2:15 When the members of the prophetic guild in Jericho, 1 who were standing at a distance, 2 saw him do this, they said, “The spirit that energized Elijah 3 rests upon Elisha.” They went to meet him and bowed down to the ground before him. 2:16 They said to him, “Look, there are fifty capable men with your servants. Let them go and look for your master, for the wind sent from the Lord 4 may have carried him away and dropped him on one of the hills or in one of the valleys.” But Elisha 5 replied, “Don’t send them out.”
9:27 When King Ahaziah of Judah saw what happened, he took off 7 up the road to Beth Haggan. Jehu chased him and ordered, “Shoot him too.” They shot him while he was driving his chariot up the ascent of Gur near Ibleam. 8 He fled to Megiddo 9 and died there.
10:15 When he left there, he met 10 Jehonadab, son of Rekab, who had been looking for him. 11 Jehu greeted him and asked, 12 “Are you as committed to me as I am to you?” 13 Jehonadab answered, “I am!” Jehu replied, “If so, give me your hand.” 14 So he offered his hand and Jehu 15 pulled him up into the chariot.
1 map For location see Map5-B2; Map6-E1; Map7-E1; Map8-E3; Map10-A2; Map11-A1.
2 tn Heb “and the sons of the prophets who were in Jericho, [who were standing] opposite, saw him and said.”
3 tn Heb “the spirit of Elijah.”
4 tn Or “the spirit of the
5 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
6 tn Heb “said to.”
7 tn Heb “and Ahaziah king of Judah saw and fled.”
8 tn After Jehu’s order (“kill him too”), the MT has simply, “to the chariot in the ascent of Gur which is near Ibleam.” The main verb in the clause, “they shot him” (וַיִּכְהוּ, vayyikhhu), has been accidentally omitted by virtual haplography/homoioteleuton. Note that the immediately preceding form הַכֻּהוּ (hakkuhu), “shoot him,” ends with the same suffix.
9 map For location see Map1-D4; Map2-C1; Map4-C2; Map5-F2; Map7-B1.
10 tn Heb “found.”
11 tn Heb “and he went from there and found Jehonadab son of Rekab [who was coming] to meet him.”
12 tn Heb “and he blessed him and said to him.”
13 tn Heb “Is there with your heart [what is] right, as my heart [is] with your heart?”
14 tc Heb “Jehonadab said, ‘There is and there is. Give your hand.’” If the text is allowed to stand, there are two possible ways to understand the syntax of וָיֵשׁ (vayesh), “and there is”: (1) The repetition of יֵשׁ (yesh, “there is and there is”) could be taken as emphatic, “indeed I am.” In this case, the entire statement could be taken as Jehonadab’s words or one could understand the words “give your hand” as Jehu’s. In the latter case the change in speakers is unmarked. (2) וָיֵשׁ begins Jehu’s response and has a conditional force, “if you are.” In this case, the transition in speakers is unmarked. However, it is possible that וַיֹּאמֶר (vayyo’mer), “and he said,” or וַיֹּאמֶר יֵהוּא (vayyo’mer yehu), “and Jehu said,” originally appeared between יֵשׁ and וָיֵשׁ and has accidentally dropped from the text by homoioarcton (note that both the proposed וַיֹּאמֶר and וָיֵשׁ begin with vav, ו). The present translation assumes such a textual reconstruction; it is supported by the LXX, Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate.
15 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jehu) has been specified in the translation for clarity.