9:11 When Jehu rejoined 13 his master’s servants, they 14 asked him, “Is everything all right? 15 Why did this madman visit you?” He replied, “Ah, it’s not important. You know what kind of man he is and the kinds of things he says.” 16
9:27 When King Ahaziah of Judah saw what happened, he took off 17 up the road to Beth Haggan. Jehu chased him and ordered, “Shoot him too.” They shot him while he was driving his chariot up the ascent of Gur near Ibleam. 18 He fled to Megiddo 19 and died there.
10:15 When he left there, he met 20 Jehonadab, son of Rekab, who had been looking for him. 21 Jehu greeted him and asked, 22 “Are you as committed to me as I am to you?” 23 Jehonadab answered, “I am!” Jehu replied, “If so, give me your hand.” 24 So he offered his hand and Jehu 25 pulled him up into the chariot.
11:4 In the seventh year Jehoiada summoned 26 the officers of the units of hundreds of the Carians 27 and the royal bodyguard. 28 He met with them 29 in the Lord’s temple. He made an agreement 30 with them and made them swear an oath of allegiance in the Lord’s temple. Then he showed them the king’s son.
1 tn Heb “he went up and lay down over.”
2 tn Heb “his” (also in the next two clauses).
3 tn Or perhaps, “body”; Heb “flesh.”
4 tn Heb “Am I God, killing and restoring life, that this one sends to me to cure a man from his skin disease?” In the Hebrew text this is one lengthy rhetorical question, which has been divided up in the translation for stylistic reasons.
5 tn Heb “Indeed, know and see that he is seeking an occasion with respect to me.”
6 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
7 tn The Hebrew text also has “in his hand.”
8 tn Heb “and.” It is possible that the conjunction is here explanatory, equivalent to English “that is.” In this case the forty camel loads constitute the “gift” and one should translate, “He took along a gift, consisting of forty camel loads of all the fine things of Damascus.”
9 sn The words “your son” emphasize the king’s respect for the prophet.
10 tn Heb “saying.”
11 tn Heb “which the Syrians inflicted [on] him.”
12 tn Heb “to see.”
13 tn Heb “went out to.”
14 tc The MT has the singular, “he said,” but many witnesses correctly read the plural.
15 tn Heb “Is there peace?”
16 tn Heb “He said, ‘You, you know the man and his thoughts.’” Jehu tries to deflect their question by reminding them that the man is an eccentric individual who says strange things. His reply suggests that the man said nothing of importance. The translation seeks to bring out the tone and intent of Jehu’s reply.
17 tn Heb “and Ahaziah king of Judah saw and fled.”
18 tn After Jehu’s order (“kill him too”), the MT has simply, “to the chariot in the ascent of Gur which is near Ibleam.” The main verb in the clause, “they shot him” (וַיִּכְהוּ, vayyikhhu), has been accidentally omitted by virtual haplography/homoioteleuton. Note that the immediately preceding form הַכֻּהוּ (hakkuhu), “shoot him,” ends with the same suffix.
19 map For location see Map1-D4; Map2-C1; Map4-C2; Map5-F2; Map7-B1.
20 tn Heb “found.”
21 tn Heb “and he went from there and found Jehonadab son of Rekab [who was coming] to meet him.”
22 tn Heb “and he blessed him and said to him.”
23 tn Heb “Is there with your heart [what is] right, as my heart [is] with your heart?”
24 tc Heb “Jehonadab said, ‘There is and there is. Give your hand.’” If the text is allowed to stand, there are two possible ways to understand the syntax of וָיֵשׁ (vayesh), “and there is”: (1) The repetition of יֵשׁ (yesh, “there is and there is”) could be taken as emphatic, “indeed I am.” In this case, the entire statement could be taken as Jehonadab’s words or one could understand the words “give your hand” as Jehu’s. In the latter case the change in speakers is unmarked. (2) וָיֵשׁ begins Jehu’s response and has a conditional force, “if you are.” In this case, the transition in speakers is unmarked. However, it is possible that וַיֹּאמֶר (vayyo’mer), “and he said,” or וַיֹּאמֶר יֵהוּא (vayyo’mer yehu), “and Jehu said,” originally appeared between יֵשׁ and וָיֵשׁ and has accidentally dropped from the text by homoioarcton (note that both the proposed וַיֹּאמֶר and וָיֵשׁ begin with vav, ו). The present translation assumes such a textual reconstruction; it is supported by the LXX, Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate.
25 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jehu) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
26 tn Heb “Jehoiada sent and took.”
27 sn 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.
28 tn Heb “the runners.”
29 tn Heb “he brought them to himself.”
30 tn Or “covenant.”
31 tn Or “showed them compassion.”
32 tn Heb “he turned to them.”
33 tn Heb “because of his covenant with.”
34 tn Heb “until now.”
35 tn Traditionally, “he was a leper.” But see the note at 5:1.
36 tn The precise meaning of בֵית הַחָפְשִׁית (bet hakhofÿshit), “house of […?],” is uncertain. For a discussion of various proposals, see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 166-67.
37 sn See the note at 2 Kgs 17:16.
38 tn Or “served.”
39 tc The LXX has the plural “his sons” here.
40 sn See the note at 2 Kgs 16:3.
41 tn Heb “and he set up a ritual pit, along with conjurers.” The Hebrew אוֹב (’ov), “ritual pit,” refers to a pit used by a magician to conjure up underworld spirits. In 1 Sam 28:7 the witch of Endor is called a בַעֲלַת אוֹב (ba’alat ’ov), “owner of a ritual pit.” See H. Hoffner, “Second millennium Antecedents to the Hebrew ’OñBù,” JBL 86 (1967), 385-401.
42 tc Heb “and he multiplied doing what is evil in the eyes of the