³ sn They die. This clear verb interprets all the images in these verses—they die. When the house of clay collapses, or when their excess perishes—their life is over.

¹ tc The translation reads בְּנֵי (b^ene, “the sons of”) rather than the MT reading אַנְשֵׁי בֵית (ʾanshe vet, “men of the house of”). Cf. Ezra 2:24.

¹ tn Heb “and you walked in the way of the kings of Israel and caused Judah and the residents of Jerusalem to commit adultery, like the house of Ahab causes to commit adultery.”

¹ tn Heb “and if the man who sins against his neighbor when one takes up against him a curse to curse him and the curse comes before your altar in this house.”

² tn Heb “and they were standing on their feet, with their faces to the house.” An alternative translation of the last clause would be, “with their faces to the main hall.”

¹ tn Heb “I, [it was] with my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord and for a stool of the feet of our God.”

² tn Heb “these were their responsibilities for their service to enter the house of the Lord according to their manner [given] by the hand of Aaron their father, as the Lord God of Israel commanded him.”

¹ tn Heb “one house of a father was drawn by lot for Eleazar, and one [this assumes an emendation of אָחֻז (ʾakhuz) to אֶחָד (ʾekhad, “one”)] was drawn by lot for Ithamar.”

¹ tn Heb “and they kept the charge of the tent of meeting and the charge of the holy place and the charge of the sons of Aaron, their brothers, for the service of the house of the Lord.”

¹ tn Heb “all these were the sons of Asher, heads of the house of the fathers, selected, warriors, heads of the leaders, and there was listed in the genealogical records in war, in battle, their number, men, 26,000.”

³ tn Heb “because in tragedy there had come to his house.” The preposition prefixed to רָעָה (raʿah) should probably be omitted. The Hebrew noun רָעָה (“tragedy”) should be understood as the subject of the feminine verb form that follows.

¹ tn Heb “and unto them by their generations to the house of their fathers [were] troops of war of battle, 36,000, for they had many wives and sons.”

² tn Heb “houses.” Perhaps tent-shrines made from cloth are in view (see BDB 109 s.v. בַּיִת). M. Cogan and H. Tadmor (II Kings [AB], 286) understand this as referring to clothes made for images of the goddess.

¹ tn Heb “and he struck him down in Samaria in the fortress of the house of the king, Argob and Arieh, and with him 50 men from the sons of the Gileadites, and they killed him.”

² tn The precise meaning of בֵית הַחָפְשִׁית (bet hakhofshit), “house of […?],” is uncertain. For a discussion of various proposals, see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 166-67.

² tn Heb “Now the kingdom could return to the house of David.” The imperfect verbal form translated “could return” is understood as having a potential force here. Perhaps this is not strong enough; another option is “will return.”

¹ tc The Old Greek translation includes the following words at the beginning of ch. 8: “It so happened that when Solomon finished building the Lord’s temple and his own house, after 20 years.”

² tn Heb “a house for the name of the Lord.” The word “name” sometimes refers to one’s reputation or honor. The “name” of the Lord sometimes designates the Lord himself, being indistinguishable from the proper name.

¹ tn Heb “a house for the name of the Lord.” The word “name” sometimes refers to one’s reputation or honor. The “name” of the Lord sometimes designates the Lord himself, being indistinguishable from the proper name.

¹ sn There was no one else in the house except the two of us. In other words, there were no other witnesses to the births who could identify which child belonged to which mother.