2 Kings 13:4-7

13:4 Jehoahaz asked for the Lord’s mercy ¹  and the Lord responded favorably, ²  for he saw that Israel was oppressed by the king of Syria. ³  13:5 The Lord provided a deliverer ⁴  for Israel and they were freed from Syria’s power. ⁵  The Israelites once more lived in security. ⁶  13:6 But they did not repudiate ⁷  the sinful ways of the family ⁸  of Jeroboam, who encouraged Israel to sin; they continued in those sins. ⁹  There was even an Asherah pole ¹⁰  standing in Samaria. 13:7 Jehoahaz had no army left ¹¹  except for fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and 10,000 foot soldiers. The king of Syria had destroyed his troops ¹²  and trampled on them like dust. ¹³ 

2 Kings 13:23

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 

[13:4]  ¹ tn Heb “appeased the face of the Lord.”

[13:4]  ² tn Heb “and the Lord heard.”

[13:4]  ³ tn Heb “for he saw the oppression of Israel, for the king of Syria oppressed them.”

[13:5]  ⁴ sn The identity of this unnamed “deliverer” is debated. For options see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 143.

[13:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “and they went from under the hand of Syria.”

[13:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “and the sons of Israel lived in their tents as before.”

[13:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “they did not turn away from.”

[13:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “house.”

[13:6]  ⁹ tc Heb “in it he walked.” The singular verb (הָלַךְ, halakh) is probably due to an error of haplography and should be emended to the plural (הָלְכּוּ, halÿku). Note that a vav immediately follows (on the form וְגַם, vÿgam).

[13:6]  ¹⁰ tn Or “an image of Asherah”; ASV, NASB “the Asherah”; NCV “the Asherah idol.”

[13:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Indeed he did not leave to Jehoahaz people.” The identity of the subject is uncertain, but the king of Syria, mentioned later in the verse, is a likely candidate.

[13:7]  ¹² tn Heb “them,” i.e., the remainder of this troops.

[13:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “and made them like dust for trampling.”

[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.”