3:4 Now King Mesha of Moab was a sheep breeder. 1 He would send as tribute 2 to the king of Israel 100,000 male lambs and the wool of 100,000 rams.
4:31 Now Gehazi went on ahead of them. He placed the staff on the child’s face, but there was no sound or response. When he came back to Elisha 3 he told him, “The child did not wake up.”
4:38 Now Elisha went back to Gilgal, while there was famine in the land. Some of the prophets were visiting him 4 and he told his servant, “Put the big pot on the fire 5 and boil some stew for the prophets.” 6
5:1 Now Naaman, the commander of the king of Syria’s army, was esteemed and respected by his master, 8 for through him the Lord had given Syria military victories. But this great warrior had a skin disease. 9
7:3 Now four men with a skin disease 10 were sitting at the entrance of the city gate. They said to one another, “Why are we just sitting here waiting to die? 11
9:1 Now Elisha the prophet summoned a member of the prophetic guild 12 and told him, “Tuck your robes into your belt, take this container 13 of olive oil in your hand, and go to Ramoth Gilead.
Now Joram had been in Ramoth Gilead with the whole Israelite army, 14 guarding against an invasion by King Hazael of Syria.
9:17 Now the watchman was standing on the tower in Jezreel and saw Jehu’s troops approaching. 15 He said, “I see troops!” 16 Jehoram ordered, 17 “Send a rider out to meet them and have him ask, ‘Is everything all right?’” 18
13:14 Now Elisha had a terminal illness. 20 King Joash of Israel went down to visit him. 21 He wept before him and said, “My father, my father! The chariot 22 and horsemen of Israel!” 23
19:25 26 Certainly you must have heard! 27
Long ago I worked it out,
In ancient times I planned 28 it;
and now I am bringing it to pass.
The plan is this:
Fortified cities will crash
into heaps of ruins. 29
1 tn For a discussion of the meaning of term (נֹקֵד, noqed), see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 43.
2 tn The vav + perfect here indicates customary action contemporary with the situation described in the preceding main clause. See IBHS 533-34 §32.2.3e.
3 tn Heb “to meet him.”
4 tn Heb “the sons of the prophets were sitting before him.”
5 tn The words “the fire” are added for clarification.
6 tn Heb “sons of the prophets.”
7 tn Or “and let them eat.”
8 tn Heb “was a great man before his master and lifted up with respect to the face.”
9 tn For a discussion of מְצֹרָע (mÿtsora’), traditionally translated “leprous,” see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 63. Naaman probably had a skin disorder of some type, not leprosy/Hansen’s disease.
10 sn See the note at 2 Kgs 5:1.
11 tn Heb “until we die.”
12 tn Heb “one of the sons of the prophets.”
13 tn Or “flask.”
14 tn Heb “he and all Israel.”
15 tn Heb “the quantity [of the men] of Jehu, when he approached.” Elsewhere שִׁפְעַה (shif’ah), “quantity,” is used of a quantity of camels (Isa 60:6) or horses (Ezek 26:10) and of an abundance of water (Job 22:11; 38:34).
16 tn The term שִׁפְעַת (shifat) appears to be a construct form of the noun, but no genitive follows.
17 tn Heb “said.”
18 tn Heb “Get a rider and send [him] to meet him and let him ask, ‘Is there peace?’”
19 tn Heb “The man who escapes from the men whom I am bringing into your hands, [it will be] his life in place of his life.”
20 tn Heb “Now Elisha was ill with the illness by which he would die.”
21 tn Heb “went down to him.”
22 tn Though the noun is singular here, it may be collective, in which case it could be translated “chariots.”
23 sn By comparing Elisha to a one-man army, the king emphasizes the power of the prophetic word. See the note at 2:12.
24 tn Heb “man of God.”
25 tn Heb “[It was necessary] to strike five or six times, then you would strike down Syria until destruction.” On the syntax of the infinitive construct, see GKC 349 §114.k.
26 tn Having quoted the Assyrian king’s arrogant words in vv. 23-24, the Lord now speaks to the king.
27 tn Heb “Have you not heard?” The rhetorical question expresses the Lord’s amazement that anyone might be ignorant of what he is about to say.
28 tn Heb “formed.”
29 tn Heb “and it is to cause to crash into heaps of ruins fortified cities.” The subject of the third feminine singular verb תְּהִי (tÿhi) is the implied plan, referred to in the preceding lines with third feminine singular pronominal suffixes.
30 tn Heb “their brothers.”