2 Kings 2:19

Elisha Demonstrates His Authority

2:19 The men of the city said to Elisha, “Look, the city has a good location, as our ¹  master can see. But the water is bad and the land doesn’t produce crops.” ² 

2 Kings 5:12

5:12 The rivers of Damascus, the Abana and Pharpar, are better than any of the waters of Israel! ³  Could I not wash in them and be healed?” So he turned around and went away angry.

2 Kings 20:19

20:19 Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The Lord’s word which you have announced is appropriate.” ⁴  Then he added, ⁵  “At least there will be peace and stability during my lifetime.” ⁶ 

2 Kings 3:19

3:19 You will defeat every fortified city and every important ⁷  city. You must chop down ⁸  every productive ⁹  tree, stop up all the springs, and cover all the cultivated land with stones.” ¹⁰ 

2 Kings 3:25

3:25 They tore down the cities and each man threw a stone into every cultivated field until they were covered. ¹¹  They stopped up every spring and chopped down every productive tree.

Only Kir Hareseth was left intact, ¹²  but the slingers surrounded it and attacked it.

2 Kings 8:9

8:9 So Hazael went to visit Elisha. ¹³  He took along a gift, ¹⁴  as well as ¹⁵  forty camel loads of all the fine things of Damascus. When he arrived, he stood before him and said, “Your son, ¹⁶  King Ben Hadad of Syria, has sent me to you with this question, ¹⁷  ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’”

[2:19]  ¹ tn Heb “my.”

[2:19]  ² tn Heb “miscarries” or “is barren.”

[5:12]  ³ tn Heb “Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all of the waters of Israel?” The rhetorical question expects an emphatic “yes” as an answer.

[20:19]  ⁵ tn Heb “good.”

[20:19]  ⁶ tn Heb “and he said.” Many English versions translate, “for he thought.” The verb אָמַר (’amar), “say,” is sometimes used of what one thinks (that is, says to oneself). Cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT.

[20:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “Is it not [true] there will be peace and stability in my days?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Yes, there will be peace and stability.”

[3:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “choice” or “select.”

[3:19]  ⁸ tn Elisha places the object first and uses an imperfect verb form. The stylistic shift may signal that he is now instructing them what to do, rather than merely predicting what would happen.

[3:19]  ⁹ tn Heb “good.”

[3:19]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and ruin every good portion with stones.”

[3:25]  ⁹ tn Heb “and [on] every good portion they were throwing each man his stone and they filled it.” The vav + perfect (“and they filled”) here indicates customary action contemporary with the situation described in the preceding main clause (where a customary imperfect is used, “they were throwing”). See the note at 3:4.

[3:25]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “until he had allowed its stones to remain in Kir Hareseth.”

[8:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:9]  ¹² tn The Hebrew text also has “in his hand.”

[8:9]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ sn The words “your son” emphasize the king’s respect for the prophet.

[8:9]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “saying.”