tn (21:12) Heb "so that everyone who hears it, his two ears will quiver."
18tn (21:13) 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.
19tn (21:13) 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.
20tn (21:14) 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 Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 269.
21tn (21:14) Heb "they will become plunder and booty for all their enemies."
22tn (21:15) Heb "in my eyes."
23tn (21:16) Heb "and also Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, until he filled Jerusalem from mouth to mouth."
24tn (21:16) Heb "apart from his sin which he caused Judah to commit, by doing what is evil in the eyes of the LORD."
25tn (21:17) 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?"
26tn (21:18) Heb "lay down with his fathers."
27tn (21:19) Heb "the name of his mother."
28tn (21:20) Heb "in the eyes of."
29tn (21:21) Heb "walked in all the way which his father walked."
30sn (21:21) See the note at 1 Kgs 15:12.
31tn (21:21) Heb "and he served the disgusting idols which his father served and he bowed down to them."
32tn (21:22) Heb "and did not walk in the way of the LORD."
33tn (21:24) 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.
34tc (21:25) 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 MSS have lkw, "and all," before rva. In this case we can translate, "As for the rest of the events of Amon's reign, and all his accomplishments,...."
35tn (21:26) Heb "he buried him." Here "he" probably refers to Amon's son Josiah.
1tn (22:1) Heb "the name of his mother."
2tn (22:2) Heb "he did what was proper in the eyes of the LORD."
3tn (22:2) Heb "and walked in all the way of David his father."
4tn (22:3) Heb "with these orders, saying."
5tc (22:4) The MT has <tyw, "and let them add up" (Hiphil of <mt, "be complete"), but the appearance of wkyth, "they melted down" (Hiphil of Jtn, "pour out") in v. 9 suggests that the verb form should be emended to Etyw, "and let him melt down" (Hiphil of Etn). For a discussion of this and other options see Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 281.
6tn (22:5) Heb "doers of the work."
7tn (22:5) Heb "and let them give it to the doers of the work who are in the house of the LORD to repair the damages to the house."
8tn (22:6) Heb "and to buy wood and chiseled stone to repair the house."
9tn (22:7) Heb "only the silver that is given into their hand should not be reckoned with them, for in faithfulness they are acting."
10tn (22:9) Heb "returned the king a word and said."
11tn (22:9) Heb "that was found in the house."
12tn (22:13) Or "inquire of."
13tn (22:13) Heb "concerning."
14tn (22:13) Heb "for great is the anger of the LORD which has been ignited against us."
15tn (22:13) Heb "by doing all that is written concerning us." Perhaps wnylu, "concerning us," should be altered to wylu, "upon it," in which case one could translate, "by doing all that is written in it."
16tn (22:14) Heb "the keeper of the clothes."
17tn (22:14) Or "second." For a discussion of the possible location of this district, see Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 283.
18tn (22:14) Heb "and they spoke to her."
19tn (22:16) Heb "all the words of the scroll which the king of Judah has read."
20tn (22:17) Or "burned incense."
21tn (22:17) 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."
22tn (22:19) Heb "Because your heart was tender."
23tn (22:19) 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.
24tn (22:20) Heb "Therefore, look, I am gathering you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your tomb in peace."
25tn (22:20) Heb "your eyes will not see."
1tn (23:1) Heb "and the king sent and all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem gathered to him."
2tn (23:2) Heb "read in their ears."
3tn (23:3) Heb "cut," that is, "made, agreed to."
4tn (23:3) Heb "walk after."
5tn (23:3) Or "soul."
6tn (23:3) Heb "words."
7tn (23:3) Heb "stood in the covenant."
8tn (23:4) Heb "the priests of the second [rank]," that is, those ranked just beneath Hilkiah.
9tn (23:4) Or "doorkeepers."
10tn (23:4) Heb "for."
11tn (23:4) Heb "all the host of heaven" (also in v. 5).
12tn (23:4) Heb "he"; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
13tn (23:4) Or "fields." For a defense of the translation "terraces," see Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 285.
14tn (23:5) Perhaps, "destroyed."
15tn (23:5) Or "burn incense."
16tn (23:5) Or "burned incense."
17tn (23:6) Heb "and he burned it in the Kidron Valley."
18tc (23:6) Heb "on the grave of the sons of the people." Some Hebrew, Greek, Syriac, Aramaic, and Latin witnesses read the plural "graves."
tn (23:6) The phrase "sons of the people" refers here to the common people (see BDB 766), as opposed to the upper classes who would have private tombs.
19tn (23:7) Or "cubicles." Heb "houses."
20tn (23:7) Heb "houses." Perhaps tent-shrines made from cloth are in view (see BDB 109). Cogan and Tadmor (II Kings, 286) understand this as referring to clothes made for images of the goddess.
21tn (23:8) Heb "defiled; desecrated," that is, "made ritually unclean and unusable."
22sn (23:8) These towns marked Judah's northern and southern borders, respectively, at the time of Josiah.
23tc (23:8) 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 <yruch twmb, "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 Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 286-87.
24tn (23:9) Heb "their brothers."
25tn (23:10) Heb "he"; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
26sn (23:10) Attempts to identify this deity with a god known from the ancient Near East have not yet yielded a consensus. For brief discussions see Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 288, and HALOT 592. For more extensive studies see George C. Heider, The Cult of Molek (Sheffield: JSOT, 1985) and John Day, Molech: A God of Human Sacrifice in the Old Testament (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989).
27tn (23:11) The MT simply reads "the horses." The words "statues of" have been supplied in the translation for clarity.
28tn (23:11) Heb "who/which was in the [...?]." The meaning of the Hebrew term <yrwrp, 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 Cogan and Tadmor (II Kings, 288-89) who translate "the officer of the precincts."
29tn (23:11) Heb "and the chariots of the sun he burned with fire."
30tc (23:12) 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 Jwr, "run") to a Hiphil of Jwr with third plural suffix and translate, "he quickly removed them" (see BDB 930, and Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 289). The suffix could have been lost in MT by haplography (note the mem that immediately follows the verb on the form <vm, "from there"). Another option, the one reflected in the translation, is to emend the verb to a Piel of Jxr, "crush," with third plural suffix.
31sn (23:13) This is a derogatory name for the Mount of Olives, involving a wordplay between hjvm, "anointing," and tyjvm, "destruction." See HALOT 644 and Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 289.
32tn (23:14) Heb "their places."
33tn (23:15) 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.
34tn (23:15) 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. hmb here stands by metonymy for the combustible items located on the high place. See Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 289.
35tn (23:16) Heb "and he sent and took the bones from the tombs."
36tc (23:16) The MT is much shorter than this. It reads, "according to the word of the LORD which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words." The LXX has a much longer text at this point. It reads: "[which was proclaimed by the man of God] while Jeroboam stood by the altar at a celebration. Then he turned and saw the grave of the man of God [who proclaimed these words]." The extra material attested in the LXX was probably accidentally omitted in the Hebrew tradition when a scribe's eye jumped from the first occurrence of the phrase "man of God" (which appears right before the extra material) and the second occurrence of the phrase (which appears at the end of the extra material).
sn (23:16) This recalls the prophecy recorded in 1 Kgs 13:2.
37tn (23:17) Heb "man of God."
38tn (23:18) Heb "he"; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
39tn (23:18) 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 Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 290.
40tc (23:19) 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.
41tn (23:19) Heb "and he did to them according to all the deeds he had done in Bethel."
42tn (23:22) 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 yk as asseverative and translate, "indeed."
43tn (23:22) 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."
44tn (23:24) Here rub is not the well attested verb "burn," but the less common homonym meaning "devastate, sweep away, remove." See HALOT 146.
45sn (23:24) See the note at 2 Kgs 21:6.
46sn (23:24) See the note at 1 Kgs 15:12.
47tn (23:24) Heb "carrying out the words of the law."
48tn (23:25) Heb "and like him there was not a king before him who returned to the LORD with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his being according to all the law of Moses, and after him none arose like him."
sn (23:25) The description of Josiah's devotion as involving his whole "heart, soul, and being" echoes the language of Deut 6:5.
49tn (23:26) Heb "Yet the LORD did not turn away from the fury of his great anger, which raged against Judah, on account of all the infuriating things by which Manasseh had made him angry."
50tn (23:27) Heb "Also Judah I will turn away from my face."
51tn (23:27) Heb "My name will be there."
52tn (23:28) 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?"
53tn (23:29) Heb "went up to." The idiom lu hlu can sometimes mean "go up against," but here it refers to Necho's attempt to aid the Assyrians in their struggle with the Babylonians.
54tn (23:29) Heb "he"; the referent (Necho) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
55tn (23:30) Heb "him, dead."
56tn (23:30) Or "anointed him."
57tn (23:31) Heb "the name of his mother."
58tn (23:32) Heb "in the eyes of."
59tn (23:32) Heb "according to all which his fathers had done."
60tc (23:33) 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."
61tn (23:33) Or "fine."
62sn (23:33) See the note at 1 Kgs 9:14.
63tn (23:34) Heb "and he took Jehoahaz, and he came to Egypt and he died there."
64tn (23:35) 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."
1tn (24:1) Heb "In his days."
2tn (24:1) Heb "came up." Perhaps an object ("against him") has been accidentally omitted from the text. See Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 306.
3tn (24:1) The Hebrew text has "and he turned and rebelled against him."
4tn (24:2) Heb "he sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD which he spoke by the hand of his servants the prophets."
5tn (24:3) Heb "Certainly according to the word of the LORD this happened against Judah, to remove [them] from his face because of the sins of Manasseh according to all which he did."
6tn (24:4) Heb "and also the blood of the innocent which he shed, and he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the LORD was not willing to forgive."
7tn (24:5) 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?"
8tn (24:6) Heb "lay down with his fathers."
9tn (24:8) Heb "the name of his mother."
10tn (24:10) Heb "servants."
11tn (24:10) Heb "went up [to] Jerusalem and the city entered into siege."
12tn (24:12) Heb "came out."
13sn (24:12) That is, the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, 597 B.C.
14tn (24:15) Heb "and he deported Jehoiachin to Babylon; the mother of the king and the wives of the king and his eunuchs and the mighty of the land he led into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon."
15tn (24:16) Heb "the entire [group], mighty men, doers of war."
16tn (24:17) Heb "his."
17tn (24:18) Heb "the name of his mother."
18tc (24:18) Some textual witnesses support the consonantal text (Kethib) in reading "Hamital."
19tn (24:19) Heb "in the eyes of."
20tn (24:19) Heb "according to all which Jehoiakim had done."
1tn (24:20) Heb "Surely [or, `for'] because of the anger of the LORD this happened in Jerusalem and Judah until he threw them out from upon his face."
2tn (25:1) Or "against."
3sn (25:1) This would have been Jan 15, 588 B.C. The reckoning is based on the calendar that begins the year in the spring (Nisan = March/April).
4tn (25:3) The MT has simply "of the month," but the parallel passage in Jer 52:6 has "fourth month," and this is followed by almost all English translations. The word "fourth," however, is not actually present in the MT of 2 Kgs 25:3.
sn (25:3) According to modern reckoning that would have been July 18, 586 B.C. The siege thus lasted almost a full eighteen months.
5tn (25:3) Heb "the people of the land."
6tn (25:4) Heb "the city was breached."
7tn (25:4) The Hebrew text is abrupt here: "And all the men of war by the night." The translation attempts to capture the sense.
8sn (25:4) The king's garden is mentioned again in Neh 3:15 in conjunction with the pool of Siloam and the stairs that go down from the city of David. This would have been in the southern part of the city near the Tyropean Valley which agrees with the reference to the "two walls" which were probably the walls on the eastern and western hills.
9sn (25:4) Heb "toward the Arabah." The Arabah was the rift valley north and south of the Dead Sea. Here the intention was undoubtedly to escape across the Jordan to Moab or Ammon. It appears from Jer 40:14; 41:15 that the Ammonites were known to harbor fugitives from the Babylonians.
10sn (25:6) Riblah was a strategic town on the Orontes River in Syria. It was at a crossing of the major roads between Egypt and Mesopotamia. Pharaoh Necho had earlier received Jehoahaz there and put him in chains (2 Kgs 23:33) prior to taking him captive to Egypt. Nebuchadnezzar had set up his base camp for conducting his campaigns against the Palestinian states there and was now sitting in judgment on prisoners brought to him.
11tn (25:6) The Hebrew text has the plural form of the verb, but the parallel passage in Jer 52:9 has the singular.
12tn (25:7) Heb "before his eyes."
13tn (25:7) Heb "he"; the referent (the king of Babylon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
14tn (25:8) The parallel account in Jer 52:12 has "tenth."
15sn (25:8) The seventh day of the month would have been August 14, 586 B.C. in modern reckoning.
16tn (25:8) For the meaning of this phrase see BDB 371 s.v. jB*f^ 2, and compare the usage in Gen 39:1.
17tn (25:9) Heb "and every large house he burned down with fire."
18tc (25:11) The MT has "the multitude." But /wmhh should probably be emended to /wmah.
19tn (25:12) Heb "the captain of the royal guard." However, the subject is clear from the preceding and contemporary English style would normally avoid repeating the proper name and title.
20sn (25:13) See the note at 1 Kgs 7:23.
21sn (25:14) These shovels were used to clean the altar.
22sn (25:14) These were used to trim the wicks.
23tn (25:14) Heb "with which they served [or, `fulfilled their duty']."
24sn (25:15) These held the embers used for the incense offerings.
25tc (25:16) The MT lacks "the twelve bronze bulls under `the Sea,'" but these words have probably been accidentally omitted by homoioarcton. The scribe's eye may have jumped from the hw on rqbhw, "and the bulls," to the hw on twnkmhw, "and the movable stands," causing him to leave out the intervening words. See the parallel passage in Jer 52:20.
26tn (25:17) Heb "eighteen cubits." The standard cubit in the OT is assumed by most authorities to be about eighteen inches (45 cm) long.
27tn (25:17) Heb "three cubits." The parallel passage in Jer 52:22 has "five."
28tn (25:19) The parallel passage in Jer 52:25 has "seven."
29tn (25:19) Heb "five seers of the king's face."
30tn (25:19) Heb "the people of the land."
31tn (25:21) Heb "struck them down and killed them."
32tn (25:21) Heb "land."
33tn (25:22) Heb "And the people who were left in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon left, he appointed over them Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan."
34tn (25:23) Heb "of the army." The word "Judahite" has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
35tn (25:24) The words "so as to give them...some assurance of safety" are supplied in the translation for clarification.
36sn (25:25) It is not altogether clear whether this is in the same year that Jerusalem fell or not. The wall was breached in the fourth month (= early July; Jer 39:2) and Nebuzaradan came and burned the palace, the temple, and many of the houses and tore down the wall in the fifth month (= early August; Jer 52:12). That would have left time between the fifth month and the seventh month (October) to gather in the harvest of grapes, dates and figs, and olives (Jer 40:12). However, many commentators feel that too much activity takes place in too short a time for this to have been in the same year and posit that it happened the following year or even five years later when a further deportation took place, possibly in retaliation for the murder of Gedaliah and the Babylonian garrison at Mizpah (Jer 52:30). The assassination of Gedaliah had momentous consequences and was commemorated in one of the post exilic fast days lamenting the fall of Jerusalem (Zech 8:19).
37tn (25:25) Heb "[was] from the seed of the kingdom."
38tn (25:25) Heb "and they struck down Gedaliah and he died."
39tn (25:26) Heb "arose and went to."
40sn (25:27) The parallel account in Jer 52:31 has "twenty-fifth."
41sn (25:27) The twenty-seventh day would be March 22, 561 B.C. in modern reckoning.
42tn (25:27) Heb "lifted up the head of."
43tn (25:27) The words "released him" are supplied in the translation on the basis of Jer 52:31.
44tn (25:28) Heb "made his throne above the throne of."
45tn (25:29) Heb "he"; the referent (Jehoiachin) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
46tc (25:30) The words "until the day he died" do not appear in the MT, but they are included in the parallel passage in Jer 52:34. Probably they have been accidentally omitted by homoioteleuton. A scribe's eye jumped from the final vav on wmwyb, "in his day," to the final vav on wtwm, "his death," leaving out the intervening words.