2 Kings 17:30

17:30 The people from Babylon made Succoth Benoth, ¹  the people from Cuth made Nergal, ²  the people from Hamath made Ashima, ³ 

2 Kings 17:2

17:2 He did evil in the sight of ⁴  the Lord, but not to the same degree as the Israelite kings who preceded him.

2 Kings 1:11

1:11 The king ⁵  sent another captain and his fifty soldiers to retrieve Elijah. He went up and told him, ⁶  “Prophet, this is what the king says, ‘Come down at once!’” ⁷ 

[17:30]  ¹ sn No deity is known by the name Succoth Benoth in extant Mesopotamian literature. For speculation as to the identity of this deity, see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 211.

[17:30]  ² sn Nergal was a Mesopotamian god of the underworld.

[17:30]  ³ sn This deity is unknown in extra-biblical literature. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 211-12.

[17:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “in the eyes of.”

[1:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:11]  ⁶ tc The MT reads, “he answered and said to him.” The verb “he answered” (וַיַּעַן, vayya’an) is probably a corruption of “he went up” (וַיַּעַל, vayya’al). See v. 9.

[1:11]  ⁷ sn In this second panel of the three-paneled narrative, the king and his captain are more arrogant than before. The captain uses a more official sounding introduction (“this is what the king says”) and the king adds “at once” to the command.