5:1 Now Naaman, the commander of the king of Syria’s army, was esteemed and respected by his master, 6 for through him the Lord had given Syria military victories. But this great warrior had a skin disease. 7
Now Joram had been in Ramoth Gilead with the whole Israelite army, 23 guarding against an invasion by King Hazael of Syria.
13:14 Now Elisha had a terminal illness. 48 King Joash of Israel went down to visit him. 49 He wept before him and said, “My father, my father! The chariot 50 and horsemen of Israel!” 51
16:17 King Ahaz took off the frames of the movable stands, and removed the basins from them. He took “The Sea” 60 down from the bronze bulls that supported it 61 and put it on the pavement.
17:7 This happened because the Israelites sinned against the Lord their God, who brought them up from the land of Egypt and freed them from the power of 62 Pharaoh king of Egypt. They worshiped 63 other gods;
17:24 The king of Assyria brought foreigners 67 from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and settled them in the cities of Samaria 68 in place of the Israelites. They took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities.
21:19 Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned for two years in Jerusalem. 78 His mother 79 was Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz, from Jotbah.
23:36 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem. 87 His mother was Zebidah the daughter of Pedaiah, from Rumah.
24:18 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he ruled for eleven years in Jerusalem. 89 His mother 90 was Hamutal, 91 the daughter of Jeremiah, from Libnah.
24:20 What follows is a record of what happened to Jerusalem and Judah because of the Lord’s anger; he finally threw them out of his presence. 92 Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
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 tn Traditionally “the
3 tn Heb “before whom I stand.”
4 tn Heb “if I did not lift up the face of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah.”
5 tn Heb “I would not look at you or see you.”
6 tn Heb “was a great man before his master and lifted up with respect to the face.”
7 tn For a discussion of מְצֹרָע (mÿtsora’), traditionally translated “leprous,” see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 63. Naaman probably had a skin disorder of some type, not leprosy/Hansen’s disease.
8 tn Heb “and now when this letter comes to you, look, I have sent to you Naaman my servant.”
9 tn Heb “the people saw, and look, [there was] sackcloth against his skin underneath.”
10 tn Heb “went after.”
11 tn Heb “and look, all the road was full of clothes and equipment that Syria had thrown away in their haste.”
12 tn Or “messengers.”
13 tn The Hebrew text also has “in your hand.”
14 tn Heb “Inquire of the
15 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Hazael) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
16 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Ben Hadad) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
17 tn Heb “anointed.”
18 tn Heb “and open the door and run away and do not delay.”
19 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Jehu) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
20 tn Heb “and they hurried and took, each one his garment, and they placed [them] beneath him on the bone [?] of the steps.” The precise nuance of גֶרֶם (gerem), “bone,” is unclear. Some suggest the nuance “bare” here; it may be a technical architectural term in this context.
21 tn Heb “they blew the trumpet.” This has been translated as a passive to avoid the implication that the same ones who shouted had all blown trumpets.
22 tn Or “has become.”
23 tn Heb “he and all Israel.”
24 tn Heb “the rider of the horse.”
25 tn Heb “Is there peace?”
26 tn Heb “What concerning you and concerning peace?” That is, “What concern is that to you?”
27 tn Heb “and he came to them.”
28 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.
29 tn Heb “and he went and ate and drank.”
30 tn Heb “Attend to this accursed woman and bury her for she was the daughter of a king.”
31 tn Heb “the one who was over the house.”
32 tn Heb “the one who was over the city.”
33 tn Or “elders.”
34 tn Heb “servants.”
35 tn Heb “Do what is good in your eyes.”
36 tn Heb “and when the letter came to them, they took the sons of the king and slaughtered seventy men.”
37 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Jehu) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
38 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jehu) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
39 tn Heb “the runners” (also in v. 19).
40 tn Heb “and the runners stood, each with his weapons in his hand, from the south shoulder of the house to the north shoulder of the house, at the altar and at the house, near the king all around.”
41 tn Heb “struck him down and he died.”
42 tn Heb “they buried him.”
43 tn Heb “Indeed he did not leave to Jehoahaz people.” The identity of the subject is uncertain, but the king of Syria, mentioned later in the verse, is a likely candidate.
44 tn Heb “them,” i.e., the remainder of this troops.
45 tn Heb “and made them like dust for trampling.”
46 sn Jehoash and Joash are alternate forms of the same name.
47 tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Joash, and all which he did and his strength, [and] how he fought with Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel?”
48 tn Heb “Now Elisha was ill with the illness by which he would die.”
49 tn Heb “went down to him.”
50 tn Though the noun is singular here, it may be collective, in which case it could be translated “chariots.”
51 sn By comparing Elisha to a one-man army, the king emphasizes the power of the prophetic word. See the note at 2:12.
52 sn Jehoash and Joash are alternate forms of the same name.
53 tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Jehoash, and all which he did and his strength, [and] how he fought with Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel?”
54 tn Heb “and he struck him down in Samaria in the fortress of the house of the king, Argob and Arieh, and with him fifty men from the sons of the Gileadites, and they killed him.”
sn The precise identity of Argob and Arieh, as well as their relationship to the king, are uncertain. The usual assumption is that they were officials assassinated along with Pekahiah, or that they were two of the more prominent Gileadites involved in the revolt. For discussion see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 173.
55 map For location see Map1-D2; Map2-D3; Map3-A2; Map4-C1.
56 tn Heb “them.”
57 tn Heb “and struck him down and killed him.”
58 tn Heb “that was found.”
59 tn Or “bribe money.”
60 sn See the note at 1 Kgs 7:23.
61 tn Heb “that [were] under it.”
62 tn Heb “and from under the hand of.” The words “freed them” are added in the translation for stylistic reasons.
63 tn Heb “feared.”
64 tn Heb “and they made Jeroboam son of Nebat king.”
65 tc The consonantal text (Kethib) assumes the verb is נָדָא (nada’), an alternate form of נָדָה (nadah), “push away.” The marginal reading (Qere) assumes the verb נָדָח (nadakh), “drive away.”
66 tn Heb “a great sin.”
67 tn The object is supplied in the translation.
68 sn In vv. 24-29 Samaria stands for the entire northern kingdom of Israel.
69 tc The second plural subject may refer to the leaders of the Assyrian army. However, some prefer to read “whom I deported,” changing the verb to a first person singular form with a third masculine plural pronominal suffix. This reading has some support from Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic witnesses.
70 tc Heb “and let them go and let them live there, and let him teach them the requirements of the God of the land.” The two plural verbs seem inconsistent with the preceding and following contexts, where only one priest is sent back to Samaria. The singular has the support of Greek, Syriac, and Latin witnesses.
71 tn The Hebrew text has simply “Israel” as the object of the verb.
72 tn Heb “by which the servants of the king of Assyria have insulted me.”
73 sn The assassination probably took place in 681
74 sn No such Mesopotamian god is presently known. Perhaps the name is a corruption of Nusku.
75 tc Although “his sons” is absent in the Kethib, it is supported by the Qere, along with many medieval Hebrew
76 sn Extra-biblical sources also mention the assassination of Sennacherib, though they refer to only one assassin. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 239-40.
77 tn Heb “for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.”
78 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
79 tn Heb “the name of his mother.”
80 tn Heb “returned the king a word and said.”
81 tn Heb “that was found in the house.”
82 tn Heb “all the words of the scroll which the king of Judah has read.”
83 tn Heb “Therefore, look, I am gathering you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your tomb in peace.”
84 tn Heb “your eyes will not see.”
85 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
86 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.
87 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
88 tn Heb “the entire [group], mighty men, doers of war.”
89 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
90 tn Heb “the name of his mother.”
91 tc Some textual witnesses support the consonantal text (Kethib) in reading “Hamital.”
92 tn Heb “Surely [or, ‘for’] because of the anger of the
93 tn Heb “were killed before his eyes.”
94 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king of Babylon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
95 tc The MT has “the multitude.” But הֶהָמוֹן (hehamon) should probably be emended to הֶאָמוֹן (he’amon).