2 Kings 15:10-12

15:10 Shallum son of Jabesh conspired against him; he assassinated him in Ibleam ¹  and took his place as king. 15:11 The rest of the events of Zechariah’s reign are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel. ²  15:12 His assassination brought to fulfillment the Lord’s word to Jehu, ³  “Four generations of your descendants will rule over Israel.” ⁴  That is exactly what happened. ⁵ 

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¹ tc The MT reads, “and he struck him down before the people and killed him” (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). However, the reading קָבָל עָם (qaval ’am), “before the people,” is problematic to some because קָבָל is a relatively late Aramaic term. Nevertheless, the Aramaic term qobel certainly antedates the writing of Kings. The bigger problem seems to be the unnecessary intrusion of an Aramaic word at all here. Most interpreters prefer to follow Lucian’s Greek version and read “in Ibleam” (בְיִבְלְעָם, bÿivle’am). Cf. NAB, TEV.

² tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Jeroboam, look, they are written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel.”

³ tn Heb “It was the word of the Lord which he spoke to Jehu, saying.”

⁴ tn “sons of four generations will sit for you on the throne of Israel.”

sn See the note at 2 Kgs 10:30.

⁵ tn Heb “and it was so.”