2 Kings 6:22

6:22 He replied, “Do not strike them down! You did not capture them with your sword or bow, so what gives you the right to strike them down? ¹  Give them some food and water, so they can eat and drink and then go back to their master.”

2 Kings 9:11

9:11 When Jehu rejoined ²  his master’s servants, they ³  asked him, “Is everything all right? ⁴  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.” ⁵ 

2 Kings 11:9

11:9 The officers of the units of hundreds did just as ⁶  Jehoiada the priest ordered. Each of them took his men, those who were on duty during the Sabbath as well as those who were off duty on the Sabbath, and reported ⁷  to Jehoiada the priest.

2 Kings 14:6

14:6 But he did not execute the sons of the assassins. He obeyed the Lord’s commandment as recorded in the law scroll of Moses, ⁸  “Fathers must not be put to death for what their sons do, ⁹  and sons must not be put to death for what their fathers do. ¹⁰  A man must be put to death only for his own sin.” ¹¹ 

2 Kings 15:20

15:20 Menahem got this silver by taxing all the wealthy men in Israel; he took fifty shekels of silver from each one of them and paid it to the king of Assyria. ¹²  Then the king of Assyria left; he did not stay there in the land.

2 Kings 18:27

18:27 But the chief adviser said to them, “My master did not send me to speak these words only to your master and to you. ¹³  His message is also for the men who sit on the wall, for they will eat their own excrement and drink their own urine along with you.” ¹⁴ 

2 Kings 21:6

21:6 He passed his son ¹⁵  through the fire ¹⁶  and practiced divination and omen reading. He set up a ritual pit to conjure up underworld spirits, and appointed magicians to supervise it. ¹⁷  He did a great amount of evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger. ¹⁸ 

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¹ tn Heb “Are [they] ones you captured with your sword or your bow (that) you can strike (them) down?”

² tn Heb “went out to.”

³ tc The MT has the singular, “he said,” but many witnesses correctly read the plural.

⁴ tn Heb “Is there peace?”

⁵ 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.

⁶ tn Heb “according to all that.”

⁷ tn Heb “came.”

⁸ tn Heb “as it is written in the scroll of the law of Moses which the Lord commanded, saying.”

⁹ tn Heb “on account of sons.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “on account of fathers.”

¹¹ sn This law is recorded in Deut 24:16.

¹² tn Heb “and Menahem brought out the silver over Israel, over the prominent men of means, to give to the king of Assyria, fifty shekels of silver for each man.”

¹³ tn Heb “To your master and to you did my master send me to speak these words?” The rhetorical question expects a negative answer.

¹⁴ tn Heb “[Is it] not [also] to the men…?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Yes, it is.”

sn The chief adviser alludes to the horrible reality of siege warfare, when the starving people in the besieged city would resort to eating and drinking anything to stay alive.

¹⁵ tc The LXX has the plural “his sons” here.

¹⁶ sn See the note at 2 Kgs 16:3.

¹⁷ 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.

¹⁸ tc Heb “and he multiplied doing what is evil in the eyes of the Lord, angering.” The third masculine singular pronominal suffix (“him”) has been accidentally omitted in the MT by haplography (note the vav that immediately follows).