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
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.”
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.”