2 Kings 1:2

1:2 Ahaziah fell through a window lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria ¹  and was injured. He sent messengers with these orders, ²  “Go, ask ³  Baal Zebub, ⁴  the god of Ekron, if I will survive this injury.”

2 Kings 2:14

2:14 He took the cloak that had fallen off Elijah, ⁵  hit the water with it, and said, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” When he hit the water, it divided and Elisha crossed over.

2 Kings 5:17

5:17 Naaman said, “If not, then please give your servant a load of dirt, enough for a pair of mules to carry, ⁶  for your servant will never again offer a burnt offering or sacrifice to a god other than the Lord. ⁷ 

2 Kings 9:6

9:6 So Jehu ⁸  got up and went inside. Then the prophet ⁹  poured the olive oil on his head and said to him, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says, ‘I have designated you as king over the Lord’s people Israel.

2 Kings 16:2

16:2 Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem. ¹⁰  He did not do what pleased the Lord his God, in contrast to his ancestor David. ¹¹ 

2 Kings 17:9

17:9 The Israelites said things about the Lord their God that were not right. ¹²  They built high places in all their cities, from the watchtower to the fortress. ¹³ 

2 Kings 17:27

17:27 So the king of Assyria ordered, “Take back one of the priests whom you ¹⁴  deported from there. He must settle there and teach them the requirements of the God of the land.” ¹⁵ 

2 Kings 17:29

17:29 But each of these nations made ¹⁶  its own gods and put them in the shrines on the high places that the people of Samaria ¹⁷  had made. Each nation did this in the cities where they lived.

2 Kings 18:12

18:12 This happened because they did not obey ¹⁸  the Lord their God and broke his agreement with them. ¹⁹  They did not pay attention to and obey all that Moses, the Lord’s servant, had commanded. ²⁰ 

2 Kings 19:10

19:10 “Tell King Hezekiah of Judah this: ‘Don’t let your God in whom you trust mislead you when he says, “Jerusalem will not be handed over ²¹  to the king of Assyria.”

2 Kings 19:20

19:20 Isaiah son of Amoz sent this message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I have heard your prayer concerning King Sennacherib of Assyria. ²² 

2 Kings 19:37

19:37 One day, ²³  as he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, ²⁴  his sons ²⁵  Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword. ²⁶  They escaped to the land of Ararat; his son Esarhaddon replaced him as king.

2 Kings 21:12

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. ²⁷ 

2 Kings 22:17-18

22:17 This will happen because they have abandoned me and offered sacrifices ²⁸  to other gods, angering me with all the idols they have made. ²⁹  My anger will ignite against this place and will not be extinguished!’” 22:18 Say this to the king of Judah, who sent you to seek an oracle from the Lord: “This is what the Lord God of Israel says concerning the words you have heard:

[1:2]  ¹ map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.

[1:2]  ² tn Heb “and he sent messengers and said to them.”

[1:2]  ³ tn That is, “seek an oracle from.”

[1:2]  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.

[2:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “Elijah’s cloak, which had fallen off him.” The wording is changed slightly in the translation for the sake of variety of expression (see v. 13).

[5:17]  ⁹ tn Heb “and [if] not, may there be given to your servant a load [for] a pair of mules, earth.”

[5:17]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “for your servant will not again make a burnt offering and sacrifice to other gods, only to the Lord.”

[9:6]  ¹³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jehu) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:6]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the prophet) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:2]  ¹⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[16:2]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and he did not do what was proper in the eyes of the Lord his God, like David his father.”

[17:9]  ²¹ tn The meaning of the verb וַיְחַפְּאוּ (vayÿkhappÿ’u), translated here “said,” is uncertain. Some relate it to the verbal root חָפַה (khafah), “to cover,” and translate “they did it in secret” (see BDB 341 s.v. חָפָא). However, the pagan practices specified in the following sentences were hardly done in secret. Others propose a meaning “ascribe, impute,” which makes good contextual sense but has little etymological support (see HALOT 339 s.v. חפא). In this case Israel claimed that the Lord authorized their pagan practices.

[17:9]  ²² sn That is, from the city’s perimeter to the central citadel.

[17:27]  ²⁵ tc The second plural subject may refer to the leaders of the Assyrian army. However, some prefer to read “whom I deported,” changing the verb to a first person singular form with a third masculine plural pronominal suffix. This reading has some support from Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic witnesses.

[17:27]  ²⁶ tc Heb “and let them go and let them live there, and let him teach them the requirements of the God of the land.” The two plural verbs seem inconsistent with the preceding and following contexts, where only one priest is sent back to Samaria. The singular has the support of Greek, Syriac, and Latin witnesses.

[17:29]  ²⁹ sn The verb “make” refers to the production of idols. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 210-11.

[17:29]  ³⁰ tn Heb “Samaritans.” This refers to the Israelites who had been deported from the land.

[18:12]  ³³ tn Heb “listen to the voice of.”

[18:12]  ³⁴ tn Heb “his covenant.”

[18:12]  ³⁵ tn Heb “all that Moses, the Lord’s servant, had commanded, and they did not listen and they did not act.”

[19:10]  ³⁷ tn Heb “will not be given.”

[19:20]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “That which you prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard.” The verb “I have heard” does not appear in the parallel passage in Isa 37:21, where אֲשֶׁר (’asher) probably has a causal sense, “because.”

[19:37]  ⁴⁵ sn The assassination probably took place in 681 b.c.

[19:37]  ⁴⁶ sn No such Mesopotamian god is presently known. Perhaps the name is a corruption of Nusku.

[19:37]  ⁴⁷ tc Although “his sons” is absent in the Kethib, it is supported by the Qere, along with many medieval Hebrew mss and the ancient versions. Cf. Isa 37:38.

[19:37]  ⁴⁸ sn Extra-biblical sources also mention the assassination of Sennacherib, though they refer to only one assassin. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 239-40.

[21:12]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “so that everyone who hears it, his two ears will quiver.”

[22:17]  ⁵³ tn Or “burned incense.”

[22:17]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “angering me with all the work of their hands.” The translation assumes that this refers to idols they have manufactured (note the preceding reference to “other gods,” as well as 19:18). However, it is possible that this is a general reference to their sinful practices, in which case one might translate, “angering me by all the things they do.”