Discovery Box2 Kings 19:26 
Context19:26 Their residents are powerless, 1
they are terrified and ashamed.
They are as short-lived as plants in the field,
or green vegetation. 2
They are as short-lived as grass on the rooftops 3
when it is scorched by the east wind. 4
2 Kings 22:19
Context22:19 ‘You displayed a sensitive spirit 5 and humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard how I intended to make this place and its residents into an appalling example of an accursed people. 6 You tore your clothes and wept before me, and I have heard you,’ says the Lord.
2 Kings 23:2
Context23:2 The king went up to the Lord’s temple, accompanied by all the people of Judah, all the residents of Jerusalem, the priests, and the prophets. All the people were there, from the youngest to the oldest. He read aloud 7 all the words of the scroll of the covenant that had been discovered in the Lord’s temple.
2 Kings 24:14
Context24:14 He deported all the residents of Jerusalem, including all the officials and all the soldiers (10,000 people in all). This included all the craftsmen and those who worked with metal. No one was left except for the poorest among the people of the land.
1 tn Heb “short of hand.”
2 tn Heb “they are plants in the field and green vegetation.” The metaphor emphasizes how short-lived these seemingly powerful cities really were. See Ps 90:5-6; Isa 40:6-8, 24.
3 tn Heb “[they are] grass on the rooftops.” See the preceding note.
4 tc The Hebrew text has “scorched before the standing grain” (perhaps meaning “before it reaches maturity”), but it is preferable to emend קָמָה (qamah), “standing grain,” to קָדִים (qadim), “east wind” (with the support of 1Q Isaa in Isa 37:27).
5 tn Heb “Because your heart was tender.”
6 tn Heb “how I said concerning this place and its residents to become [an object of] horror and [an example of] a curse.” The final phrase (“horror and a curse”) refers to Judah becoming a prime example of an accursed people. In curse formulations they would be held up as a prime example of divine judgment. For an example of such a curse, see Jer 29:22.
7 tn Heb “read in their ears.”
