2 Kings 2:2

2:2 Elijah told Elisha, “Stay here, for the Lord has sent me to Bethel.” ¹  But Elisha said, “As certainly as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.

2 Kings 14:7

14:7 He defeated ²  10,000 Edomites in the Salt Valley; he captured Sela in battle and renamed it Joktheel, a name it has retained to this very day.

2 Kings 17:28

17:28 So one of the priests whom they had deported from Samaria went back and settled in Bethel. ³  He taught them how to worship ⁴  the Lord.

2 Kings 2:3

2:3 Some members of the prophetic guild ⁵  in Bethel came out to Elisha and said, “Do you know that today the Lord is going to take your master from you?” ⁶  He answered, “Yes, I know. Be quiet.”

2 Kings 2:23

2:23 He went up from there to Bethel. ⁷  As he was traveling up the road, some young boys ⁸  came out of the city and made fun of him, saying, “Go on up, baldy! Go on up, baldy!”

2 Kings 10:29

A Summary of Jehu’s Reign

10:29 However, Jehu did not repudiate the sins which Jeroboam son of Nebat had encouraged Israel to commit; the golden calves remained in Bethel ⁹  and Dan. ¹⁰ 

2 Kings 23:19

23:19 Josiah also removed all the shrines on the high places in the cities of Samaria. The kings of Israel had made them and angered the Lord. ¹¹  He did to them what he had done to the high place in Bethel. ¹² 

2 Kings 23:15

23:15 He also tore down the altar in Bethel ¹³  at the high place made by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who encouraged Israel to sin. ¹⁴  He burned all the combustible items at that high place and crushed them to dust; including the Asherah pole. ¹⁵ 

2 Kings 23:17

23:17 He asked, “What is this grave marker I see?” The men from the city replied, “It’s the grave of the prophet ¹⁶  who came from Judah and foretold these very things you have done to the altar of Bethel.”

2 Kings 23:4

23:4 The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the high-ranking priests, ¹⁷  and the guards ¹⁸  to bring out of the Lord’s temple all the items that were used in the worship of ¹⁹  Baal, Asherah, and all the stars of the sky. ²⁰  The king ²¹  burned them outside of Jerusalem in the terraces ²²  of Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel. ²³ 

[2:2]  ¹ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[14:7]  ² tn Or “struck down.”

[17:28]  ³ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[17:28]  ⁴ tn Heb “fear.”

[2:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “the sons of the prophets.”

[2:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “from your head.” The same expression occurs in v. 5.

[2:23]  ⁵ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[2:23]  ⁶ tn The word נַעַר (na’ar), here translated “boy,” can refer to a broad age range, including infants as well as young men. But the qualifying term “young” (or “small”) suggests these youths were relatively young. The phrase in question (“young boy”) occurs elsewhere in 1 Sam 20:35; 1 Kgs 3:7 (used by Solomon in an hyperbolic manner); 11:17; 2 Kgs 5:14; and Isa 11:6.

[10:29]  ⁶ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[10:29]  ⁷ tn Heb “Except the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat which he caused Israel to commit, Jehu did not turn aside from after them – the golden calves which [were in] Bethel and which [were] in Dan.”

[23:19]  ⁷ tc Heb “which the kings of Israel had made, angering.” The object has been accidentally omitted in the MT. It appears in the LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate versions.

[23:19]  ⁸ tn Heb “and he did to them according to all the deeds he had done in Bethel.”

[23:15]  ⁸ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[23:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “And also the altar that is in Bethel, the high place that Jeroboam son of Nebat who encouraged Israel to sin, also that altar and the high place he tore down.” The more repetitive Hebrew text is emphatic.

[23:15]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “he burned the high place, crushing to dust, and he burned the Asherah pole.” High places per se are never referred to as being burned elsewhere. בָּמָה (bamah) here stands by metonymy for the combustible items located on the high place. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 289.

[23:17]  ⁹ tn Heb “man of God.”

[23:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the priests of the second [rank],” that is, those ranked just beneath Hilkiah.

[23:4]  ¹¹ tn Or “doorkeepers.”

[23:4]  ¹² tn Heb “for.”

[23:4]  ¹³ tn Heb “all the host of heaven” (also in v. 5).

[23:4]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:4]  ¹⁵ tn Or “fields.” For a defense of the translation “terraces,” see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 285.

[23:4]  ¹⁶ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.