2 Kings 6:21

6:21 When the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha, “Should I strike them down, 1  my master?” 2 

2 Kings 14:26

14:26 The Lord saw Israel’s intense suffering; 3  everyone was weak and incapacitated and Israel had no deliverer. 4 

2 Kings 16:12

16:12 When the king arrived back from Damascus and 5  saw the altar, he approached it 6  and offered a sacrifice on it. 7 

1 tn Heb “Should I strike them down? I will strike them down.” In the Hebrew text the first person imperfect form is repeated; the first form has the interrogative he prefixed to it; the second does not. It is likely that the second form should be omitted as dittographic or that the first should be emended to an infinitive absolute.

2 tn Heb “my father.” The king addresses the prophet in this way to indicate his respect. See 2 Kgs 2:12.

3 tc Heb “for the Lord saw the very bitter affliction of Israel.” This translation assumes an emendation of מֹרֶה (moreh), which is meaningless here, to ַהמַּר (hammar), the adjective “bitter” functioning attributively with the article prefixed. This emendation is supported by the LXX, Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate. Another option would be מַר הוּא (mar hu’), “it was bitter.”

4 tn Heb “[there was] none but the restrained, and [there was] none but the abandoned, and there was no deliverer for Israel.” On the meaning of the terms עָצוּר (’atsur) and עָזוּב (’azur), see the note at 1 Kgs 14:10.

5 tn Heb “and the king.”

6 tn Heb “the altar.”

7 tn Or “ascended it.”