1 Kings 14:10-11

14:10 So I am ready to bring disaster ¹  on the dynasty ²  of Jeroboam. I will cut off every last male belonging to Jeroboam in Israel, including even the weak and incapacitated. ³  I will burn up the dynasty of Jeroboam, just as one burns manure until it is completely consumed. ⁴  14:11 Dogs will eat the members of your family ⁵  who die in the city, and the birds of the sky will eat the ones who die in the country.”’ Indeed, the Lord has announced it!

1 Kings 16:3-4

16:3 So I am ready to burn up ⁶  Baasha and his family, and make your family ⁷  like the family of Jeroboam son of Nebat. 16:4 Dogs will eat the members of Baasha’s family ⁸  who die in the city, and the birds of the sky will eat the ones who die in the country.”

1 Kings 21:21-24

21:21 The Lord says, ⁹  ‘Look, I am ready to bring disaster ¹⁰  on you. I will destroy you ¹¹  and cut off every last male belonging to Ahab in Israel, including even the weak and incapacitated. ¹²  21:22 I will make your dynasty ¹³  like those of Jeroboam son of Nebat and Baasha son of Ahijah because you angered me and made Israel sin.’ ¹⁴  21:23 The Lord says this about Jezebel, ‘Dogs will devour Jezebel by the outer wall ¹⁵  of Jezreel.’ 21:24 As for Ahab’s family, dogs will eat the ones ¹⁶  who die in the city, and the birds of the sky will eat the ones who die in the country.”

¹ sn Disaster. There is a wordplay in the Hebrew text. The word translated “disaster” (רָעָה, ra’ah) is from the same root as the expression “you have sinned” in v. 9 (וַתָּרַע [vattara’], from רָעַע, [ra’a’]). Jeroboam’s sins would receive an appropriate punishment.

² tn Heb “house.”

³ tn Heb “and I will cut off from Jeroboam those who urinate against a wall (including both those who are) restrained and let free (or “abandoned”) in Israel.” The precise meaning of the idiomatic phrase עָצוּר וְעָזוּב (’atsur vÿ’azuv) is uncertain. For various options see HALOT 871 s.v. עצר 6 and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 107. The two terms are usually taken as polar opposites (“slaves and freemen” or “minors and adults”), but Cogan and Tadmor, on the basis of contextual considerations (note the usage with אֶפֶס [’efes], “nothing but”) in Deut 32:36 and 2 Kgs 14:26, argue convincingly that the terms are synonyms, meaning “restrained and abandoned,” and refer to incapable or incapacitated individuals.

⁴ tn The traditional view understands the verb בָּעַר (ba’ar) to mean “burn.” Manure was sometimes used as fuel (see Ezek 4:12, 15). However, an alternate view takes בָּעַר as a homonym meaning “sweep away” (HALOT 146 s.v. II בער). In this case one might translate, “I will sweep away the dynasty of Jeroboam, just as one sweeps away manure it is gone” (cf. ASV, NASB, TEV). Either metaphor emphasizes the thorough and destructive nature of the coming judgment.

⁵ tn The Hebrew text has “belonging to Jeroboam” here.

⁶ tn The traditional view understands the verb בָּעַר (ba’ar) to mean “burn.” However, an alternate view takes בָּעַר (ba’ar) as a homonym meaning “sweep away” (HALOT 146 s.v. II בער). In this case one might translate, “I am ready to sweep away Baasha and his family.” Either metaphor emphasizes the thorough and destructive nature of the coming judgment.

⁷ tc The Old Greek, Syriac Peshitta, and some mss of the Targum have here “his house.”

⁸ tn Heb “the ones belonging to Baasha.”

⁹ tn The introductory formula “the Lord says” is omitted in the Hebrew text, but supplied in the translation for clarification.

¹⁰ sn Disaster. There is a wordplay in the Hebrew text. The word translated “disaster” (רָעָה, ra’ah) is similar to the word translated “evil” (v. 20, הָרַע, hara’). Ahab’s sins would receive an appropriate punishment.

¹¹ tn Heb “I will burn after you.” Some take the verb בָּעַר (ba’ar) to mean here “sweep away.” See the discussion of this verb in the notes at 14:10 and 16:3.

¹² tn Heb “and I will cut off from Ahab those who urinate against a wall, [including both those who are] restrained and let free [or “abandoned”] in Israel.” The precise meaning of the idiomatic phrase עָצוּר וְעָזוּב (’atsur vÿ’azuv, translated here “weak and incapacitated”) is uncertain. For various options see HALOT 871 s.v. עצר and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 107. The two terms are usually taken as polar opposites (“slaves and freemen” or “minors and adults”), but Cogan and Tadmor, on the basis of contextual considerations (note the usage with אֶפֶס (’efes), “nothing but”) in Deut 32:36 and 2 Kgs 14:26, argue convincingly that the terms are synonyms, meaning “restrained and abandoned,” and refer to incapable or incapacitated individuals.

¹³ tn Heb “house.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “because of the provocation by which you angered [me], and you caused Israel to sin.”

¹⁵ tc A few Hebrew mss and some ancient versions agree with 2 Kgs 9:10, 36, which reads, “the plot [of ground] at Jezreel.” The Hebrew words translated “outer wall” (חֵל, khel, defectively written here!) and “plot [of ground]” (חֵלֶק, kheleq) are spelled similarly.

¹⁶ tn “Dogs will eat the ones who belonging to Ahab who die in the city.”