16:5 At that time King Rezin of Syria and King Pekah son of Remaliah of Israel attacked Jerusalem. 1 They besieged Ahaz, 2 but were unable to conquer him. 3 16:6 (At that time King Rezin of Syria 4 recovered Elat for Syria; he drove the Judahites from there. 5 Syrians 6 arrived in Elat and live there to this very day.)
1 tn Heb “went up to Jerusalem for battle.”
2 tn That is, Jerusalem, Ahaz’s capital city.
3 tn Heb “they were unable to fight.” The object must be supplied from the preceding sentence. Elsewhere when the Niphal infinitive of לָחָם (lakham) follows the verb יָכֹל (yakhol), the infinitive appears to have the force of “prevail against.” See Num 22:11; 1 Sam 17:9; and the parallel passage in Isa 7:1.
4 tc Some prefer to read “the king of Edom” and “for Edom” here. The names Syria (Heb “Aram,” אֲרָם, ’aram) and Edom (אֱדֹם, ’edom) are easily confused in the Hebrew consonantal script.
5 tn Heb “from Elat.”
6 tc The consonantal text (Kethib), supported by many medieval Hebrew