2 Kings 13:5

13:5 The Lord provided a deliverer ¹  for Israel and they were freed from Syria’s power. ²  The Israelites once more lived in security. ³ 

2 Kings 13:23

13:23 But the Lord had mercy on them and felt pity for them. ⁴  He extended his favor to them ⁵  because of the promise he had made ⁶  to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He has been unwilling to destroy them or remove them from his presence to this very day. ⁷ 

2 Kings 14:25-27

14:25 He restored the border of Israel from Lebo Hamath in the north to the sea of the Arabah in the south, ⁸  in accordance with the word of the Lord God of Israel announced through ⁹  his servant Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath Hepher. 14:26 The Lord saw Israel’s intense suffering; ¹⁰  everyone was weak and incapacitated and Israel had no deliverer. ¹¹  14:27 The Lord had not decreed that he would blot out Israel’s memory ¹²  from under heaven, ¹³  so he delivered them through Jeroboam son of Joash.

Psalms 106:43-45

106:43 Many times he delivered ¹⁴  them,

but they had a rebellious attitude, ¹⁵ 

and degraded themselves ¹⁶  by their sin.

106:44 Yet he took notice of their distress,

when he heard their cry for help.

106:45 He remembered his covenant with them,

and relented ¹⁷  because of his great loyal love.

¹ sn The identity of this unnamed “deliverer” is debated. For options see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 143.

² tn Heb “and they went from under the hand of Syria.”

³ tn Heb “and the sons of Israel lived in their tents as before.”

⁴ tn Or “showed them compassion.”

⁵ tn Heb “he turned to them.”

⁶ tn Heb “because of his covenant with.”

⁷ tn Heb “until now.”

⁸ tn The phrases “in the north” and “in the south” are added in the translation for clarification.

⁹ tn Heb “which he spoke by the hand of.”

¹⁰ tc Heb “for the Lord saw the very bitter affliction of Israel.” This translation assumes an emendation of מֹרֶה (moreh), which is meaningless here, to ַהמַּר (hammar), the adjective “bitter” functioning attributively with the article prefixed. This emendation is supported by the LXX, Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate. Another option would be מַר הוּא (mar hu’), “it was bitter.”

¹¹ tn Heb “[there was] none but the restrained, and [there was] none but the abandoned, and there was no deliverer for Israel.” On the meaning of the terms עָצוּר (’atsur) and עָזוּב (’azur), see the note at 1 Kgs 14:10.

¹² tn Heb “name.”

¹³ tn The phrase “from under heaven” adds emphasis to the verb “blot out” and suggest total annihilation. For other examples of the verb מָחָה (makhah), “blot out,” combined with “from under heaven,” see Exod 17:14; Deut 9:14; 25:19; 29:20.

¹⁴ tn The prefixed verbal form is either preterite or imperfect, in which case it is customary, describing repeated action in past time (“he would deliver”).

¹⁵ tn Heb “but they rebelled in their counsel.” The prefixed verbal form is either preterite or imperfect, in which case it is customary, describing repeated action in past time (“they would have a rebellious attitude”).

¹⁶ tn Heb “they sank down.” The Hebrew verb מָכַךְ (makhakh, “to lower; to sink”) occurs only here in the Qal.

¹⁷ tn The Niphal of נָחַם (nakham) refers here to God relenting from a punishment already underway.