¹ tn Heb “But Jehu was not careful to walk in the law of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart.”

² tn Heb “He did not turn aside from the sins of Jeroboam which he caused Israel to commit.”

³ tn The meaning of the verb וַיְחַפְּאוּ (vayÿkhappÿ’u), translated here “said,” is uncertain. Some relate it to the verbal root חָפַה (khafah), “to cover,” and translate “they did it in secret” (see BDB 341 s.v. חָפָא). However, the pagan practices specified in the following sentences were hardly done in secret. Others propose a meaning “ascribe, impute,” which makes good contextual sense but has little etymological support (see HALOT 339 s.v. חפא). In this case Israel claimed that the Lord authorized their pagan practices.

⁴ sn That is, from the city’s perimeter to the central citadel.

⁵ tc The second plural subject may refer to the leaders of the Assyrian army. However, some prefer to read “whom I deported,” changing the verb to a first person singular form with a third masculine plural pronominal suffix. This reading has some support from Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic witnesses.

⁶ tc Heb “and let them go and let them live there, and let him teach them the requirements of the God of the land.” The two plural verbs seem inconsistent with the preceding and following contexts, where only one priest is sent back to Samaria. The singular has the support of Greek, Syriac, and Latin witnesses.

⁷ tn Heb “fearing.”

⁸ tn Heb “and after him there was none like him among all the kings of Judah, and those who were before him.”

⁹ tn Heb “will not be given.”