¹ tn Heb “went and sent.”

² tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jehoshaphat) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³ tn Heb “I will go up – like me, like you; like my people, like your people; like my horses; like your horses.”

⁴ tn Heb “her soul [i.e., ‘disposition’] is bitter.”

⁵ tn Heb “Am I God, killing and restoring life, that this one sends to me to cure a man from his skin disease?” In the Hebrew text this is one lengthy rhetorical question, which has been divided up in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁶ tn Heb “Indeed, know and see that he is seeking an occasion with respect to me.”

⁷ tn Heb “If you are mine and you are listening to my voice.”

⁸ sn Jehu’s command is intentionally vague. Does he mean that they should bring the guardians (those who are “heads” over Ahab’s sons) for a meeting, or does he mean that they should bring the literal heads of Ahab’s sons with them? (So LXX, Syriac Peshitta, and some mss of the Targum) The city leaders interpret his words in the literal sense, but Jehu’s command is so ambiguous he is able to deny complicity in the executions (see v. 9).

⁹ tn Heb “great,” probably in wealth, position, and prestige.

¹⁰ tn Heb “found.”

¹¹ tn Heb “and he went from there and found Jehonadab son of Rekab [who was coming] to meet him.”

¹² tn Heb “and he blessed him and said to him.”

¹³ tn Heb “Is there with your heart [what is] right, as my heart [is] with your heart?”

¹⁴ tc Heb “Jehonadab said, ‘There is and there is. Give your hand.’” If the text is allowed to stand, there are two possible ways to understand the syntax of וָיֵשׁ (vayesh), “and there is”: (1) The repetition of יֵשׁ (yesh, “there is and there is”) could be taken as emphatic, “indeed I am.” In this case, the entire statement could be taken as Jehonadab’s words or one could understand the words “give your hand” as Jehu’s. In the latter case the change in speakers is unmarked. (2) וָיֵשׁ begins Jehu’s response and has a conditional force, “if you are.” In this case, the transition in speakers is unmarked. However, it is possible that וַיֹּאמֶר (vayyo’mer), “and he said,” or וַיֹּאמֶר יֵהוּא (vayyo’mer yehu), “and Jehu said,” originally appeared between יֵשׁ and וָיֵשׁ and has accidentally dropped from the text by homoioarcton (note that both the proposed וַיֹּאמֶר and וָיֵשׁ begin with vav, ו). The present translation assumes such a textual reconstruction; it is supported by the LXX, Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate.

¹⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jehu) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁶ tn Heb “make with me a blessing and come out to me.”