2 Kings 5:5

5:5 The king of Syria said, “Go! I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman ¹  went, taking with him ten talents ²  of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, ³  and ten suits of clothes.

2 Kings 8:9

8:9 So Hazael went to visit Elisha. ⁴  He took along a gift, ⁵  as well as ⁶  forty camel loads of all the fine things of Damascus. When he arrived, he stood before him and said, “Your son, ⁷  King Ben Hadad of Syria, has sent me to you with this question, ⁸  ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’”

¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Naaman) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn The Hebrew term כִּכָּר (kikkar, “circle”) refers generally to something that is round. When used of metals it can refer to a disk-shaped weight made of the metal or to a standard unit of weight, generally regarded as a talent. Since the accepted weight for a talent of metal is about 75 pounds, this would have amounted to about 750 pounds of silver (cf. NCV, NLT, CEV).

³ tn Heb “six thousand gold […].” The unit of measure is not given in the Hebrew text. A number of English versions supply “pieces” (e.g., KJV, ASV, NAB, TEV) or “shekels” (e.g., NASB, NIV, NRSV).

⁴ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁵ tn The Hebrew text also has “in his hand.”

⁶ tn Heb “and.” It is possible that the conjunction is here explanatory, equivalent to English “that is.” In this case the forty camel loads constitute the “gift” and one should translate, “He took along a gift, consisting of forty camel loads of all the fine things of Damascus.”

⁷ sn The words “your son” emphasize the king’s respect for the prophet.

⁸ tn Heb “saying.”