2 Kings 3:16

3:16 and he said, “This is what the Lord says, ‘Make many cisterns in this valley,’ 1 

2 Kings 5:4

5:4 Naaman 2  went and told his master what the girl from the land of Israel had said.

2 Kings 5:19

5:19 Elisha 3  said to him, “Go in peace.”

When he had gone a short distance, 4 

2 Kings 6:7

6:7 He said, “Lift it out.” So he reached out his hand and grabbed it.

2 Kings 9:12

9:12 But they said, “You’re lying! Tell us what he said.” So he told them what he had said. He also related how he had said, 5  “This is what the Lord says, ‘I have designated you as king over Israel.’”

2 Kings 10:4

10:4 They were absolutely terrified 6  and said, “Look, two kings could not stop him! 7  How can we?” 8 

2 Kings 20:16

20:16 Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Listen to the word of the Lord,

1 tn Heb “making this valley cisterns, cisterns.” The Hebrew noun גֵּב (gev) means “cistern” in Jer 14:3 (cf. Jer 39:10). The repetition of the noun is for emphasis. See GKC 396 §123.e. The verb (“making”) is an infinitive absolute, which has to be interpreted in light of the context. The translation above takes it in an imperatival sense. The command need not be understood as literal, but as hyperbolic. Telling them to build cisterns is a dramatic way of leading into the announcement that he would miraculously provide water in the desert. Some prefer to translate the infinitive as an imperfect with the Lord as the understood subject, “I will turn this valley [into] many pools.”

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

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

4 tn Heb “and he went from him a distance of land.” The precise meaning of כִּבְרַה (kivrah) “distance,” is uncertain. See BDB 460 s.v. כִּבְרַה, and HALOT 459-60 s.v. II *כְּבָרַה, and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 65.

5 tn Heb “So he said, ‘Like this and like this he said to me, saying.’” The words “like this and like this” are probably not a direct quote of Jehu’s words to his colleagues. Rather this is the narrator’s way of avoiding repetition and indicating that Jehu repeated, or at least summarized, what the prophet had said to him.

6 tn Heb “they were very, very afraid.” The term מְאֹד (me’od) “very,” is repeated for emphasis.

7 tn Heb “did not stand before him.”

8 tn Heb “How can we stand?”