2 Kings 8:10

8:10 Elisha said to him, “Go and tell him, ‘You will surely recover,’¹ but the Lord has revealed to me that he will surely die.”

2 Kings 8:14

8:14 He left Elisha and went to his master. Ben Hadad² asked him, “What did Elisha tell you?” Hazael³ replied, “He told me you would surely recover.”

2 Kings 8:5

8:5 While Gehazi⁴ was telling the king how Elisha⁵ had brought the dead back to life, the woman whose son he had brought back to life came to ask the king for her house and field.⁶ Gehazi said, “My master, O king, this is the very woman and this is her son whom Elisha brought back to life!”

2 Kings 20:7

20:7 Isaiah ordered, “Get a fig cake.” So they did as he ordered⁷ and placed it on the ulcerated sore, and he recovered.⁸

2 Kings 7:4

7:4 If we go into the city, we’ll die of starvation,⁹ and if we stay here we’ll die! So come on, let’s defect¹⁰ to the Syrian camp! If they spare us,¹¹ we’ll live; if they kill us – well, we were going to die anyway.”¹²

2 Kings 4:7

4:7 She went and told the prophet.¹³ He said, “Go, sell the olive oil. Repay your creditor, and then you and your sons can live off the rest of the profit.”

2 Kings 11:12

11:12 Jehoiada¹⁴ led out the king’s son and placed on him the crown and the royal insignia.¹⁵ They proclaimed him king and poured olive oil on his head.¹⁶ They clapped their hands and cried out, “Long live the king!”

2 Kings 14:17

14:17 King Amaziah son of Joash of Judah lived for fifteen years after the death of King Jehoash son of Jehoahaz of Israel.

2 Kings 1:2

1:2 Ahaziah fell through a window lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria¹⁷ and was injured. He sent messengers with these orders,¹⁸ “Go, ask¹⁹ Baal Zebub,²⁰ the god of Ekron, if I will survive this injury.”

2 Kings 5:7

5:7 When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God? Can I kill or restore life? Why does he ask me to cure a man of his skin disease?²¹ Certainly you must see that he is looking for an excuse to fight me!”²²

2 Kings 8:1

Elisha Again Helps the Shunammite Woman

8:1 Now Elisha advised the woman whose son he had brought back to life, “You and your family should go and live somewhere else for a while,²³ for the Lord has decreed that a famine will overtake the land for seven years.”

2 Kings 8:8-9

8:8 So the king told Hazael, “Take a gift²⁴ and go visit the prophet. Request from him an oracle from the Lord. Ask him,²⁵ ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’” 8:9 So Hazael went to visit Elisha.²⁶ He took along a gift,²⁷ as well as²⁸ forty camel loads of all the fine things of Damascus. When he arrived, he stood before him and said, “Your son,²⁹ King Ben Hadad of Syria, has sent me to you with this question,³⁰ ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’”

2 Kings 13:21

13:21 One day some men³¹ were burying a man when they spotted³² a raiding party. So they threw the dead man³³ into Elisha’s tomb. When the body³⁴ touched Elisha’s bones, the dead man³⁵ came to life and stood on his feet.

2 Kings 18:32

18:32 until I come and take you to a land just like your own – a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey. Then you will live and not die. Don’t listen to Hezekiah, for he is misleading you when he says, “The Lord will rescue us.”

2 Kings 20:1

Hezekiah is Healed

20:1 In those days Hezekiah was stricken with a terminal illness.³⁶ The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz visited him and told him, “This is what the Lord says, ‘Give your household instructions, for you are about to die; you will not get well.’”³⁷

2 Kings 10:19

10:19 So now, bring to me all the prophets of Baal, as well as all his servants and priests.³⁸ None of them must be absent, for I am offering a great sacrifice to Baal. Any of them who fail to appear will lose their lives.” But Jehu was tricking them³⁹ so he could destroy the servants of Baal.

¹tc The consonantal text (Kethib) reads, “Go, say, ‘Surely you will not (לֹא, lo’) recover” In this case the vav beginning the next clause should be translated, “for, because.” The marginal reading (Qere) has, “Go, say to him (לוֹ, lo), ‘You will surely recover.” In this case the vav (ו) beginning the next clause should be translated, “although, but.” The Qere has the support of some medieval Hebrew mss and the ancient versions, and is consistent with v. 14, where Hazael tells the king, “You will surely recover.” It is possible that a scribe has changed לוֹ, “to him,” to לֹא, “not,” because he felt that Elisha would not lie to the king. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 90. Another possibility is that a scribe has decided to harmonize Elisha’s message with Hazael’s words in v. 14. But it is possible that Hazael, once he found out he would become the next king, decided to lie to the king to facilitate his assassination plot by making the king feel secure.

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

³tn Heb “he”; the referent (Hazael) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³tn Heb “he”; the referent (Gehazi) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

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

⁵tn Heb “and look, the woman whose son he had brought back to life was crying out to the king for her house and her field.”

⁴tn Heb “and they got [a fig cake].”

⁵tn Heb “and he lived.”

⁵tn Heb “If we say, ‘We will enter the city,’ the famine is in the city and we will die there.”

⁶tn Heb “fall.”

⁷tn Heb “keep us alive.”

⁸tn Heb “we will die.” The paraphrastic translation attempts to bring out the logical force of their reasoning.

⁶tn Heb “man of God” (also in vv. 16, 22, 25, 27 [twice]).

⁷tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jehoiada) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁸tn The Hebrew term עֵדוּת (’edut) normally means “witness” or “testimony.” Here it probably refers to some tangible symbol of kingship, perhaps a piece of jewelry such as an amulet or neck chain. See the discussion in M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 128. Some suggest that a document is in view, perhaps a copy of the royal protocol or of the stipulations of the Davidic covenant. See HALOT 790-91 s.v. עֵדוּת.

⁹tn Or “they made him king and anointed him.”

⁸map For location see Map2-B1; Map4-D3; Map5-E2; Map6-A4; Map7-C1.

⁹tn Heb “and he sent messengers and said to them.”

¹⁰tn That is, “seek an oracle from.”

¹¹sn Apparently Baal Zebub refers to a local manifestation of the god Baal at the Philistine city of Ekron. The name appears to mean “Lord of the Flies,” but it may be a deliberate scribal corruption of Baal Zebul, “Baal, the Prince,” a title known from the Ugaritic texts. For further discussion and bibliography, see HALOT 261 s.v. זְבוּב בַּעַל and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 25.

⁹tn Heb “Am I God, killing and restoring life, that this one sends to me to cure a man from his skin disease?” In the Hebrew text this is one lengthy rhetorical question, which has been divided up in the translation for stylistic reasons.

¹⁰tn Heb “Indeed, know and see that he is seeking an occasion with respect to me.”

¹⁰tn Heb “Get up and go, you and your house, and live temporarily where you can live temporarily.”

¹¹tn The Hebrew text also has “in your hand.”

¹²tn Heb “Inquire of the Lord through him, saying.”

¹²tn Heb “him”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹³tn The Hebrew text also has “in his hand.”

¹⁴tn 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.”

¹⁵sn The words “your son” emphasize the king’s respect for the prophet.

¹⁶tn Heb “saying.”

¹³tn Heb “and it so happened [that] they.”

¹⁴tn Heb “and look, they saw.”

¹⁵tn Heb “the man”; the adjective “dead” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

¹⁶tn Heb “the man.”

¹⁷tn Heb “he”; the referent (the dead man) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Otherwise the reader might think it was Elisha rather than the unnamed dead man who came back to life.

¹⁴tn Heb “was sick to the point of dying.”

¹⁵tn Heb “will not live.”

¹⁵tn Heb “and now, all the prophets of Baal, all his servants and all his priests summon to me.”

¹⁶tn Heb “acted with deception [or, ‘trickery’].”