2:4 Elijah said to him, “Elisha, stay here, for the Lord has sent me to Jericho.” 5 But he replied, “As certainly as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went to Jericho. 2:5 Some members of the prophetic guild in Jericho approached Elisha and said, “Do you know that today the Lord is going to take your master from you?” He answered, “Yes, I know. Be quiet.”
2:6 Elijah said to him, “Stay here, for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.” But he replied, “As certainly as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they traveled on together.
2:9 When they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “What can I do for you, 6 before I am taken away from you?” Elisha answered, “May I receive a double portion of the prophetic spirit that energizes you.” 7
2:19 The men of the city said to Elisha, “Look, the city has a good location, as our 10 master can see. But the water is bad and the land doesn’t produce crops.” 11
4:25 So she went to visit 20 the prophet at Mount Carmel. When he 21 saw her at a distance, he said to his servant Gehazi, “Look, it’s the Shunammite woman.
6:15 The prophet’s 32 attendant got up early in the morning. When he went outside there was an army surrounding the city, along with horses and chariots. He said to Elisha, 33 “Oh no, my master! What will we do?”
6:20 When they had entered Samaria, Elisha said, “O Lord, open their eyes, so they can see.” The Lord opened their eyes and they saw that they were in the middle of Samaria. 35
7:3 Now four men with a skin disease 40 were sitting at the entrance of the city gate. They said to one another, “Why are we just sitting here waiting to die? 41
9:17 Now the watchman was standing on the tower in Jezreel and saw Jehu’s troops approaching. 47 He said, “I see troops!” 48 Jehoram ordered, 49 “Send a rider out to meet them and have him ask, ‘Is everything all right?’” 50 9:18 So the horseman 51 went to meet him and said, “This is what the king says, ‘Is everything all right?’” 52 Jehu replied, “None of your business! 53 Follow me.” The watchman reported, “The messenger reached them, but hasn’t started back.” 9:19 So he sent a second horseman out to them 54 and he said, “This is what the king says, ‘Is everything all right?’” 55 Jehu replied, “None of your business! Follow me.”
10:1 Ahab had seventy sons living in Samaria. 61 So Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria to the leading officials of Jezreel and to the guardians of Ahab’s dynasty. This is what the letters said, 62
13:14 Now Elisha had a terminal illness. 68 King Joash of Israel went down to visit him. 69 He wept before him and said, “My father, my father! The chariot 70 and horsemen of Israel!” 71
18:37 Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace supervisor, accompanied by Shebna the scribe and Joah son of Asaph, the secretary, went to Hezekiah with their clothes torn 74 and reported to him what the chief adviser had said.
20:8 Hezekiah had said to Isaiah, “What is the confirming sign that the Lord will heal me and that I will go up to the Lord’s temple the day after tomorrow?” 20:9 Isaiah replied, “This is your sign from the Lord confirming that the Lord will do what he has said. Do you want the shadow to move ahead ten steps or to go back ten steps?” 76
1 sn In this third panel the verb “come down” (יָרַד, yarad) occurs again, this time describing Elijah’s descent from the hill at the Lord’s command. The moral of the story seems clear: Those who act as if they have authority over God and his servants just may pay for their arrogance with their lives; those who, like the third commander, humble themselves and show the proper respect for God’s authority and for his servants will be spared and find God quite cooperative.
2 map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.
3 tn Heb “the sons of the prophets.”
4 tn Heb “from your head.” The same expression occurs in v. 5.
5 map For location see Map5-B2; Map6-E1; Map7-E1; Map8-E3; Map10-A2; Map11-A1.
6 tn Heb “Ask! What can I do for you….?”
7 tn Heb “May a double portion of your spirit come to me.”
8 tn Heb “Elijah’s cloak, which had fallen off him.” The wording is changed slightly in the translation for the sake of variety of expression (see v. 13).
9 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Elijah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
10 tn Heb “my.”
11 tn Heb “miscarries” or “is barren.”
12 tn Or “healed.”
13 tn Heb “there will no longer be from there death and miscarriage [or, ‘barrenness’].”
14 tn Traditionally “the
15 tn Heb “before whom I stand.”
16 tn Heb “if I did not lift up the face of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah.”
17 tn Heb “I would not look at you or see you.”
18 tn Heb “to her son.”
19 tn Heb “man of God” (also in vv. 16, 22, 25, 27 [twice]).
20 tn Heb “went and came.”
21 tn Heb “the man of God.” The phrase has been replaced by the relative pronoun “he” in the translation for stylistic reasons.
22 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity. The referent must be Elisha here, since the following verse makes it clear that Gehazi had gone on ahead of them.
23 tn Heb “How can I set this before a hundred men?”
24 tn The verb forms are infinitives absolute (Heb “eating and leaving over”) and have to be translated in light of the context.
25 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Naaman) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
26 tn The Hebrew term כִּכָּר (kikkar, “circle”) refers generally to something that is round. When used of metals it can refer to a disk-shaped weight made of the metal or to a standard unit of weight, generally regarded as a talent. Since the accepted weight for a talent of metal is about 75 pounds, this would have amounted to about 750 pounds of silver (cf. NCV, NLT, CEV).
27 tn Heb “six thousand gold […].” The unit of measure is not given in the Hebrew text. A number of English versions supply “pieces” (e.g., KJV, ASV, NAB, TEV) or “shekels” (e.g., NASB, NIV, NRSV).
28 tn Heb “and [if] not, may there be given to your servant a load [for] a pair of mules, earth.”
29 tn Heb “for your servant will not again make a burnt offering and sacrifice to other gods, only to the
30 tn Heb “Be resolved and accept two talents.”
31 tn Heb “before him.”
32 tn Heb “man of God’s.”
33 tn Heb “his young servant said to him.”
34 map For location see Map2-B1; Map4-D3; Map5-E2; Map6-A4; Map7-C1.
35 tn Heb “and they saw, and look, [they were] in the middle of Samaria.”
36 tn Heb “the people saw, and look, [there was] sackcloth against his skin underneath.”
37 tn The Hebrew text also has “look” here.
38 tn Heb “came down to him.”
39 tn Heb “Look, this is a disaster from the
40 sn See the note at 2 Kgs 5:1.
41 tn Heb “until we die.”
42 sn A seah was a dry measure equivalent to about 7 quarts.
43 tn Heb “according to the word of the
44 tn Heb “and he arrived and look, the officers of the army were sitting.”
45 tn Heb “[there is] a word for me to you, O officer.”
46 tn Heb “To whom from all of us?”
47 tn Heb “the quantity [of the men] of Jehu, when he approached.” Elsewhere שִׁפְעַה (shif’ah), “quantity,” is used of a quantity of camels (Isa 60:6) or horses (Ezek 26:10) and of an abundance of water (Job 22:11; 38:34).
48 tn The term שִׁפְעַת (shifat) appears to be a construct form of the noun, but no genitive follows.
49 tn Heb “said.”
50 tn Heb “Get a rider and send [him] to meet him and let him ask, ‘Is there peace?’”
51 tn Heb “the rider of the horse.”
52 tn Heb “Is there peace?”
53 tn Heb “What concerning you and concerning peace?” That is, “What concern is that to you?”
54 tn Heb “and he came to them.”
55 tc The MT has simply “peace,” omitting the prefixed interrogative particle. It is likely that the particle has been accidentally omitted; several ancient witnesses include it or assume its presence.
56 tn The words “when she hit the ground” are added for stylistic reasons.
57 tn Heb “and he trampled her.”
58 tn Heb “and he went and ate and drank.”
59 tn Heb “Attend to this accursed woman and bury her for she was the daughter of a king.”
60 tn Heb “It is the word of the
61 map For location see Map2-B1; Map4-D3; Map5-E2; Map6-A4; Map7-C1.
62 tn Heb “to the officers of Jezreel, the elders, and to the guardians of Ahab, saying.” It is not certain why the officials of Jezreel would be in Samaria. They may have fled there after they heard what happened to Joram and before Jehu entered the city. They would have had time to flee while Jehu was pursuing Ahaziah.
63 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Jehu) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
64 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jehu) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
65 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jehu) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
66 tn Heb “Search carefully and observe so that there are not here with you any servants of the
67 tn Heb “Because you have done well by doing what is proper in my eyes – according to all which was in my heart you have done to the house of Ahab – sons of four generations will sit for you on the throne of Israel.” In the Hebrew text the Lord’s statement is one long sentence (with a parenthesis). The translation above divides it into shorter sentences for stylistic reasons.
sn Jehu ruled over Israel from approximately 841-814
68 tn Heb “Now Elisha was ill with the illness by which he would die.”
69 tn Heb “went down to him.”
70 tn Though the noun is singular here, it may be collective, in which case it could be translated “chariots.”
71 sn By comparing Elisha to a one-man army, the king emphasizes the power of the prophetic word. See the note at 2:12.
72 tn Heb “man of God.”
73 tn Heb “[It was necessary] to strike five or six times, then you would strike down Syria until destruction.” On the syntax of the infinitive construct, see GKC 349 §114.k.
74 sn As a sign of grief and mourning.
75 tn Heb “by which the servants of the king of Assyria have insulted me.”
76 tn The Hebrew הָלַךְ (halakh, a perfect), “it has moved ahead,” should be emended to הֲיֵלֵךְ (hayelekh, an imperfect with interrogative he [ה] prefixed), “shall it move ahead.”
77 tn Heb “good.”
78 tn Heb “and he said.” Many English versions translate, “for he thought.” The verb אָמַר (’amar), “say,” is sometimes used of what one thinks (that is, says to oneself). Cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT.
79 tn Heb “Is it not [true] there will be peace and stability in my days?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Yes, there will be peace and stability.”
80 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
81 tn Heb “and they left undisturbed his bones, the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria.” If the phrase “the bones of the prophet” were appositional to “his bones,” one would expect the sentence to end “from Judah” (see v. 17). Apparently the “prophet” referred to in the second half of the verse is the old prophet from Bethel who buried the man of God from Judah in his own tomb and instructed his sons to bury his bones there as well (1 Kgs 13:30-31). One expects the text to read “from Bethel,” but “Samaria” (which was not even built at the time of the incident recorded in 1 Kgs 13) is probably an anachronistic reference to the northern kingdom in general. See the note at 1 Kgs 13:32 and the discussion in M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 290.
82 tn Heb “Also Judah I will turn away from my face.”
83 tn Heb “My name will be there.”