2 Kings 1:3

1:3 But the Lord’s angelic messenger told Elijah the Tishbite, “Get up, go to meet the messengers from the king of Samaria. Say this to them: ‘You must think there is no God in Israel! That explains why you are on your way to seek an oracle from Baal Zebub the god of Ekron. ¹ 

2 Kings 4:2

4:2 Elisha said to her, “What can I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” She answered, “Your servant has nothing in the house except a small jar of olive oil.”

2 Kings 5:15

5:15 He and his entire entourage returned to the prophet. Naaman ²  came and stood before him. He said, “For sure ³  I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel! Now, please accept a gift from your servant.”

2 Kings 7:10

7:10 So they went and called out to the gatekeepers ⁴  of the city. They told them, “We entered the Syrian camp and there was no one there. We didn’t even hear a man’s voice. ⁵  But the horses and donkeys are still tied up, and the tents remain up.” ⁶ 

2 Kings 19:3

19:3 “This is what Hezekiah says: ⁷  ‘This is a day of distress, insults, ⁸  and humiliation, ⁹  as when a baby is ready to leave the birth canal, but the mother lacks the strength to push it through. ¹⁰ 

¹ tn Heb “Is it because there is no God in Israel [that] you are going to inquire of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron?” The translation seeks to bring out the sarcastic tone of the rhetorical question.

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

³ tn Heb “look.”

³ tn The MT has a singular form (“gatekeeper”), but the context suggests a plural. The pronoun that follows (“them”) is plural and a plural noun appears in v. 11. The Syriac Peshitta and the Targum have the plural here.

⁴ tn Heb “and, look, there was no man or voice of a man there.”

⁵ tn Heb “but the horses are tied up and the donkeys are tied up and the tents are as they were.”

⁴ tn In the Hebrew text this verse begins with “they said to him.”

⁵ tn Or “rebuke,” “correction.”

⁶ tn Or “contempt.”

⁷ tn Heb “when sons come to the cervical opening and there is no strength to give birth.”