2 Kings 2:12

2:12 While Elisha was watching, he was crying out, “My father, my father! The chariot and horsemen of Israel!” ¹  Then he could no longer see him. He grabbed his clothes and tore them in two.

2 Kings 7:16

7:16 Then the people went out and looted the Syrian camp. A seah ²  of finely milled flour sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, just as the Lord had said they would. ³ 

2 Kings 7:18

7:18 The prophet told the king, “Two seahs of barley will sell for a shekel, and a seah of finely milled flour for a shekel; this will happen about this time tomorrow in the gate of Samaria.”

2 Kings 8:26

8:26 Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king and he reigned for one year in Jerusalem. ⁴  His mother was Athaliah, the granddaughter ⁵  of King Omri of Israel.

2 Kings 10:8

10:8 The messenger came and told Jehu, ⁶  “They have brought the heads of the king’s sons.” Jehu ⁷  said, “Stack them in two piles at the entrance of the city gate until morning.”

2 Kings 10:14

10:14 He said, “Capture them alive!” So they captured them alive and then executed all forty-two of them in the cistern at Beth Eked. He left no survivors.

2 Kings 15:2

15:2 He was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for fifty-two years in Jerusalem. ⁸  His mother’s name was Jecholiah, who was from Jerusalem.

2 Kings 17:16

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, ⁹  and worshiped ¹⁰  Baal.

2 Kings 25:13

25:13 The Babylonians broke the two bronze pillars in the Lord’s temple, as well as the movable stands and the big bronze basin called the “The Sea.” ¹¹  They took the bronze to Babylon.

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¹ sn Elisha may be referring to the fiery chariot(s) and horses as the Lord’s spiritual army that fights on behalf of Israel (see 2 Kgs 6:15-17; 7:6). However, the juxtaposition with “my father” (clearly a reference to Elijah as Elisha’s mentor), and the parallel in 2 Kgs 13:14 (where the king addresses Elisha with these words), suggest that Elisha is referring to Elijah. In this case Elijah is viewed as a one man army, as it were. When the Lord spoke through him, his prophetic word was as powerful as an army of chariots and horses. See M. A. Beek, “The Meaning of the Expression ‘The Chariots and Horsemen of Israel’ (II Kings ii 12),” The Witness of Tradition (OTS 17), 1-10.

² sn A seah was a dry measure equivalent to about 7 quarts.

³ tn Heb “according to the word of the Lord.”

⁴ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁵ tn Hebrew בַּת (bat), “daughter,” can refer, as here to a granddaughter. See HALOT 166 s.v. בַּת.

⁶ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Jehu) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

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

⁸ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁹ tn 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.

¹⁰ tn Or “served.”

¹¹ sn See the note at 1 Kgs 7:23.