9:17 Now the watchman was standing on the tower in Jezreel and saw Jehu’s troops approaching. 1 He said, “I see troops!” 2 Jehoram ordered, 3 “Send a rider out to meet them and have him ask, ‘Is everything all right?’” 4 9:18 So the horseman 5 went to meet him and said, “This is what the king says, ‘Is everything all right?’” 6 Jehu replied, “None of your business! 7 Follow me.” The watchman reported, “The messenger reached them, but hasn’t started back.”
1 tn Heb “the quantity [of the men] of Jehu, when he approached.” Elsewhere שִׁפְעַה (shif’ah), “quantity,” is used of a quantity of camels (Isa 60:6) or horses (Ezek 26:10) and of an abundance of water (Job 22:11; 38:34).
2 tn The term שִׁפְעַת (shifat) appears to be a construct form of the noun, but no genitive follows.
3 tn Heb “said.”
4 tn Heb “Get a rider and send [him] to meet him and let him ask, ‘Is there peace?’”
5 tn Heb “the rider of the horse.”
6 tn Heb “Is there peace?”
7 tn Heb “What concerning you and concerning peace?” That is, “What concern is that to you?”