¹ tn Heb “what he did to the two commanders…and he killed them.”

² tn Heb “he shed the blood of battle in peace.”

³ tn Heb “and he shed the blood of battle when he killed which is on his waist and on his sandal[s] which are on his feet.” That is, he covered himself with guilt and his guilt was obvious to all who saw him.

⁴ tn Heb “I will place them [on? as?] rafts in the sea to the place where you designate to me.” This may mean he would send them by raft, or that he would tie them in raft-like bundles, and have ships tow them down to an Israelite port.

⁵ tn Heb “smash them,” i.e., untie the bundles.

⁶ tn Heb “as for you, you will satisfy my desire by giving food for my house.”

⁷ tn Heb “and do all which the foreigner calls to [i.e., “requests of”] you.”

⁸ tn Heb “your name.” See the note on the word “reputation” in v. 41.

⁹ tn Heb “fear.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “that your name is called over this house which I built.” The Hebrew idiom “to call the name over” indicates ownership. See 2 Sam 12:28.

¹¹ tn The words “I am taking the kingdom from him” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

¹² tc This is the reading of the MT; the LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate read “he has.”

¹³ tn Heb “walked in my ways.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “by doing what is right in my eyes, my rules and my regulations, like David his father.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “If you obey.” In the Hebrew text v. 38 is actually one long conditional sentence, which has been broken into two parts in the translation for stylistic purposes.

¹⁶ tn Heb “walk in my ways.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “do what is right in my eyes.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “I will build for you a permanent house, like I built for David.”

¹⁹ sn The eighth month would correspond to October-November in modern reckoning.

²⁰ sn The festival he celebrated in Judah probably refers to the Feast of Tabernacles (i.e., Booths or Temporary Shelters), held in the seventh month (September-October). See also 1 Kgs 8:2.

²¹ tn Heb “and he offered up [sacrifices] on the altar; he did this in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves which he had made.”

²² tn Heb “and he said to him.”

²³ tn Heb “by the word of the Lord.”

²⁴ tn Heb “eat food and drink water.”

²⁵ tn Or “deceiving him.”

sn He was lying to him. The motives and actions of the old prophet are difficult to understand. The old man’s response to the prophet’s death (see vv. 26-32) suggests he did not trick him with malicious intent. The old prophet probably wanted the honor of entertaining such a celebrity, or perhaps simply desired some social interaction with a fellow prophet.

²⁶ tn The elliptical Hebrew text reads literally “and the Lord will strike Israel as a reed sways in the water.”

²⁷ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 22, 31).

²⁸ tn Heb “the River.” In biblical Hebrew this is a typical reference to the Euphrates River. The name “Euphrates” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

²⁹ tn Heb “because they made their Asherah poles that anger the Lord”; or “their images of Asherah”; ASV, NASB “their Asherim”; NCV “they set up idols to worship Asherah.”

sn Asherah was a leading deity of the Canaanite pantheon, wife/sister of El and goddess of fertility. She was commonly worshiped at shrines in or near groves of evergreen trees, or, failing that, at places marked by wooden poles. These were to be burned or cut down (Deut 12:3; 16:21; Judg 6:25, 28, 30; 2 Kgs 18:4).

³⁰ tn Heb “and also through Jehu son of Hanani the word of the Lord came concerning [or “against”] Baasha and his house, and because of all the evil which he did in the eyes of the Lord.”

³¹ tn Heb “angering him by the work of his hands, so that he was like the house of Jeroboam, and because of how he struck it down.”