3:1 In the eighteenth year of King Jehoshaphat’s reign over Judah, Ahab’s son Jehoram became king over Israel in Samaria; 2 he ruled for twelve years.
6:8 Now the king of Syria was at war with Israel. He consulted his advisers, who said, “Invade 14 at such and such 15 a place.”
8:28 He joined Ahab’s son Joram in a battle against King Hazael of Syria at Ramoth Gilead in which the Syrians defeated Joram.
13:4 Jehoahaz asked for the Lord’s mercy 35 and the Lord responded favorably, 36 for he saw that Israel was oppressed by the king of Syria. 37
15:13 Shallum son of Jabesh became king in the thirty-ninth year of King Uzziah’s 48 reign over Judah. He reigned for one month 49 in Samaria. 15:14 Menahem son of Gadi went up from Tirzah to 50 Samaria and attacked Shallum son of Jabesh. 51 He killed him and took his place as king. 15:15 The rest of the events of Shallum’s reign, including the conspiracy he organized, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel. 52
15:23 In the fiftieth year of King Azariah’s reign over Judah, Menahem’s son Pekahiah became king over Israel. He reigned in Samaria 53 for two years.
17:1 In the twelfth year of King Ahaz’s reign over Judah, Hoshea son of Elah became king over Israel. He reigned in Samaria 60 for nine years. 17:2 He did evil in the sight of 61 the Lord, but not to the same degree as the Israelite kings who preceded him.
19:8 When the chief adviser heard the king of Assyria had departed from Lachish, he left and went to Libnah, where the king was campaigning. 67 19:9 The king 68 heard that King Tirhakah of Ethiopia was marching out to fight him. 69 He again sent messengers to Hezekiah, ordering them:
20:12 At that time Merodach-Baladan 71 son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, for he had heard that Hezekiah was ill.
23:26 Yet the Lord’s great anger against Judah did not subside; he was still infuriated by all the things Manasseh had done. 82
24:1 During Jehoiakim’s reign, 83 King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked. 84 Jehoiakim was his subject for three years, but then he rebelled against him. 85
25:22 Now King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, as governor over the people whom he allowed to remain in the land of Judah. 90
1 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 map For location see Map2-B1; Map4-D3; Map5-E2; Map6-A4; Map7-C1.
3 tn Heb “Where is the road we will go up?”
4 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jehoram) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
5 tn Or “ah.”
6 tn Heb “and he said.”
7 tn Heb “at this appointed time, at the time [when it is] reviving.” For a discussion of the second phrase see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 57.
8 sn The new moon was a time of sacrifice and special feasts (Num 28:14; 1 Sam 20:5). Apparently it was a convenient time to visit a prophet. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 57.
9 tn Heb “peace.”
10 map For location see Map2-B1; Map4-D3; Map5-E2; Map6-A4; Map7-C1.
11 tn Heb “Is there peace?”
12 tn Heb “iron.”
13 tn Or “ah.”
14 tc The verb form used here is difficult to analyze. On the basis of the form נְחִתִּים (nÿkhitim) in v. 9 from the root נָחַת (nakhat), it is probably best to emend the verb to תִּנְחְתוּ (tinkhÿtu; a Qal imperfect form from the same root). The verb נָחַת in at least two other instances carries the nuance “go down, descend” in a military context. For a defense of this view, see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 72.
15 sn The advisers would have mentioned a specific location, but the details are not significant to the narrator’s purpose, so he simply paraphrases here.
16 tn Heb “and the heart of the king of Syria was stirred up over this thing.”
17 tn Heb “servants.”
18 tn Heb “Will you not tell me who among us [is] for the king of Israel?” The sarcastic rhetorical question expresses the king’s suspicion.
19 tn Heb “heavy force.”
20 tn Heb “So may God do to me, and so may he add.”
21 tn Heb “if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat stays on him today.”
22 tn Heb “and the king sent [them] after the Syrian camp.”
23 tn Heb “Go and see.”
24 tc The consonantal text (Kethib) reads, “Go, say, ‘Surely you will not (לֹא, lo’) recover” In this case the vav beginning the next clause should be translated, “for, because.” The marginal reading (Qere) has, “Go, say to him (לוֹ, lo), ‘You will surely recover.” In this case the vav (ו) beginning the next clause should be translated, “although, but.” The Qere has the support of some medieval Hebrew
25 sn Note how the young prophet greatly expands the message Elisha had given to him. In addition to lengthening the introductory formula (by adding “the God of Israel”) and the official declaration that accompanies the act of anointing (by adding “the
26 tn Heb “two, three.” The narrator may be intentionally vague or uncertain here, or the two numbers may represent alternate traditions.
27 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jehu) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
28 tn Heb “and see my zeal for the
29 tc The MT has a plural form, but this is most likely an error. The LXX, Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate all have the singular.
30 tn Heb “and he struck down all the remaining ones to Ahab in Samaria until he destroyed him.”
31 tn Heb “according to the word of the
32 tn Heb “and he said to the one who was over the wardrobe.”
33 tn Heb “and he was with her [in] the house of the
34 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
35 tn Heb “appeased the face of the
36 tn Heb “and the
37 tn Heb “for he saw the oppression of Israel, for the king of Syria oppressed them.”
38 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
39 tn Heb “Cause your hand to ride on the bow.”
40 tn Heb “and he caused his hand to ride.”
41 tn Heb “let us look at each other [in the] face.” The expression refers here to meeting in battle. See v. 11.
42 tn Heb “did not listen.”
43 tn Heb “went up.”
44 tn Heb “looked at each other [in the] face.”
45 tn Heb “and they conspired against him [with] a conspiracy in Jerusalem.”
46 tn Heb “and they sent after him to Lachish.”
47 tn Heb “and they carried him on horses.”
48 sn Azariah was also known by the name Uzziah.
49 tn Heb “a month of days.”
50 tn Heb “and came to.”
51 tn Heb “went up from Tirzah and arrived in Samaria and attacked Shallum son of Jabesh in Samaria.”
52 tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Shallum, and his conspiracy which he conspired, look, they are written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel.”
53 map For location see Map2-B1; Map4-D3; Map5-E2; Map6-A4; Map7-C1.
54 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.
55 tn Heb “from Elat.”
56 tc The consonantal text (Kethib), supported by many medieval Hebrew
57 tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew term מוּסַךְ (musakh; Qere) / מִיסַךְ (misakh; Kethib) is uncertain. For discussion see HALOT 557 s.v. מוּסַךְ and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 189-90.
58 tn Heb “that they built.”
59 sn It is doubtful that Tiglath-pileser ordered these architectural changes. Ahaz probably made these changes so he could send some of the items and materials to the Assyrian king as tribute. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 190, 193.
60 map For location see Map2-B1; Map4-D3; Map5-E2; Map6-A4; Map7-C1.
61 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
62 map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.
63 tn Heb “fear.”
64 tn Heb “and after him there was none like him among all the kings of Judah, and those who were before him.”
65 tc The MT has “his hand,” but this is due to graphic confusion of vav (ו) and yod (י). The translation reads “my hand,” along with many medieval Hebrew
66 tn Heb “elders of the priests.”
67 tn Heb “and the chief adviser returned and he found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he heard that he had departed from Lachish.”
68 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
69 tn Heb “heard concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, ‘Look, he has come out to fight with you.’”
70 tn Heb “Hear the words of Sennacherib which he sent to taunt the living God.”
71 tc The MT has “Berodach-Baladan,” but several Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic, and Latin witnesses agree with the parallel passage in Isa 39:1 and read “Merodach-Baladan.”
72 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
73 tn Heb “like the abominable practices of the nations.”
74 tn Heb “these horrible sins.”
75 sn See the note at 1 Kgs 15:12.
76 tn Heb “walked in all the way which his father walked.”
77 sn See the note at 1 Kgs 15:12.
78 tn Heb “and he served the disgusting idols which his father served and he bowed down to them.”
79 tn Or “cubicles.” Heb “houses.”
80 tn Heb “houses.” Perhaps tent-shrines made from cloth are in view (see BDB 109 s.v. בַּיִת). M. Cogan and H. Tadmor (II Kings [AB], 286) understand this as referring to clothes made for images of the goddess.
81 tn Heb “and like him there was not a king before him who returned to the
sn The description of Josiah’s devotion as involving his whole “heart, soul, and being” echoes the language of Deut 6:5.
82 tn Heb “Yet the
83 tn Heb “In his days.”
84 tn Heb “came up.” Perhaps an object (“against him”) has been accidentally omitted from the text. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 306.
85 tn The Hebrew text has “and he turned and rebelled against him.”
86 tn Heb “and he deported Jehoiachin to Babylon; the mother of the king and the wives of the king and his eunuchs and the mighty of the land he led into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.”
87 sn Riblah was a strategic town on the Orontes River in Syria. It was at a crossing of the major roads between Egypt and Mesopotamia. Pharaoh Necho had earlier received Jehoahaz there and put him in chains (2 Kgs 23:33) prior to taking him captive to Egypt. Nebuchadnezzar had set up his base camp for conducting his campaigns against the Palestinian states there and was now sitting in judgment on prisoners brought to him.
88 tn The Hebrew text has the plural form of the verb, but the parallel passage in Jer 52:9 has the singular.
89 tn Heb “and every large house he burned down with fire.”
90 tn Heb “And the people who were left in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon left, he appointed over them Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan.”
91 tn Heb “made his throne above the throne of.”