2 Kings 1:2

1:2 Ahaziah fell through a window lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria ¹  and was injured. He sent messengers with these orders, ²  “Go, ask ³  Baal Zebub, ⁴  the god of Ekron, if I will survive this injury.”

2 Kings 1:15

1:15 The Lord’s angelic messenger said to Elijah, “Go down with him. Don’t be afraid of him.” So he got up and went down ⁵  with him to the king.

2 Kings 4:7

4:7 She went and told the prophet. ⁶  He said, “Go, sell the olive oil. Repay your creditor, and then you and your sons can live off the rest of the profit.”

2 Kings 4:29

4:29 Elisha ⁷  told Gehazi, “Tuck your robes into your belt, take my staff, ⁸  and go! Don’t stop to exchange greetings with anyone! ⁹  Place my staff on the child’s face.”

2 Kings 5:5

5:5 The king of Syria said, “Go! I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman ¹⁰  went, taking with him ten talents ¹¹  of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, ¹²  and ten suits of clothes.

2 Kings 8:8

8:8 So the king told Hazael, “Take a gift ¹³  and go visit the prophet. Request from him an oracle from the Lord. Ask him, ¹⁴  ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’”

2 Kings 9:1

Jehu Becomes King

9:1 Now Elisha the prophet summoned a member of the prophetic guild ¹⁵  and told him, “Tuck your robes into your belt, take this container ¹⁶  of olive oil in your hand, and go to Ramoth Gilead.

2 Kings 20:8-9

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?” ¹⁷ 

2 Kings 22:4

22:4 “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest and have him melt down ¹⁸  the silver that has been brought by the people to the Lord’s temple and has been collected by the guards at the door.

2 Kings 23:9

23:9 (Now the priests of the high places did not go up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they did eat unleavened cakes among their fellow priests.) ¹⁹ 

---

¹ map For location see Map2-B1; Map4-D3; Map5-E2; Map6-A4; Map7-C1.

² tn Heb “and he sent messengers and said to them.”

³ tn That is, “seek an oracle from.”

⁴ sn 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 s.v. זְבוּב בַּעַל and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 25.

⁵ 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.

⁶ tn Heb “man of God” (also in vv. 16, 22, 25, 27 [twice]).

⁷ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁸ tn Heb “take my staff in your hand.”

⁹ tn Heb “If you meet a man, do not greet him with a blessing; if a man greets you with a blessing, do not answer.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Naaman) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹¹ 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).

¹² 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).

¹³ tn The Hebrew text also has “in your hand.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “Inquire of the Lord through him, saying.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “one of the sons of the prophets.”

¹⁶ tn Or “flask.”

¹⁷ 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.”

¹⁸ tc The MT has וְיַתֵּם (vÿyattem), “and let them add up” (Hiphil of תָּמָם [tammam], “be complete”), but the appearance of הִתִּיכוּ (hitikhu), “they melted down” (Hiphil of נָתַךְ [natakh], “pour out”) in v. 9 suggests that the verb form should be emended to וְיַתֵּךְ (vÿyattekh), “and let him melt down” (a Hiphil of נָתַךְ [natakh]). For a discussion of this and other options see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 281.

¹⁹ tn Heb “their brothers.”