2 Kings 7:2

7:2 An officer who was the king’s right-hand man 1  responded to the prophet, 2  “Look, even if the Lord made it rain by opening holes in the sky, could this happen so soon?” 3  Elisha 4  said, “Look, you will see it happen with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of the food!” 5 

2 Kings 7:10

7:10 So they went and called out to the gatekeepers 6  of the city. They told them, “We entered the Syrian camp and there was no one there. We didn’t even hear a man’s voice. 7  But the horses and donkeys are still tied up, and the tents remain up.” 8 

2 Kings 7:13

7:13 One of his advisers replied, “Pick some men and have them take five of the horses that are left in the city. (Even if they are killed, their fate will be no different than that of all the Israelite people – we’re all going to die!) 9  Let’s send them out so we can know for sure what’s going on.” 10 

2 Kings 7:19

7:19 But the officer replied to the prophet, “Look, even if the Lord made it rain by opening holes in the sky, could this happen so soon?” 11  Elisha 12  said, “Look, you will see it happen with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of the food!” 13 

1 tn Heb “the officer on whose hand the king leans.”

2 tn Heb “man of God.”

3 tn Heb “the Lord was making holes in the sky, could this thing be?” Opening holes in the sky would allow the waters stored up there to pour to the earth and assure a good crop. But, the officer argues, even if this were to happen, it would take a long time to grow and harvest the crop.

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

5 tn Heb “you will not eat from there.”

6 tn The MT has a singular form (“gatekeeper”), but the context suggests a plural. The pronoun that follows (“them”) is plural and a plural noun appears in v. 11. The Syriac Peshitta and the Targum have the plural here.

7 tn Heb “and, look, there was no man or voice of a man there.”

8 tn Heb “but the horses are tied up and the donkeys are tied up and the tents are as they were.”

9 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.”

10 tn Heb “and let us send so we might see.”

11 tn Heb “the Lord was making holes in the sky, could this thing be?” See the note at 7:2.

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

13 tn Heb “you will not eat from there.”

tn In the Hebrew text vv. 18-19a are one lengthy sentence, “When the man of God spoke to the king…, the officer replied to the man of God, ‘Look…so soon?’” The translation divides this sentence up for stylistic reasons.