7:3 Now four men with a skin disease 1 were sitting at the entrance of the city gate. They said to one another, “Why are we just sitting here waiting to die? 2
1 sn See the note at 2 Kgs 5:1.
2 tn Heb “until we die.”
3 tc The MT lacks “the twelve bronze bulls under ‘the Sea,’” but these words have probably been accidentally omitted by homoioarcton. The scribe’s eye may have jumped from the וְהָ (vÿha-) on וְהַבָּקָר (vÿhabbaqar), “and the bulls,” to the וְהָ on וְהַמְּכֹנוֹת (vÿhammÿkhonot), “and the movable stands,” causing him to leave out the intervening words. See the parallel passage in Jer 52:20.