2 Kings 13:18-25

13:18 Then Elisha ¹  said, “Take the arrows,” and he did so. ²  He told the king of Israel, “Strike the ground!” He struck the ground three times and stopped. 13:19 The prophet ³  got angry at him and said, “If you had struck the ground five or six times, you would have annihilated Syria! ⁴  But now, you will defeat Syria only three times.”

13:20 Elisha died and was buried. ⁵  Moabite raiding parties invaded ⁶  the land at the beginning of the year. ⁷  13:21 One day some men ⁸  were burying a man when they spotted ⁹  a raiding party. So they threw the dead man ¹⁰  into Elisha’s tomb. When the body ¹¹  touched Elisha’s bones, the dead man ¹²  came to life and stood on his feet.

13:22 Now King Hazael of Syria oppressed Israel throughout Jehoahaz’s reign. ¹³  13:23 But the Lord had mercy on them and felt pity for them. ¹⁴  He extended his favor to them ¹⁵  because of the promise he had made ¹⁶  to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He has been unwilling to destroy them or remove them from his presence to this very day. ¹⁷  13:24 When King Hazael of Syria died, his son Ben Hadad replaced him as king. 13:25 Jehoahaz’s son Jehoash took back from ¹⁸  Ben Hadad son of Hazael the cities that he had taken from his father Jehoahaz in war. Joash defeated him three times and recovered the Israelite cities.

[13:18]  ¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:18]  ² tn Heb “and he took [them].”

[13:19]  ³ tn Heb “man of God.”

[13:19]  ⁴ tn Heb “[It was necessary] to strike five or six times, then you would strike down Syria until destruction.” On the syntax of the infinitive construct, see GKC 349 §114.k.

[13:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “and they buried him.”

[13:20]  ⁶ tn Heb “entered.”

[13:20]  ⁷ tc The MT reading בָּא שָׁנָה (ba’ shanah), “it came, year,” should probably be emended to בְּבָּא הַשָּׁנָה (bÿba’ hashanah), “at the coming [i.e., ‘beginning’] of the year.” See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 148.

[13:21]  ⁸ tn Heb “and it so happened [that] they.”

[13:21]  ⁹ tn Heb “and look, they saw.”

[13:21]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the man”; the adjective “dead” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[13:21]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the man.”

[13:21]  ¹² tn Heb “he”; the referent (the dead man) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Otherwise the reader might think it was Elisha rather than the unnamed dead man who came back to life.

[13:22]  ¹³ tn Heb “all the days of Jehoahaz.”

[13:23]  ¹⁴ tn Or “showed them compassion.”

[13:23]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “he turned to them.”

[13:23]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “because of his covenant with.”

[13:23]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “until now.”

[13:25]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “from the hand of.”