2 Kings 6:8-10

Elisha Defeats an Army

6:8 Now the king of Syria was at war with Israel. He consulted his advisers, who said, “Invade ¹  at such and such ²  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.” 6:10 So the king of Israel sent a message to the place the prophet had pointed out, warning it ³  to be on its guard. This happened on several occasions. ⁴ 

2 Kings 10:3

10:3 pick the best and most capable ⁵  of your master’s sons, place him on his father’s throne, and defend ⁶  your master’s dynasty.”

2 Kings 14:21

14:21 All the people of Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in his father Amaziah’s place.

2 Kings 15:14

15:14 Menahem son of Gadi went up from Tirzah to ⁷  Samaria and attacked Shallum son of Jabesh. ⁸  He killed him and took his place as king.

2 Kings 21:24

21:24 The people of the land executed all those who had conspired against King Amon, and they ⁹  made his son Josiah king in his place.

2 Kings 23:34

23:34 Pharaoh Necho made Josiah’s son Eliakim king in Josiah’s place, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. He took Jehoahaz to Egypt, where he died. ¹⁰ 

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¹ tc 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.

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

³ tn The vav + perfect here indicates action contemporary with the preceding main verb (“sent”). See IBHS 533-34 §32.2.3e.

⁴ tn Heb “and the king of Israel sent to the place about which the man of God spoke to him, and he warned it and he guarded himself there, not once and not twice.”

⁵ tn Hebrew יָשָׁר (yashar) does not have its normal moral/ethical nuance here (“upright”), but a more neutral sense of “proper, right, suitable.” For the gloss “capable,” see HALOT 450 s.v. יָשָׁר.

⁶ tn Or “fight for.”

⁷ tn Heb “and came to.”

⁸ tn Heb “went up from Tirzah and arrived in Samaria and attacked Shallum son of Jabesh in Samaria.”

⁹ tn Heb “the people of the land.” The pronoun “they” has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons, to avoid the repetition of the phrase “the people of the land” from the beginning of the verse.

¹⁰ tn Heb “and he took Jehoahaz, and he came to Egypt and he died there.”