2 Kings 2:11

2:11 As they were walking along and talking, suddenly a fiery chariot¹ pulled by fiery horses appeared.² They went between Elijah and Elisha,³ and Elijah went up to heaven in a windstorm.

2 Kings 3:9

3:9 So the kings of Israel, Judah, and Edom⁴ set out together. They wandered around on the road for seven days and finally ran out of water for the men and animals they had with them.

2 Kings 4:43

4:43 But his attendant said, “How can I feed a hundred men with this?”⁵ He replied, “Set it before the people so they may eat, for this is what the Lord says, ‘They will eat and have some left over.’”⁶

2 Kings 9:13

9:13 Each of them quickly took off his cloak and they spread them out at Jehu’s⁷ feet on the steps.⁸ The trumpet was blown⁹ and they shouted, “Jehu is¹⁰ king!”

2 Kings 11:12

11:12 Jehoiada¹¹ led out the king’s son and placed on him the crown and the royal insignia.¹² They proclaimed him king and poured olive oil on his head.¹³ They clapped their hands and cried out, “Long live the king!”

2 Kings 12:11

12:11 They would then hand over¹⁴ the silver that had been weighed to the construction foremen¹⁵ assigned to the Lord’s temple. They hired carpenters and builders to work on the Lord’s temple,

2 Kings 13:6

13:6 But they did not repudiate¹⁶ the sinful ways of the family¹⁷ of Jeroboam, who encouraged Israel to sin; they continued in those sins.¹⁸ There was even an Asherah pole¹⁹ standing in Samaria.

2 Kings 17:16-17

17:16 They abandoned all the commandments of the Lord their God; they made two metal calves and an Asherah pole, bowed down to all the stars in the sky,²⁰ and worshiped²¹ Baal. 17:17 They passed their sons and daughters through the fire,²² and practiced divination and omen reading. They committed themselves to doing evil in the sight of the Lord and made him angry.²³

2 Kings 18:12

18:12 This happened because they did not obey²⁴ the Lord their God and broke his agreement with them.²⁵ They did not pay attention to and obey all that Moses, the Lord’s servant, had commanded.²⁶

2 Kings 19:18

19:18 They have burned the gods of the nations,²⁷ for they are not really gods, but only the product of human hands manufactured from wood and stone. That is why the Assyrians could destroy them.²⁸

2 Kings 20:14

20:14 Isaiah the prophet visited King Hezekiah and asked him, “What did these men say? Where do they come from?” Hezekiah replied, “They come from the distant land of Babylon.”

2 Kings 22:17

22:17 This will happen because they have abandoned me and offered sacrifices²⁹ to other gods, angering me with all the idols they have made.³⁰ My anger will ignite against this place and will not be extinguished!’”

¹tn Though the noun is singular here, it may be collective, in which case it could be translated “chariots.”

²tn Heb “look, a chariot of fire and horses of fire.”

³tn Heb “and they made a division between the two of them.”

⁴tn Heb “the king of Israel and the king of Judah and the king of Edom.”

⁵tn Heb “How can I set this before a hundred men?”

⁶tn The verb forms are infinitives absolute (Heb “eating and leaving over”) and have to be translated in light of the context.

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

⁸tn Heb “and they hurried and took, each one his garment, and they placed [them] beneath him on the bone [?] of the steps.” The precise nuance of גֶרֶם (gerem), “bone,” is unclear. Some suggest the nuance “bare” here; it may be a technical architectural term in this context.

⁹tn Heb “they blew the trumpet.” This has been translated as a passive to avoid the implication that the same ones who shouted had all blown trumpets.

¹⁰tn Or “has become.”

¹¹tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jehoiada) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹²tn The Hebrew term עֵדוּת (’edut) normally means “witness” or “testimony.” Here it probably refers to some tangible symbol of kingship, perhaps a piece of jewelry such as an amulet or neck chain. See the discussion in M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 128. Some suggest that a document is in view, perhaps a copy of the royal protocol or of the stipulations of the Davidic covenant. See HALOT 790-91 s.v. עֵדוּת.

¹³tn Or “they made him king and anointed him.”

¹⁴tn Heb “would give.”

¹⁵tn Heb “doers of the work.”

¹⁶tn Heb “they did not turn away from.”

¹⁷tn Heb “house.”

¹⁸tc Heb “in it he walked.” The singular verb (הָלַךְ, halakh) is probably due to an error of haplography and should be emended to the plural (הָלְכּוּ, halÿku). Note that a vav immediately follows (on the form וְגַם, vÿgam).

¹⁹tn Or “an image of Asherah”; ASV, NASB “the Asherah”; NCV “the Asherah idol.”

sn Asherah was a leading deity of the Canaanite pantheon, wife/sister of El and goddess of fertility. She was commonly worshiped at shrines in or near groves of evergreen trees, or, failing that, at places marked by wooden poles. These were to be burned or cut down (Deut 12:3; 16:21; Judg 6:25, 28, 30; 2 Kgs 18:4).

²⁰tn The phrase כָל צְבָא הַשָּׁמַיִם (khol tsÿva’ hashamayim), traditionally translated “all the host of heaven,” refers to the heavenly lights, including stars and planets. In 1 Kgs 22:19 these heavenly bodies are pictured as members of the Lord’s royal court or assembly, but many other texts view them as the illegitimate objects of pagan and Israelite worship.

²¹tn Or “served.”

²²sn See the note at 2 Kgs 16:3.

²³tn Heb “they sold themselves to doing what was evil in the eyes of the Lord, angering him.”

²⁴tn Heb “listen to the voice of.”

²⁵tn Heb “his covenant.”

²⁶tn Heb “all that Moses, the Lord’s servant, had commanded, and they did not listen and they did not act.”

²⁷tn Heb “and they put their gods in the fire.”

²⁸tn Heb “so they destroyed them.”

²⁹tn Or “burned incense.”

³⁰tn Heb “angering me with all the work of their hands.” The translation assumes that this refers to idols they have manufactured (note the preceding reference to “other gods,” as well as 19:18). However, it is possible that this is a general reference to their sinful practices, in which case one might translate, “angering me by all the things they do.”