2 Kings 4:3

4:3 He said, “Go and ask all your neighbors for empty containers.¹ Get as many as you can.²

2 Kings 9:7

9:7 You will destroy the family of your master Ahab.³ I will get revenge against Jezebel for the shed blood of my servants the prophets and for the shed blood of all the Lord’s servants.⁴

2 Kings 17:9

17:9 The Israelites said things about the Lord their God that were not right.⁵ They built high places in all their cities, from the watchtower to the fortress.⁶

2 Kings 19:19

19:19 Now, O Lord our God, rescue us from his power, so that all the kingdoms of the earth will know that you, Lord, are the only God.”

¹tn Heb “Go, ask for containers from outside, from all your neighbors, empty containers.”

²tn Heb “Do not borrow just a few.”

³tn Or “strike down the house of Ahab your master.”

⁴tn Heb “I will avenge the shed blood of my servants the prophets and the shed blood of all the servants of the Lord from the hand of Jezebel.”

⁵tn The meaning of the verb וַיְחַפְּאוּ (vayÿkhappÿ’u), translated here “said,” is uncertain. Some relate it to the verbal root חָפַה (khafah), “to cover,” and translate “they did it in secret” (see BDB 341 s.v. חָפָא). However, the pagan practices specified in the following sentences were hardly done in secret. Others propose a meaning “ascribe, impute,” which makes good contextual sense but has little etymological support (see HALOT 339 s.v. חפא). In this case Israel claimed that the Lord authorized their pagan practices.

⁶sn That is, from the city’s perimeter to the central citadel.