2 Kings 17:27

17:27 So the king of Assyria ordered, “Take back one of the priests whom you ¹  deported from there. He must settle there and teach them the requirements of the God of the land.” ² 

2 Kings 17:1

Hoshea’s Reign over Israel

17:1 In the twelfth year of King Ahaz’s reign over Judah, Hoshea son of Elah became king over Israel. He reigned in Samaria ³  for nine years.

2 Kings 8:9

8:9 So Hazael went to visit Elisha. ⁴  He took along a gift, ⁵  as well as ⁶  forty camel loads of all the fine things of Damascus. When he arrived, he stood before him and said, “Your son, ⁷  King Ben Hadad of Syria, has sent me to you with this question, ⁸  ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’”

2 Kings 10:25

10:25 When he finished offering the burnt sacrifice, Jehu ordered the royal guard ⁹  and officers, “Come in and strike them down! Don’t let any escape!” So the royal guard and officers struck them down with the sword and left their bodies lying there. ¹⁰  Then they entered the inner sanctuary of the temple of Baal. ¹¹ 

Amos 8:14

8:14 These are the ones who now take oaths ¹²  in the name of the sinful idol goddess ¹³  of Samaria.

They vow, ¹⁴  ‘As surely as your god ¹⁵  lives, O Dan,’ or ‘As surely as your beloved one ¹⁶  lives, O Beer Sheba!’

But they will fall down and not get up again.”

[17:27]  ¹ 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]  ² 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.

[17:1]  ³ map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.

[8:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:9]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew text also has “in his hand.”

[8:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “and.” It is possible that the conjunction is here explanatory, equivalent to English “that is.” In this case the forty camel loads constitute the “gift” and one should translate, “He took along a gift, consisting of forty camel loads of all the fine things of Damascus.”

[8:9]  ⁷ sn The words “your son” emphasize the king’s respect for the prophet.

[8:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “saying.”

[10:25]  ⁹ tn Heb “runners.”

[10:25]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and they threw.” No object appears. According to M. Cogan and H. Tadmor (II Kings [AB], 116), this is an idiom for leaving a corpse unburied.

[10:25]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and they came to the city of the house of Baal.” It seems unlikely that a literal city is meant. Some emend עִיר (’ir), “city,” to דְּבִיר (dÿvir) “holy place,” or suggest that עִיר is due to dittography of the immediately preceding עַד (’ad) “to.” Perhaps עִיר is here a technical term meaning “fortress” or, more likely, “inner room.”

[8:14]  ¹² tn Heb “those who swear.”

[8:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “the sin [or “guilt”] of Samaria.” This could be a derogatory reference to an idol-goddess popular in the northern kingdom, perhaps Asherah (cf. 2 Chr 24:18, where this worship is labeled “their guilt”), or to the golden calf at the national sanctuary in Bethel (Hos 8:6, 10:8). Some English versions (e.g., NEB, NRSV, CEV) repoint the word and read “Ashimah,” the name of a goddess worshiped in Hamath in Syria (see 2 Kgs 17:30).

[8:14]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “say.”

[8:14]  ¹⁵ sn Your god is not identified. It may refer to another patron deity who was not the God of Israel, a local manifestation of the Lord that was worshiped by the people there, or, more specifically, the golden calf image erected in Dan by Jeroboam I (see 1 Kgs 12:28-30).

[8:14]  ¹⁶ tc The MT reads, “As surely as the way [to] Beer Sheba lives,” or “As surely as the way lives, O Beer Sheba.” Perhaps the term דֶּרֶךְ (derekh, “the way”) refers to the pilgrimage route to Beersheba (see S. M. Paul, Amos [Hermeneia], 272) or it may be a title for a god. The notion of pilgrimage appears elsewhere in the book (cf. 4:4-5; 5:4-5; 8:12). The translation above assumes an emendation to דֹּדְךְ (dodÿkh, “your beloved” or “relative”; the term also is used in 6:10) and understands this as referring either to the Lord (since other kinship terms are used of him, such as “Father”) or to another deity that was particularly popular in Beer Sheba. Besides the commentaries, see S. M. Olyan, “The Oaths of Amos 8:14” Priesthood and Cult in Ancient Israel, 121-49.