2 Kings 3:11

3:11 Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there no prophet of the Lord here that we might seek the Lord’s direction?”¹ One of the servants of the king of Israel answered, “Elisha son of Shapat is here; he used to be Elijah’s servant.”²

2 Kings 5:18

5:18 May the Lord forgive your servant for this one thing: When my master enters the temple of Rimmon to worship, and he leans on my arm and I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the Lord forgive your servant for this.”³

2 Kings 7:1

7:1 Elisha replied, “Hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Lord says, ‘About this time tomorrow a seah⁴ of finely milled flour will sell for a shekel and two seahs of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria.’”

2 Kings 9:6

9:6 So Jehu⁵ got up and went inside. Then the prophet⁶ poured the olive oil on his head and said to him, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says, ‘I have designated you as king over the Lord’s people Israel.

2 Kings 11:4

11:4 In the seventh year Jehoiada summoned⁷ the officers of the units of hundreds of the Carians⁸ and the royal bodyguard.⁹ He met with them¹⁰ in the Lord’s temple. He made an agreement¹¹ with them and made them swear an oath of allegiance in the Lord’s temple. Then he showed them the king’s son.

2 Kings 12:4

12:4 Jehoash said to the priests, “I place at your disposal¹² all the consecrated silver that has been brought to the Lord’s temple, including the silver collected from the census tax,¹³ the silver received from those who have made vows,¹⁴ and all the silver that people have voluntarily contributed to the Lord’s temple.¹⁵

2 Kings 12:9

12:9 Jehoiada the priest took a chest and drilled a hole in its lid. He placed it on the right side of the altar near the entrance of¹⁶ the Lord’s temple. The priests who guarded the entrance would put into it all the silver brought to the Lord’s temple.

2 Kings 17:15

17:15 They rejected his rules, the covenant he had made with their ancestors, and the laws he had commanded them to obey.¹⁷ They paid allegiance to¹⁸ worthless idols, and so became worthless to the Lord.¹⁹ They copied the practices of the surrounding nations in blatant disregard of the Lord’s command.²⁰

2 Kings 19:4

19:4 Perhaps the Lord your God will hear all these things the chief adviser has spoken on behalf of his master, the king of Assyria, who sent him to taunt the living God.²¹ When the Lord your God hears, perhaps he will punish him for the things he has said.²² So pray for this remnant that remains.’”²³

2 Kings 20:5

20:5 “Go back and tell Hezekiah, the leader of my people: ‘This is what the Lord God of your ancestor David says: “I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Look, I will heal you. The day after tomorrow²⁴ you will go up to the Lord’s temple.

2 Kings 22:13

22:13 “Go, seek an oracle from²⁵ the Lord for me and the people – for all Judah. Find out about²⁶ the words of this scroll that has been discovered. For the Lord’s fury has been ignited against us,²⁷ because our ancestors have not obeyed the words of this scroll by doing all that it instructs us to do.”²⁸

2 Kings 22:19

22:19 ‘You displayed a sensitive spirit²⁹ and humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard how I intended to make this place and its residents into an appalling example of an accursed people.³⁰ You tore your clothes and wept before me, and I have heard you,’ says the Lord.

2 Kings 23:2-3

23:2 The king went up to the Lord’s temple, accompanied by all the people of Judah, all the residents of Jerusalem, the priests, and the prophets. All the people were there, from the youngest to the oldest. He read aloud³¹ all the words of the scroll of the covenant that had been discovered in the Lord’s temple. 23:3 The king stood by the pillar and renewed³² the covenant before the Lord, agreeing to follow³³ the Lord and to obey his commandments, laws, and rules with all his heart and being,³⁴ by carrying out the terms³⁵ of this covenant recorded on this scroll. All the people agreed to keep the covenant.³⁶

¹tn Heb “that we might inquire of the Lord through him?”

²tn Heb “who poured water on the hands of Elijah.” This refers to one of the typical tasks of a servant.

³tn Heb “When my master enters the house of Rimmon to bow down there, and he leans on my hand and I bow down [in] the house of Rimmon, when I bow down [in] the house of Rimmon, may the Lord forgive your servant for this thing.”

sn Rimmon was the Syrian storm god. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 65.

⁴sn A seah was a dry measure equivalent to about 7 quarts.

⁵tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jehu) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

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

⁷tn Heb “Jehoiada sent and took.”

⁸sn The Carians were apparently a bodyguard, probably comprised of foreigners. See HALOT 497 s.v. כָּרִי and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 126.

⁹tn Heb “the runners.”

¹⁰tn Heb “he brought them to himself.”

¹¹tn Or “covenant.”

¹²tn The words “I place at your disposal” are added in the translation for clarification.

¹³tn Heb “the silver of passing over a man.” The precise meaning of the phrase is debated, but עָבַר (’avar), “pass over,” probably refers here to counting, suggesting the reference is to a census conducted for taxation purposes. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 137.

¹⁴tn Heb “the silver of persons, his valuation.” The precise meaning of the phrase is uncertain, but parallels in Lev 27 suggest that personal vows are referred to here. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 137.

¹⁵tn Heb “all the silver which goes up on the heart of a man to bring to the house of the Lord.”

¹⁶tn Heb “on the right side of the altar as a man enters.”

¹⁷tn Or “and his warnings he had given them.”

¹⁸tn Heb “They went [or, ‘followed’] after.” This idiom probably does not mean much if translated literally. It is found most often in Deuteronomy or in literature related to the covenant. It refers in the first instance to loyalty to God and to His covenant or His commandments (1 Kgs 14:8; 2 Chr 34:31) with the metaphor of a path or way underlying it (Deut 11:28; 28:14). To “follow other gods” was to abandon this way and this loyalty (to “abandon” or “forget” God, Judg 2:12; Hos 2:13) and to follow the customs or religious traditions of the pagan nations (2 Kgs 17:15). The classic text on “following” God or another god is 1 Kgs 18:18, 21 where Elijah taunts the people with “halting between two opinions” whether the Lord was the true God or Baal was. The idiom is often found followed by “to serve and to worship” or “they served and worshiped” such and such a god or entity (Jer 8:2; 11:10; 13:10; 16:11; 25:6; 35:15).

¹⁹tn Heb “they followed after the worthless thing/things and became worthless.” The words “to the Lord” are not in the Hebrew text but are implicit from the context. There is an obvious wordplay on the verb “became worthless” and the noun “worthless thing”, which is probably to be understood collectively and to refer to idols as it does in Jer 8:19; 10:8; 14:22; Jonah 2:8.

²⁰tn Heb “and [they walked] after the nations which were around them, concerning which the Lord commanded them not to do like them.”

²¹tn Heb “all the words of the chief adviser whom his master, the king of Assyria, sent to taunt the living God.”

²²tn Heb “and rebuke the words which the Lord your God hears.”

²³tn Heb “and lift up a prayer on behalf of the remnant that is found.”

²⁴tn Heb “on the third day.”

²⁵tn Or “inquire of.”

²⁶tn Heb “concerning.”

²⁷tn Heb “for great is the anger of the Lord which has been ignited against us.”

²⁸tn Heb “by doing all that is written concerning us.” Perhaps עָלֵינוּ (’alenu), “concerning us,” should be altered to עָלָיו (’alav), “upon it,” in which case one could translate, “by doing all that is written in it.”

²⁹tn Heb “Because your heart was tender.”

³⁰tn Heb “how I said concerning this place and its residents to become [an object of] horror and [an example of] a curse.” The final phrase (“horror and a curse”) refers to Judah becoming a prime example of an accursed people. In curse formulations they would be held up as a prime example of divine judgment. For an example of such a curse, see Jer 29:22.

³¹tn Heb “read in their ears.”

³²tn Heb “cut,” that is, “made, agreed to.”

³³tn Heb “walk after.”

³⁴tn Or “soul.”

³⁵tn Heb “words.”

³⁶tn Heb “stood in the covenant.”