2 Kings 2:10

2:10 Elijah ¹  replied, “That’s a difficult request! ²  If you see me taken from you, may it be so, but if you don’t, it will not happen.”

2 Kings 4:3

4:3 He said, “Go and ask all your neighbors for empty containers. ³  Get as many as you can. ⁴ 

2 Kings 4:24

4:24 She saddled the donkey and told her servant, “Lead on. ⁵  Do not stop unless I say so.” ⁶ 

2 Kings 4:26

4:26 Now, run to meet her and ask her, ‘Are you well? Are your husband and the boy well?’” She told Gehazi, ⁷  “Everything’s fine.”

2 Kings 5:10

5:10 Elisha sent out a messenger who told him, “Go and wash seven times in the Jordan; your skin will be restored ⁸  and you will be healed.”

2 Kings 8:10

8:10 Elisha said to him, “Go and tell him, ‘You will surely recover,’ ⁹  but the Lord has revealed to me that he will surely die.”

2 Kings 8:14

8:14 He left Elisha and went to his master. Ben Hadad ¹⁰  asked him, “What did Elisha tell you?” Hazael ¹¹  replied, “He told me you would surely recover.”

2 Kings 15:12

15:12 His assassination brought to fulfillment the Lord’s word to Jehu, ¹²  “Four generations of your descendants will rule over Israel.” ¹³  That is exactly what happened. ¹⁴ 

2 Kings 18:24

18:24 Certainly you will not refuse one of my master’s minor officials and trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen. ¹⁵ 

2 Kings 19:29

19:29 ¹⁶ This will be your confirmation that I have spoken the truth: ¹⁷  This year you will eat what grows wild, ¹⁸  and next year ¹⁹  what grows on its own from that. But in the third year you will plant seed and harvest crops; you will plant vines and consume their produce. ²⁰ 

[2:10]  ¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elijah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:10]  ² tn Heb “You have made difficult [your] request.”

[4:3]  ³ tn Heb “Go, ask for containers from outside, from all your neighbors, empty containers.”

[4:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “Do not borrow just a few.”

[4:24]  ⁵ tn Heb “lead [the donkey on] and go.”

[4:24]  ⁶ tn Heb “do not restrain for me the riding unless I say to you.”

[4:26]  ⁷ tn Heb “she said.” The narrator streamlines the story at this point, omitting any reference to Gehazi running to meet her and asking her the questions.

[5:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “will return to you.”

[8:10]  ¹¹ tc The consonantal text (Kethib) reads, “Go, say, ‘Surely you will not (לֹא, lo’) recover” In this case the vav beginning the next clause should be translated, “for, because.” The marginal reading (Qere) has, “Go, say to him (לוֹ, lo), ‘You will surely recover.” In this case the vav (ו) beginning the next clause should be translated, “although, but.” The Qere has the support of some medieval Hebrew mss and the ancient versions, and is consistent with v. 14, where Hazael tells the king, “You will surely recover.” It is possible that a scribe has changed לוֹ, “to him,” to לֹא, “not,” because he felt that Elisha would not lie to the king. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 90. Another possibility is that a scribe has decided to harmonize Elisha’s message with Hazael’s words in v. 14. But it is possible that Hazael, once he found out he would become the next king, decided to lie to the king to facilitate his assassination plot by making the king feel secure.

[8:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Ben Hadad) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:14]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Hazael) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:12]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “It was the word of the Lord which he spoke to Jehu, saying.”

[15:12]  ¹⁶ tn “sons of four generations will sit for you on the throne of Israel.”

[15:12]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and it was so.”

[18:24]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “How can you turn back the face of an official [from among] the least of my master’s servants and trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen?” In vv. 23-24 the chief adviser develops further the argument begun in v. 21. His reasoning seems to be as follows: “In your weakened condition you obviously need military strength. Agree to the king’s terms and I will personally give you more horses than you are capable of outfitting. If I, a mere minor official, am capable of giving you such military might, just think what power the king has. There is no way the Egyptians can match our strength. It makes much better sense to deal with us.”

[19:29]  ¹⁹ tn At this point the word concerning the king of Assyria (vv. 21-28) ends and the Lord again directly addresses Hezekiah and the people (see v. 20).

[19:29]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and this is your sign.” In this case the אוֹת (’ot), “sign,” is a future confirmation of God’s intervention designated before the actual intervention takes place. For similar “signs” see Exod 3:12 and Isa 7:14-25.

[19:29]  ²¹ sn This refers to crops that grew up on their own (that is, without cultivation) from the seed planted in past years.

[19:29]  ²² tn Heb “and in the second year.”

[19:29]  ²³ tn The four plural imperatival verb forms in v. 29b are used rhetorically. The Lord commands the people to plant, harvest, etc. to emphasize the certainty of restored peace and prosperity. See IBHS 572 §34.4.c.