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 7:19

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?” 6  Elisha 7  said, “Look, you will see it happen with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of the food!” 8 

2 Kings 10:19

10:19 So now, bring to me all the prophets of Baal, as well as all his servants and priests. 9  None of them must be absent, for I am offering a great sacrifice to Baal. Any of them who fail to appear will lose their lives.” But Jehu was tricking them 10  so he could destroy the servants of Baal.

2 Kings 10:25

10:25 When he finished offering the burnt sacrifice, Jehu ordered the royal guard 11  and officers, “Come in and strike them down! Don’t let any escape!” So the royal guard and officers struck them down with the sword and left their bodies lying there. 12  Then they entered the inner sanctuary of the temple of Baal. 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 Heb “the Lord was making holes in the sky, could this thing be?” See the note at 7:2.

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

8 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.

9 tn Heb “and now, all the prophets of Baal, all his servants and all his priests summon to me.”

10 tn Heb “acted with deception [or, ‘trickery’].”

11 tn Heb “runners.”

12 tn Heb “and they threw.” No object appears. According to M. Cogan and H. Tadmor (II Kings [AB], 116), this is an idiom for leaving a corpse unburied.

13 tn Heb “and they came to the city of the house of Baal.” It seems unlikely that a literal city is meant. Some emend עִיר (’ir), “city,” to דְּבִיר (dÿvir) “holy place,” or suggest that עִיר is due to dittography of the immediately preceding עַד (’ad) “to.” Perhaps עִיר is here a technical term meaning “fortress” or, more likely, “inner room.”