2 Kings 4:1

Elisha Helps a Widow and Her Sons

4:1 Now a wife of one of the prophets ¹  appealed ²  to Elisha for help, saying, “Your servant, my husband is dead. You know that your servant was a loyal follower of the Lord. ³  Now the creditor is coming to take away my two boys to be his servants.”

2 Kings 14:9

14:9 King Jehoash of Israel sent this message back to King Amaziah of Judah, “A thornbush in Lebanon sent this message to a cedar in Lebanon, ‘Give your daughter to my son as a wife.’ Then a wild animal ⁴  of Lebanon came by and trampled down the thorn. ⁵ 

2 Kings 22:14

22:14 So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Acbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shullam son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, the supervisor of the wardrobe. ⁶  (She lived in Jerusalem in the Mishneh ⁷  district.) They stated their business, ⁸ 

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¹ tn Heb “a wife from among the wives of the sons of the prophets.”

² tn Or “cried out.”

³ tn Heb “your servant feared the Lord.” “Fear” refers here to obedience and allegiance, the products of healthy respect for the Lord’s authority.

⁴ tn Heb “the animal of the field.”

⁵ sn Judah is the thorn in the allegory. Amaziah’s success has deceived him into thinking he is on the same level as the major powers in the area (symbolized by the cedar). In reality he is not capable of withstanding an attack by a real military power such as Israel (symbolized by the wild animal).

⁶ tn Heb “the keeper of the clothes.”

⁷ tn Or “second.” For a discussion of the possible location of this district, see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 283.

⁸ tn Heb “and they spoke to her.”