2 Kings 1:15

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 ¹  with him to the king.

2 Kings 5:10

5:10 Elisha sent out a messenger who told him, “Go and wash seven times in the Jordan; your skin will be restored ²  and you will be healed.”

2 Kings 6:13

6:13 The king ³  ordered, “Go, find out where he is, so I can send some men to capture him.” ⁴  The king was told, “He is in Dothan.”

2 Kings 8:10

8:10 Elisha said to him, “Go and tell him, ‘You will surely recover,’ ⁵  but the Lord has revealed to me that he will surely die.”

[1:15]  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.

[5:10]  ² tn Heb “will return to you.”

[6:13]  ³ tn Heb “he” (also a second time in this verse); the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “Go and see where he [is] so I can send and take him.”

[8:10]  ⁴ tc 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.