2 Kings 5:2

5:2 Raiding parties went out from Syria and took captive from the land of Israel a young girl, who became a servant to Naaman’s wife.

2 Kings 6:8-9

Elisha Defeats an Army

6:8 Now the king of Syria was at war with Israel. He consulted his advisers, who said, “Invade¹ at such and such² a place.” 6:9 But the prophet sent this message to the king of Israel, “Make sure you don’t pass through this place because Syria is invading there.”

2 Kings 6:11

6:11 This made the king of Syria upset.³ So he summoned his advisers⁴ and said to them, “One of us must be helping the king of Israel.”⁵

2 Kings 8:7

Elisha Meets with Hazael

8:7 Elisha traveled to Damascus while King Ben Hadad of Syria was sick. The king⁶ was told, “The prophet⁷ has come here.”

2 Kings 8:28

8:28 He joined Ahab’s son Joram in a battle against King Hazael of Syria at Ramoth Gilead in which the Syrians defeated Joram.

2 Kings 13:3-5

13:3 The Lord was furious with⁸ Israel and handed them over to⁹ King Hazael of Syria and to Hazael’s son Ben Hadad for many years.¹⁰

13:4 Jehoahaz asked for the Lord’s mercy¹¹ and the Lord responded favorably,¹² for he saw that Israel was oppressed by the king of Syria.¹³ 13:5 The Lord provided a deliverer¹⁴ for Israel and they were freed from Syria’s power.¹⁵ The Israelites once more lived in security.¹⁶

2 Kings 16:5

16:5 At that time King Rezin of Syria and King Pekah son of Remaliah of Israel attacked Jerusalem.¹⁷ They besieged Ahaz,¹⁸ but were unable to conquer him.¹⁹

¹tc The verb form used here is difficult to analyze. On the basis of the form נְחִתִּים (nÿkhitim) in v. 9 from the root נָחַת (nakhat), it is probably best to emend the verb to תִּנְחְתוּ (tinkhÿtu; a Qal imperfect form from the same root). The verb נָחַת in at least two other instances carries the nuance “go down, descend” in a military context. For a defense of this view, see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 72.

²sn The advisers would have mentioned a specific location, but the details are not significant to the narrator’s purpose, so he simply paraphrases here.

³tn Heb “and the heart of the king of Syria was stirred up over this thing.”

⁴tn Heb “servants.”

⁵tn Heb “Will you not tell me who among us [is] for the king of Israel?” The sarcastic rhetorical question expresses the king’s suspicion.

⁶tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁷tn Heb “man of God” (also a second time in this verse and in v. 11).

⁸tn Heb “and the anger of the Lord burned against.”

⁹tn Heb “he gave them into the hand of.”

¹⁰tn Heb “all the days.”

¹¹tn Heb “appeased the face of the Lord.”

¹²tn Heb “and the Lord heard.”

¹³tn Heb “for he saw the oppression of Israel, for the king of Syria oppressed them.”

¹⁴sn The identity of this unnamed “deliverer” is debated. For options see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 143.

¹⁵tn Heb “and they went from under the hand of Syria.”

¹⁶tn Heb “and the sons of Israel lived in their tents as before.”

¹⁷tn Heb “went up to Jerusalem for battle.”

¹⁸tn That is, Jerusalem, Ahaz’s capital city.

¹⁹tn Heb “they were unable to fight.” The object must be supplied from the preceding sentence. Elsewhere when the Niphal infinitive of לָחָם (lakham) follows the verb יָכֹל (yakhol), the infinitive appears to have the force of “prevail against.” See Num 22:11; 1 Sam 17:9; and the parallel passage in Isa 7:1.