1:11 The king 12 sent another captain and his fifty soldiers to retrieve Elijah. He went up and told him, 13 “Prophet, this is what the king says, ‘Come down at once!’” 14
1:16 Elijah 18 said to the king, 19 “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! 20 Therefore you will not leave the bed you lie on, for you will certainly die.’” 21
4:2 You men, 22 how long will you try to turn my honor into shame? 23
How long 24 will you love what is worthless 25
and search for what is deceptive? 26 (Selah)
36:4 The chief adviser said to them, “Tell Hezekiah: ‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: “What is your source of confidence? 27
1 tc The MT has “his hand,” but this is due to graphic confusion of vav (ו) and yod (י). The translation reads “my hand,” along with many medieval Hebrew
2 tn Heb “will not be given.”
3 tn Heb “elders of the priests.”
4 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
5 tn Heb “What was the manner…?”
6 tn Heb “said to him.”
7 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).
8 tn Heb “belt of skin” (i.e., one made from animal hide).
9 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
10 tn Heb “answered and said to the officer of fifty.”
11 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.
12 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
13 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.
14 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.
15 tn Heb “look.”
16 tn Heb “their fifty.”
17 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.
18 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elijah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
19 tn Heb “him”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
20 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?”
21 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.
22 tn Heb “sons of man.”
23 tn Heb “how long my honor to shame?”
24 tn The interrogative construction עַד־מֶה (’ad-meh, “how long?”), is understood by ellipsis in the second line.
25 tn Heb “emptiness.”
26 tn Heb “a lie.” Some see the metonymic language of v. 2b (“emptiness, lie”) as referring to idols or false gods. However, there is no solid immediate contextual evidence for such an interpretation. It is more likely that the psalmist addresses those who threaten him (see v. 1) and refers in a general way to their sinful lifestyle. (See R. Mosis, TDOT 7:121.) The two terms allude to the fact that sinful behavior is ultimately fruitless and self-destructive.
27 tn Heb “What is this object of trust in which you are trusting?”