8:28 He joined Ahab’s son Joram in a battle against King Hazael of Syria at Ramoth Gilead in which the Syrians defeated Joram.
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, 1 for the Lord has decreed that a famine will overtake the land for seven years.”
21:1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned for fifty-five years in Jerusalem. 2 His mother 3 was Hephzibah. 21:2 He did evil in the sight of 4 the Lord and committed the same horrible sins practiced by the nations 5 whom the Lord drove out from before the Israelites. 21:3 He rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he set up altars for Baal and made an Asherah pole just like King Ahab of Israel had done. He bowed down to all the stars in the sky 6 and worshiped 7 them. 21:4 He built altars in the Lord’s temple, about which the Lord had said, “Jerusalem will be my home.” 8 21:5 In the two courtyards of the Lord’s temple he built altars for all the stars in the sky. 21:6 He passed his son 9 through the fire 10 and practiced divination and omen reading. He set up a ritual pit to conjure up underworld spirits, and appointed magicians to supervise it. 11 He did a great amount of evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger. 12 21:7 He put an idol of Asherah he had made in the temple, about which the Lord had said to David and to his son Solomon, “This temple in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will be my permanent home. 13 21:8 I will not make Israel again leave the land I gave to their ancestors, 14 provided that they carefully obey all I commanded them, the whole law my servant Moses ordered them to obey.” 21:9 But they did not obey, 15 and Manasseh misled them so that they sinned more than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed from before the Israelites.
21:10 So the Lord announced through 16 his servants the prophets: 21:11 “King Manasseh of Judah has committed horrible sins. 17 He has sinned more than the Amorites before him and has encouraged Judah to sin by worshiping his disgusting idols. 18 21:12 So this is what the Lord God of Israel says, ‘I am about to bring disaster on Jerusalem and Judah. The news will reverberate in the ears of those who hear about it. 19 21:13 I will destroy Jerusalem the same way I did Samaria 20 and the dynasty of Ahab. 21 I will wipe Jerusalem clean, just as one wipes a plate on both sides. 22 21:14 I will abandon this last remaining tribe among my people 23 and hand them over to their enemies; they will be plundered and robbed by all their enemies, 24 21:15 because they have done evil in my sight 25 and have angered me from the time their ancestors left Egypt right up to this very day!’”
21:16 Furthermore Manasseh killed so many innocent people, he stained Jerusalem with their blood from end to end, 26 in addition to encouraging Judah to sin by doing evil in the sight of the Lord. 27
21:17 The rest of the events of Manasseh’s reign and all his accomplishments, as well as the sinful acts he committed, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah. 28 21:18 Manasseh passed away 29 and was buried in his palace garden, the garden of Uzzah, and his son Amon replaced him as king.
21:19 Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned for two years in Jerusalem. 30 His mother 31 was Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz, from Jotbah. 21:20 He did evil in the sight of 32 the Lord, just like his father Manasseh had done. 21:21 He followed in the footsteps of his father 33 and worshiped and bowed down to the disgusting idols 34 which his father had worshiped. 35 21:22 He abandoned the Lord God of his ancestors and did not follow the Lord’s instructions. 36 21:23 Amon’s servants conspired against him and killed the king in his palace. 21:24 The people of the land executed all those who had conspired against King Amon, and they 37 made his son Josiah king in his place.
21:25 The rest of Amon’s accomplishments are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah. 38 21:26 He was buried 39 in his tomb in the garden of Uzzah, and his son Josiah replaced him as king.
1:1 After Ahab died, Moab rebelled against Israel. 40 1:2 Ahaziah fell through a window lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria 41 and was injured. He sent messengers with these orders, 42 “Go, ask 43 Baal Zebub, 44 the god of Ekron, if I will survive this injury.”
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. 45 1:4 Therefore this is what the Lord says, “You will not leave the bed you lie on, for you will certainly die!”’” So Elijah went on his way.
1:5 When the messengers returned to the king, 46 he asked them, “Why have you returned?” 1:6 They replied, 47 “A man came up to meet us. He told us, “Go back to the king who sent you and tell him, ‘This is what the Lord says: “You must think there is no God in Israel! That explains why you are sending for an oracle from Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron. 48 Therefore you will not leave the bed you lie on, for you will certainly die.”’” 1:7 The king 49 asked them, “Describe the appearance 50 of this man who came up to meet you and told you these things.” 1:8 They replied, 51 “He was a hairy man 52 and had a leather belt 53 tied around his waist.” The king 54 said, “He is Elijah the Tishbite.”
1:9 The king 55 sent a captain and his fifty soldiers 56 to retrieve Elijah. 57 The captain 58 went up to him, while he was sitting on the top of a hill. 59 He told him, “Prophet, 60 the king says, ‘Come down!’” 1:10 Elijah replied to the captain, 61 “If I am indeed a prophet, may fire come down from the sky and consume you and your fifty soldiers!” Fire then came down 62 from the sky and consumed him and his fifty soldiers.
1:11 The king 63 sent another captain and his fifty soldiers to retrieve Elijah. He went up and told him, 64 “Prophet, this is what the king says, ‘Come down at once!’” 65 1:12 Elijah replied to them, 66 “If I am indeed a prophet, may fire come down from the sky and consume you and your fifty soldiers!” Fire from God 67 came down from the sky and consumed him and his fifty soldiers.
1:13 The king 68 sent a third captain and his fifty soldiers. This third captain went up and fell 69 on his knees before Elijah. He begged for mercy, “Prophet, please have respect for my life and for the lives of these fifty servants of yours. 1:14 Indeed, 70 fire came down from the sky and consumed the two captains who came before me, along with their men. 71 So now, please have respect for my life.” 1:15 The Lord’s angelic messenger said to Elijah, “Go down with him. Don’t be afraid of him.” So he got up and went down 72 with him to the king.
1:16 Elijah 73 said to the king, 74 “This is what the Lord says, ‘You sent messengers to seek an oracle from Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron. You must think there is no God in Israel from whom you can seek an oracle! 75 Therefore you will not leave the bed you lie on, for you will certainly die.’” 76
1:17 He died just as the Lord had prophesied through Elijah. 77 In the second year of the reign of King Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat over Judah, Ahaziah’s brother Jehoram replaced him as king of Israel, because he had no son. 78 1:18 The rest of the events of Ahaziah’s reign, including his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel. 79
1 tn Heb “Get up and go, you and your house, and live temporarily where you can live temporarily.”
1 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
2 tn Heb “the name of his mother.”
1 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
2 tn Heb “like the abominable practices of the nations.”
1 sn See the note at 2 Kgs 17:16.
2 tn Or “served.”
1 tn Heb “In Jerusalem I will place my name.”
1 tc The LXX has the plural “his sons” here.
2 sn See the note at 2 Kgs 16:3.
3 tn Heb “and he set up a ritual pit, along with conjurers.” The Hebrew אוֹב (’ov), “ritual pit,” refers to a pit used by a magician to conjure up underworld spirits. In 1 Sam 28:7 the witch of Endor is called a בַעֲלַת אוֹב (ba’alat ’ov), “owner of a ritual pit.” See H. Hoffner, “Second millennium Antecedents to the Hebrew ’OñBù,” JBL 86 (1967), 385-401.
4 tc Heb “and he multiplied doing what is evil in the eyes of the
1 tn Heb “In this house and in Jerusalem, which I chose from all the tribes of Israel, I will place my name perpetually (or perhaps “forever”).”
1 tn Heb “I will not again make the feet of Israel wander from the land which I gave to their fathers.”
1 tn Heb “listen.”
1 tn Heb “spoke by the hand of.”
1 tn Heb “these horrible sins.”
2 sn See the note at 1 Kgs 15:12.
1 tn Heb “so that everyone who hears it, his two ears will quiver.”
1 map For location see Map2-B1; Map4-D3; Map5-E2; Map6-A4; Map7-C1.
2 tn Heb “I will stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria, and the plumb line of the house of Ahab.” The measuring line and plumb line are normally used in building a structure, not tearing it down. But here they are used ironically as metaphors of judgment, emphasizing that he will give careful attention to the task of judgment.
3 tn Heb “just as one wipes a plate, wiping and turning [it] on its face.” The word picture emphasizes how thoroughly the Lord will judge the city.
1 tn Heb “the remnant of my inheritance.” In this context the Lord’s remnant is the tribe of Judah, which had been preserved when the Assyrians conquered and deported the northern tribes. See 17:18 and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 269.
2 tn Heb “they will become plunder and spoils of war for all their enemies.”
1 tn Heb “in my eyes.”
1 tn Heb “and also Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, until he filled Jerusalem from mouth to mouth.”
2 tn Heb “apart from his sin which he caused Judah to commit, by doing what is evil in the eyes of the
1 tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Manasseh, and all which he did, and his sin which he committed, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah?”
1 tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
1 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
2 tn Heb “the name of his mother.”
1 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
1 tn Heb “walked in all the way which his father walked.”
2 sn See the note at 1 Kgs 15:12.
3 tn Heb “and he served the disgusting idols which his father served and he bowed down to them.”
1 tn Heb “and did not walk in the way of the
1 tn Heb “the people of the land.” The pronoun “they” has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons, to avoid the repetition of the phrase “the people of the land” from the beginning of the verse.
1 tc Heb “As for the rest of the things of Amon which he did, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah?” Many Hebrew
1 tn Heb “he buried him.” Here “he” probably refers to Amon’s son Josiah.
1 sn This statement may fit better with the final paragraph of 1 Kgs 22.
1 map For location see Map2-B1; Map4-D3; Map5-E2; Map6-A4; Map7-C1.
2 tn Heb “and he sent messengers and said to them.”
3 tn That is, “seek an oracle from.”
4 sn 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.
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.
1 tn Heb “to him.”
1 tn Heb “said to him.”
2 tn Heb “Is it because there is no God in Israel [that] you are sending to inquire of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron?” The translation seeks to bring out the sarcastic tone of the rhetorical question. In v. 3 the messengers are addressed (in the phrase “you are on your way” the second person plural pronoun is used in Hebrew), but here the king is addressed (in the phrase “you are sending” the second person singular pronoun is used).
1 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 tn Heb “What was the manner…?”
1 tn Heb “said to him.”
2 tn Heb “an owner of hair.” This idiomatic expression indicates that Elijah was very hairy. For other examples where the idiom “owner of” is used to describe a characteristic of someone, see HALOT 143 s.v. בַּעַל. For example, an “owner of dreams” is one who frequently has dreams (Gen 37:19) and an “owner of anger” is a hot-tempered individual (Prov 22:24).
3 tn Heb “belt of skin” (i.e., one made from animal hide).
4 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
1 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 tn Heb “officer of fifty and his fifty.”
3 tn Heb “to him.”
4 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the captain) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
5 sn The prophet Elijah’s position on the top of the hill symbolizes his superiority to the king and his messengers.
6 tn Heb “man of God” (also in vv. 10, 11, 12, 13).
1 tn Heb “answered and said to the officer of fifty.”
2 tn Wordplay contributes to the irony here. The king tells Elijah to “come down” (Hebrew יָרַד, yarad), but Elijah calls fire down (יָרַד) on the arrogant king’s officer.
1 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 tc The MT reads, “he answered and said to him.” The verb “he answered” (וַיַּעַן, vayya’an) is probably a corruption of “he went up” (וַיַּעַל, vayya’al). See v. 9.
3 sn In this second panel of the three-paneled narrative, the king and his captain are more arrogant than before. The captain uses a more official sounding introduction (“this is what the king says”) and the king adds “at once” to the command.
1 tc Two medieval Hebrew
2 tn Or “intense fire.” The divine name may be used idiomatically to emphasize the intensity of the fire. Whether one translates אֱלֹהִים (’elohim) here as a proper name or idiomatically, this addition to the narrative (the name is omitted in the first panel, v. 10b) emphasizes the severity of the judgment and is appropriate given the more intense command delivered by the king to the prophet in this panel.
1 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 tn Heb “went up and approached and kneeled.”
1 tn Heb “look.”
2 tn Heb “their fifty.”
1 sn In this third panel the verb “come down” (יָרַד, yarad) occurs again, this time describing Elijah’s descent from the hill at the Lord’s command. The moral of the story seems clear: Those who act as if they have authority over God and his servants just may pay for their arrogance with their lives; those who, like the third commander, humble themselves and show the proper respect for God’s authority and for his servants will be spared and find God quite cooperative.
1 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elijah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 tn Heb “him”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3 tn Heb “Because you sent messengers to inquire of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron, is there no God in Israel to inquire of his word?”
4 sn For the third time in this chapter we read the Lord’s sarcastic question to king and the accompanying announcement of judgment. The repetition emphasizes one of the chapter’s main themes. Israel’s leaders should seek guidance from their own God, not a pagan deity, for Israel’s sovereign God is the one who controls life and death.
1 tn Heb “according to the word of the
2 tn Heb “Jehoram replaced him as king…because he had no son.” Some ancient textual witnesses add “his brother,” which was likely added on the basis of the statement later in the verse that Ahaziah had no son.
1 tn Heb “As for the rest of the acts of Ahaziah which he did, are they not recorded in the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel?”