1:3 But the Lord’s angelic messenger told Elijah the Tishbite, “Get up, go to meet the messengers from the king of Samaria. Say this to them: ‘You must think there is no God in Israel! That explains why you are on your way to seek an oracle from Baal Zebub the god of Ekron. 1
23:4 The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the high-ranking priests, 30 and the guards 31 to bring out of the Lord’s temple all the items that were used in the worship of 32 Baal, Asherah, and all the stars of the sky. 33 The king 34 burned them outside of Jerusalem in the terraces 35 of Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel. 36
23:24 Josiah also got rid of 41 the ritual pits used to conjure up spirits, 42 the magicians, personal idols, disgusting images, 43 and all the detestable idols that had appeared in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem. In this way he carried out the terms of the law 44 recorded on the scroll that Hilkiah the priest had discovered in the Lord’s temple.
1 tn 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.
2 tn Heb “that we might inquire of the
3 tn Heb “who poured water on the hands of Elijah.” This refers to one of the typical tasks of a servant.
4 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jehu) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
5 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the prophet) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
6 tn The Hebrew text also has, “and said to them.” This is redundant in English and has not been translated.
7 tn Heb “ranks.”
8 tn Heb “for the priest had said, ‘Let her not be put to death in the house of the
9 tn Or “tore down.”
10 tn Or “images.”
11 tn The Hebrew construction translated “smashed…to bits” is emphatic. The adverbial infinitive absolute (הֵיטֵב [hetev], “well”) accompanying the Piel form of the verb שָׁבַר (shavar), “break,” suggests thorough demolition.
12 tn Heb “the priest.” Jehoiada’s name is added for clarification.
13 tn Heb “the Gate of the Runners of the House of the King.”
14 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
15 tn The object (“it all”) is supplied in the translation for clarification.
16 tn Heb “went up.”
17 tn Heb “as it is written in the scroll of the law of Moses which the
18 tn Heb “on account of sons.”
19 tn Heb “on account of fathers.”
20 sn This law is recorded in Deut 24:16.
21 tn Or “and his warnings he had given them.”
22 tn Heb “They went [or, ‘followed’] after.” 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
23 tn Heb “they followed after the worthless thing/things and became worthless.” The words “to the
24 tn Heb “and [they walked] after the nations which were around them, concerning which the
25 tn Heb “on the third day.”
26 tn Or “inquire of.”
27 tn Heb “concerning.”
28 tn Heb “for great is the anger of the
29 tn Heb “by doing all that is written concerning us.” Perhaps עָלֵינוּ (’alenu), “concerning us,” should be altered to עָלָיו (’alav), “upon it,” in which case one could translate, “by doing all that is written in it.”
30 tn Heb “the priests of the second [rank],” that is, those ranked just beneath Hilkiah.
31 tn Or “doorkeepers.”
32 tn Heb “for.”
33 tn Heb “all the host of heaven” (also in v. 5).
34 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
35 tn Or “fields.” For a defense of the translation “terraces,” see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 285.
36 map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.
37 tn The MT simply reads “the horses.” The words “statues of” have been supplied in the translation for clarity.
38 tn Heb “who/which was in the […?].” The meaning of the Hebrew term פַּרְוָרִים (parvarim), 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 M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 288-89, who translate “the officer of the precincts.”
39 tn Heb “and the chariots of the sun he burned with fire.”
40 tc 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 רוּץ [ruts], “run”) to a Hiphil of רוּץ with third plural suffix and translate, “he quickly removed them” (see BDB 930 s.v. רוּץ, and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings [AB], 289). The suffix could have been lost in MT by haplography (note the mem [מ] that immediately follows the verb on the form מִשֳׁם, misham, “from there”). Another option, the one reflected in the translation, is to emend the verb to a Piel of רָצַץ (ratsats), “crush,” with third plural suffix.
41 tn Here בִּעֵר (bi’er) is not the well attested verb “burn,” but the less common homonym meaning “devastate, sweep away, remove.” See HALOT 146 s.v. בער.
42 sn See the note at 2 Kgs 21:6.
43 sn See the note at 1 Kgs 15:12.
44 tn Heb “carrying out the words of the law.”
45 tc 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 וְהָ (vÿha-) on וְהַבָּקָר (vÿhabbaqar), “and the bulls,” to the וְהָ on וְהַמְּכֹנוֹת (vÿhammÿkhonot), “and the movable stands,” causing him to leave out the intervening words. See the parallel passage in Jer 52:20.