2 Kings 1:5

1:5 When the messengers returned to the king, 1  he asked them, “Why have you returned?”

2 Kings 3:18

3:18 This is an easy task for the Lord; 2  he will also hand Moab over to you.

2 Kings 5:13

5:13 His servants approached and said to him, “O master, 3  if the prophet had told you to do some difficult task, 4  you would have been willing to do it. 5  It seems you should be happy that he simply said, “Wash and you will be healed.” 6 

2 Kings 22:19

22:19 ‘You displayed a sensitive spirit 7  and humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard how I intended to make this place and its residents into an appalling example of an accursed people. 8  You tore your clothes and wept before me, and I have heard you,’ says the Lord.

1 tn Heb “to him.”

sn 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.

2 tn Heb “and this is easy in the eyes of the Lord.”

3 tn 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 s.v. אָב and the similar idiomatic use of “father” in 2 Kgs 2:12.

4 tn Heb “a great thing.”

5 tn Heb “would you not do [it]?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course you would.”

6 tn 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”).

7 tn Heb “Because your heart was tender.”

8 tn 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.