1 Kings 16:1-4

16:1 Jehu son of Hanani received from the Lord this message predicting Baasha’s downfall: ¹  16:2 “I raised you up ²  from the dust and made you ruler over my people Israel. Yet you followed in Jeroboam’s footsteps ³  and encouraged my people Israel to sin; their sins have made me angry. ⁴  16:3 So I am ready to burn up ⁵  Baasha and his family, and make your family ⁶  like the family of Jeroboam son of Nebat. 16:4 Dogs will eat the members of Baasha’s family ⁷  who die in the city, and the birds of the sky will eat the ones who die in the country.”

[16:1]  ¹ tn Heb “and the word of the Lord came to Jehu son of Hanani concerning [or “against”] Baasha, saying.”

[16:2]  ² tn The Hebrew text has “because” at the beginning of the sentence. In the Hebrew text vv. 2-3 are one sentence comprised of a causal clause giving the reason for divine punishment (v. 2) and the main clause announcing the punishment (v. 3). The translation divides this sentence for stylistic reasons.

[16:2]  ³ tn Heb “walked in the way of Jeroboam.”

[16:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “angering me by their sins.”

[16:3]  ⁵ tn The traditional view understands the verb בָּעַר (ba’ar) to mean “burn.” However, an alternate view takes בָּעַר (ba’ar) as a homonym meaning “sweep away” (HALOT 146 s.v. II בער). In this case one might translate, “I am ready to sweep away Baasha and his family.” Either metaphor emphasizes the thorough and destructive nature of the coming judgment.

[16:3]  ⁶ tc The Old Greek, Syriac Peshitta, and some mss of the Targum have here “his house.”

[16:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “the ones belonging to Baasha.”