2 Kings 2:12

2:12 While Elisha was watching, he was crying out, “My father, my father! The chariot and horsemen of Israel!” ¹  Then he could no longer see him. He grabbed his clothes and tore them in two.

2 Kings 6:21

6:21 When the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha, “Should I strike them down, ²  my master?” ³ 

2 Kings 13:14

Elisha Makes One Final Prophecy

13:14 Now Elisha had a terminal illness. ⁴  King Joash of Israel went down to visit him. ⁵  He wept before him and said, “My father, my father! The chariot ⁶  and horsemen of Israel!” ⁷ 

Genesis 41:43

41:43 Pharaoh ⁸  had him ride in the chariot used by his second-in-command, ⁹  and they cried out before him, “Kneel down!” ¹⁰  So he placed him over all the land of Egypt.

Malachi 1:6

The Sacrilege of Priestly Service

1:6 “A son naturally honors his father and a slave respects ¹¹  his master. If I am your ¹²  father, where is my honor? If I am your master, where is my respect? The Lord who rules over all asks you this, you priests who make light of my name! But you reply, ‘How have we made light of your name?’

Matthew 23:9

23:9 And call no one your ‘father’ on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven.

Matthew 23:1

Seven Woes

23:1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples,

Colossians 4:15

4:15 Give my greetings to the brothers and sisters ¹³  who are in Laodicea and to Nympha and the church that meets in her ¹⁴  house. ¹⁵ 

[2:12]  ¹ sn Elisha may be referring to the fiery chariot(s) and horses as the Lord’s spiritual army that fights on behalf of Israel (see 2 Kgs 6:15-17; 7:6). However, the juxtaposition with “my father” (clearly a reference to Elijah as Elisha’s mentor), and the parallel in 2 Kgs 13:14 (where the king addresses Elisha with these words), suggest that Elisha is referring to Elijah. In this case Elijah is viewed as a one man army, as it were. When the Lord spoke through him, his prophetic word was as powerful as an army of chariots and horses. See M. A. Beek, “The Meaning of the Expression ‘The Chariots and Horsemen of Israel’ (II Kings ii 12),” The Witness of Tradition (OTS 17), 1-10.

[6:21]  ² tn Heb “Should I strike them down? I will strike them down.” In the Hebrew text the first person imperfect form is repeated; the first form has the interrogative he prefixed to it; the second does not. It is likely that the second form should be omitted as dittographic or that the first should be emended to an infinitive absolute.

[6:21]  ³ tn Heb “my father.” The king addresses the prophet in this way to indicate his respect. See 2 Kgs 2:12.

[13:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “Now Elisha was ill with the illness by which he would die.”

[13:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “went down to him.”

[13:14]  ⁶ tn Though the noun is singular here, it may be collective, in which case it could be translated “chariots.”

[13:14]  ⁷ sn By comparing Elisha to a one-man army, the king emphasizes the power of the prophetic word. See the note at 2:12.

[41:43]  ⁸ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Pharaoh) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[41:43]  ⁹ tn Heb “and he caused him to ride in the second chariot which was his.”

[41:43]  ¹⁰ tn The verb form appears to be a causative imperative from a verbal root meaning “to kneel.” It is a homonym of the word “bless” (identical in root letters but not related etymologically).

[1:6]  ¹¹ tn The verb “respects” is not in the Hebrew text but is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. It is understood by ellipsis (see “honors” in the preceding line).

[1:6]  ¹² tn The pronoun “your” is supplied in the translation for clarification (also a second time before “master” later in this verse).

[4:15]  ¹³ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.

[4:15]  ¹⁴ tc If the name Nympha is accented with a circumflex on the ultima (Νυμφᾶν, Numfan), then it refers to a man; if it receives an acute accent on the penult (Νύμφαν), the reference is to a woman. Scribes that considered Nympha to be a man’s name had the corresponding masculine pronoun αὐτοῦ here (autou, “his”; so D [F G] Ψ Ï), while those who saw Nympha as a woman read the feminine αὐτῆς here (auth", “her”; B 0278 6 1739^[*^] 1881 sa). Several mss (א A C P 075 33 81 104 326 1175 2464 bo) have αὐτῶν (autwn, “their”), perhaps because of indecisiveness on the gender of Nympha, perhaps because they included ἀδελφούς (adelfou", here translated “brothers and sisters”) as part of the referent. (Perhaps because accents were not part of the original text, scribes were particularly confused here.) The harder reading is certainly αὐτῆς, and thus Nympha should be considered a woman.

[4:15]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “the church in her house.” The meaning is that Paul sends greetings to the church that meets at Nympha’s house.