12:4 Jehoash said to the priests, “I place at your disposal 5 all the consecrated silver that has been brought to the Lord’s temple, including the silver collected from the census tax, 6 the silver received from those who have made vows, 7 and all the silver that people have voluntarily contributed to the Lord’s temple. 8
17:13 The Lord solemnly warned Israel and Judah through all his prophets and all the seers, “Turn back from your evil ways; obey my commandments and rules that are recorded in the law. I ordered your ancestors to keep this law and sent my servants the prophets to remind you of its demands.” 11
23:4 The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the high-ranking priests, 21 and the guards 22 to bring out of the Lord’s temple all the items that were used in the worship of 23 Baal, Asherah, and all the stars of the sky. 24 The king 25 burned them outside of Jerusalem in the terraces 26 of Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel. 27
1 tn Heb “Let them take five of the remaining horses that remain in it. Look, they are like all the people of Israel that remain in it. Look, they are like all the people of Israel that have come to an end.” The MT is dittographic here; the words “that remain in it. Look they are like all the people of Israel” have been accidentally repeated. The original text read, “Let them take five of the remaining horses that remain in it. Look, they are like all the people of Israel that have come to an end.”
2 tn Heb “and let us send so we might see.”
3 tn Heb “and now, all the prophets of Baal, all his servants and all his priests summon to me.”
4 tn Heb “acted with deception [or, ‘trickery’].”
5 tn The words “I place at your disposal” are added in the translation for clarification.
6 tn Heb “the silver of passing over a man.” The precise meaning of the phrase is debated, but עָבַר (’avar), “pass over,” probably refers here to counting, suggesting the reference is to a census conducted for taxation purposes. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 137.
7 tn Heb “the silver of persons, his valuation.” The precise meaning of the phrase is uncertain, but parallels in Lev 27 suggest that personal vows are referred to here. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 137.
8 tn Heb “all the silver which goes up on the heart of a man to bring to the house of the
9 tn That is, the newly constructed altar.
10 tn Heb “for me to seek.” The precise meaning of בָּקַר (baqar), “seek,” is uncertain in this context. For discussion see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 189.
11 tn Heb “obey my commandments and rules according to all the law which I commanded your fathers and which I sent to you by the hand of my servants the prophets.”
12 tn Or “inquire of.”
13 tn Heb “concerning.”
14 tn Heb “for great is the anger of the
15 tn Heb “by doing all that is written concerning us.” Perhaps עָלֵינוּ (’alenu), “concerning us,” should be altered to עָלָיו (’alav), “upon it,” in which case one could translate, “by doing all that is written in it.”
16 tn Heb “cut,” that is, “made, agreed to.”
17 tn Heb “walk after.”
18 tn Or “soul.”
19 tn Heb “words.”
20 tn Heb “stood in the covenant.”
21 tn Heb “the priests of the second [rank],” that is, those ranked just beneath Hilkiah.
22 tn Or “doorkeepers.”
23 tn Heb “for.”
24 tn Heb “all the host of heaven” (also in v. 5).
25 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
26 tn Or “fields.” For a defense of the translation “terraces,” see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 285.
27 map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.
28 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Nebuchadnezzar) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
29 tn Heb “the city was breached.”
30 tn The Hebrew text is abrupt here: “And all the men of war by the night.” The translation attempts to capture the sense.
31 sn The king’s garden is mentioned again in Neh 3:15 in conjunction with the pool of Siloam and the stairs that go down from the city of David. This would have been in the southern part of the city near the Tyropean Valley which agrees with the reference to the “two walls” which were probably the walls on the eastern and western hills.
32 sn Heb “toward the Arabah.” The Arabah was the rift valley north and south of the Dead Sea. Here the intention was undoubtedly to escape across the Jordan to Moab or Ammon. It appears from Jer 40:14; 41:15 that the Ammonites were known to harbor fugitives from the Babylonians.