Discovery Box2 Kings 23:1
Context23:1 The king summoned all the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem. 1
2 Kings 8:1-29
Context8:1 Now Elisha advised the woman whose son he had brought back to life, “You and your family should go and live somewhere else for a while, 2 for the Lord has decreed that a famine will overtake the land for seven years.” 8:2 So the woman did as the prophet said. 3 She and her family went and lived in the land of the Philistines for seven years. 8:3 After seven years the woman returned from the land of the Philistines and went to ask the king to give her back her house and field. 4 8:4 Now the king was talking to Gehazi, the prophet’s 5 servant, and said, “Tell me all the great things which Elisha has done.” 8:5 While Gehazi 6 was telling the king how Elisha 7 had brought the dead back to life, the woman whose son he had brought back to life came to ask the king for her house and field. 8 Gehazi said, “My master, O king, this is the very woman and this is her son whom Elisha brought back to life!” 8:6 The king asked the woman about it, and she gave him the details. 9 The king assigned a eunuch to take care of her request and ordered him, 10 “Give her back everything she owns, as well as the amount of crops her field produced from the day she left the land until now.”
8:7 Elisha traveled to Damascus while King Ben Hadad of Syria was sick. The king 11 was told, “The prophet 12 has come here.” 8:8 So the king told Hazael, “Take a gift 13 and go visit the prophet. Request from him an oracle from the Lord. Ask him, 14 ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’” 8:9 So Hazael went to visit Elisha. 15 He took along a gift, 16 as well as 17 forty camel loads of all the fine things of Damascus. When he arrived, he stood before him and said, “Your son, 18 King Ben Hadad of Syria, has sent me to you with this question, 19 ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’” 8:10 Elisha said to him, “Go and tell him, ‘You will surely recover,’ 20 but the Lord has revealed to me that he will surely die.” 8:11 Elisha 21 just stared at him until Hazael became uncomfortable. 22 Then the prophet started crying. 8:12 Hazael asked, “Why are you crying, my master?” He replied, “Because I know the trouble you will cause the Israelites. You will set fire to their fortresses, kill their young men with the sword, smash their children to bits, and rip open their pregnant women.” 8:13 Hazael said, “How could your servant, who is as insignificant as a dog, accomplish this great military victory?” 23 Elisha answered, “The Lord has revealed to me that you will be the king of Syria.” 24 8:14 He left Elisha and went to his master. Ben Hadad 25 asked him, “What did Elisha tell you?” Hazael 26 replied, “He told me you would surely recover.” 8:15 The next day Hazael 27 took a piece of cloth, dipped it in water, and spread it over Ben Hadad’s 28 face until he died. Then Hazael replaced him as king.
8:16 In the fifth year of the reign of Israel’s King Joram, son of Ahab, Jehoshaphat’s son Jehoram became king over Judah. 29 8:17 He was thirty-two years old when he became king and he reigned for eight years in Jerusalem. 30 8:18 He followed in the footsteps of the kings of Israel, just as Ahab’s dynasty had done, for he married Ahab’s daughter. 31 He did evil in the sight of 32 the Lord. 8:19 But the Lord was unwilling to destroy Judah. He preserved Judah for the sake of 33 his servant David to whom he had promised a perpetual dynasty. 34
8:20 During his reign Edom freed themselves from Judah’s control and set up their own king. 35 8:21 Joram 36 crossed over to Zair with all his chariots. The Edomites, who had surrounded him, attacked at night and defeated him and his chariot officers. 37 The Israelite army retreated to their homeland. 38 8:22 So Edom has remained free from Judah’s control to this very day. 39 At that same time Libnah also rebelled.
8:23 The rest of the events of Joram’s reign, including a record of his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah. 40 8:24 Joram passed away 41 and was buried with his ancestors in the city of David. His son Ahaziah replaced him as king.
8:25 In the twelfth year of the reign of Israel’s King Joram, son of Ahab, Jehoram’s son Ahaziah became king over Judah. 8:26 Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king and he reigned for one year in Jerusalem. 42 His mother was Athaliah, the granddaughter 43 of King Omri of Israel. 8:27 He followed in the footsteps of Ahab’s dynasty and did evil in the sight of 44 the Lord, like Ahab’s dynasty, for he was related to Ahab’s family. 45
8:28 He joined Ahab’s son Joram in a battle against King Hazael of Syria at Ramoth Gilead in which the Syrians defeated Joram. 8:29 King Joram returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds he received from the Syrians 46 in Ramah when he fought against King Hazael of Syria. King Ahaziah son of Jehoram of Judah went down to visit 47 Joram son of Ahab in Jezreel, for he was ill.
2 Kings 15:1-38
Context15:1 In the twenty-seventh year of King Jeroboam’s reign over Israel, Amaziah’s son Azariah became king over Judah. 15:2 He was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for fifty-two years in Jerusalem. 48 His mother’s name was Jecholiah, who was from Jerusalem. 15:3 He did what the Lord approved, just as his father Amaziah had done. 49 15:4 But the high places were not eliminated; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense on the high places. 15:5 The Lord afflicted the king with an illness; he suffered from a skin disease 50 until the day he died. He lived in separate quarters, 51 while his son Jotham was in charge of the palace and ruled over the people of the land.
15:6 The rest of the events of Azariah’s reign, including all his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah. 52 15:7 Azariah passed away 53 and was buried 54 with his ancestors in the city of David. His son Jotham replaced him as king.
15:8 In the thirty-eighth year of King Azariah’s reign over Judah, Jeroboam’s son Zechariah became king over Israel. He reigned in Samaria 55 for six months. 15:9 He did evil in the sight of 56 the Lord, as his ancestors had done. He did not repudiate 57 the sinful ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat who encouraged Israel to sin. 15:10 Shallum son of Jabesh conspired against him; he assassinated him in Ibleam 58 and took his place as king. 15:11 The rest of the events of Zechariah’s reign are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel. 59 15:12 His assassination brought to fulfillment the Lord’s word to Jehu, 60 “Four generations of your descendants will rule over Israel.” 61 That is exactly what happened. 62
15:13 Shallum son of Jabesh became king in the thirty-ninth year of King Uzziah’s 63 reign over Judah. He reigned for one month 64 in Samaria. 15:14 Menahem son of Gadi went up from Tirzah to 65 Samaria and attacked Shallum son of Jabesh. 66 He killed him and took his place as king. 15:15 The rest of the events of Shallum’s reign, including the conspiracy he organized, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel. 67 15:16 At that time Menahem came from Tirzah and attacked Tiphsah. He struck down all who lived in the city and the surrounding territory, because they would not surrender. 68 He even ripped open the pregnant women.
15:17 In the thirty-ninth year of King Azariah’s reign over Judah, Menahem son of Gadi became king over Israel. He reigned for twelve years in Samaria. 69 15:18 He did evil in the sight of 70 the Lord; he did not repudiate 71 the sinful ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat who encouraged Israel to sin. 72
During his reign, 15:19 Pul 73 king of Assyria invaded the land, and Menahem paid 74 him 75 a thousand talents 76 of silver to gain his support 77 and to solidify his control of the kingdom. 78 15:20 Menahem got this silver by taxing all the wealthy men in Israel; he took fifty shekels of silver from each one of them and paid it to the king of Assyria. 79 Then the king of Assyria left; he did not stay there in the land.
15:21 The rest of the events of Menahem’s reign, including all his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel. 80 15:22 Menahem passed away 81 and his son Pekahiah replaced him as king.
15:23 In the fiftieth year of King Azariah’s reign over Judah, Menahem’s son Pekahiah became king over Israel. He reigned in Samaria 82 for two years. 15:24 He did evil in the sight of 83 the Lord; he did not repudiate 84 the sinful ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat who encouraged Israel to sin. 15:25 His officer Pekah son of Remaliah conspired against him. He and fifty Gileadites assassinated Pekahiah, as well as Argob and Arieh, in Samaria in the fortress of the royal palace. 85 Pekah then took his place as king.
15:26 The rest of the events of Pekahiah’s reign, including all his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel. 86
15:27 In the fifty-second year of King Azariah’s reign over Judah, Pekah son of Remaliah became king over Israel. He reigned in Samaria 87 for twenty years. 15:28 He did evil in the sight of 88 the Lord; he did not repudiate 89 the sinful ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat who encouraged Israel to sin. 15:29 During Pekah’s reign over Israel, King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria came and captured Ijon, Abel Beth Maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, 90 Gilead, and Galilee, including all the territory of Naphtali. He deported the people 91 to Assyria. 15:30 Hoshea son of Elah conspired against Pekah son of Remaliah. He assassinated him 92 and took his place as king, in the twentieth year of the reign of Jotham son of Uzziah.
15:31 The rest of the events of Pekah’s reign, including all his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel. 93
15:32 In the second year of the reign of Israel’s King Pekah son of Remaliah, Uzziah’s son Jotham became king over Judah. 15:33 He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem. 94 His mother was Jerusha the daughter of Zadok. 15:34 He did what the Lord approved, just as his father Uzziah had done. 95 15:35 But the high places were not eliminated; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense on the high places. He built the Upper Gate to the Lord’s temple.
15:36 The rest of the events of Jotham’s reign, including his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah. 96 15:37 In those days the Lord prompted King Rezin of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah to attack Judah. 97 15:38 Jotham passed away 98 and was buried with his ancestors in the city of his ancestor David. His son Ahaz replaced him as king.
[23:1] 1 tn Heb “and the king sent and all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem gathered to him.”
[8:1] 2 tn Heb “Get up and go, you and your house, and live temporarily where you can live temporarily.”
[8:2] 3 tn Heb “and the woman got up and did according to the word of the man of God.”
[8:3] 4 tn Heb “and went out to cry out to the king for her house and her field.”
[8:4] 5 tn Heb “man of God’s.”
[8:5] 6 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Gehazi) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[8:5] 7 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[8:5] 8 tn Heb “and look, the woman whose son he had brought back to life was crying out to the king for her house and her field.”
[8:6] 7 tn Heb “and the king asked the woman and she told him.”
[8:6] 8 tn Heb “and he assigned to her an official, saying.”
[8:7] 8 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[8:7] 9 tn Heb “man of God” (also a second time in this verse and in v. 11).
[8:8] 9 tn The Hebrew text also has “in your hand.”
[8:8] 10 tn Heb “Inquire of the
[8:9] 10 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[8:9] 11 tn The Hebrew text also has “in his hand.”
[8:9] 12 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] 13 sn The words “your son” emphasize the king’s respect for the prophet.
[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
[8:11] 12 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[8:11] 13 tn Heb “and he made his face stand [i.e., be motionless] and set [his face?] until embarrassment.”
[8:13] 13 tn Heb “Indeed, what is your servant, a dog, that he could do this great thing?” With his reference to a dog, Hazael is not denying that he is a “dog” and protesting that he would never commit such a dastardly “dog-like” deed. Rather, as Elisha’s response indicates, Hazael is suggesting that he, like a dog, is too insignificant to ever be in a position to lead such conquests.
[8:13] 14 tn Heb “The
[8:14] 14 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Ben Hadad) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[8:14] 15 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Hazael) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[8:15] 15 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Hazael) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[8:15] 16 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Ben Hadad) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[8:16] 16 tc The Hebrew text reads, “and in the fifth year of Joram son of Ahab king of Israel, and [or, ‘while’?] Jehoshaphat [was?] king of Judah, Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah became king.” The first reference to “Jehoshaphat king of Judah” is probably due to a scribe accidentally copying the phrase from the later in the verse. If the Hebrew text is retained, the verse probably refers to the beginning of a coregency between Jehoshaphat and Jehoram.
[8:17] 17 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[8:18] 18 tn Heb “he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab did, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife.”
[8:18] 19 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
[8:19] 19 tn The Hebrew has only one sentence, “and the
[8:19] 20 tn Heb “just as he had promised to give him and his sons a lamp all the days.” The metaphorical “lamp” symbolizes the Davidic dynasty; this is reflected in the translation.
[8:20] 20 tn Heb “in his days Edom rebelled from under the hand of Judah and enthroned a king over them.”
[8:21] 21 sn Joram is a short form of the name Jehoram.
[8:21] 22 tn Heb “and he arose at night and defeated Edom, who had surrounded him, and the chariot officers.” The Hebrew text as it stands gives the impression that Joram was surrounded and launched a victorious night counterattack. It would then be quite natural to understand the last statement in the verse to refer to an Edomite retreat. Yet v. 22 goes on to state that the Edomite revolt was successful. Therefore, if the MT is retained, it may be better to understand the final statement in v. 21 as a reference to an Israelite retreat (made in spite of the success described in the preceding sentence). The translation above assumes an emendation of the Hebrew text. Adding a third masculine singular pronominal suffix to the accusative sign before Edom (reading אֶתוֹ [’eto], “him,” instead of just אֶת [’et]) and taking Edom as the subject of verbs allows one to translate the verse in a way that is more consistent with the context, which depicts an Israelite defeat, not victory. There is, however, no evidence for this emendation.
[8:21] 23 tn Heb “and the people fled to their tents.”
[8:22] 22 tn Heb “and Edom rebelled from under the hand of Judah until this day.”
[8:23] 23 tn Heb “As for the rest of the acts of Joram and all which he did, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah?”
[8:24] 24 tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
[8:26] 25 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[8:26] 26 tn Hebrew בַּת (bat), “daughter,” can refer, as here to a granddaughter. See HALOT 166 s.v. בַּת.
[8:27] 26 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
[8:27] 27 tn Heb “and he walked in the way of the house of Ahab and did evil in the eyes of the
[8:29] 27 tn Heb “which the Syrians inflicted [on] him.”
[15:2] 28 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[15:3] 29 tn Heb “he did what was proper in the eyes of the
[15:5] 30 tn Traditionally, “he was a leper.” But see the note at 5:1.
[15:5] 31 tn The precise meaning of בֵית הַחָפְשִׁית (bet hakhofÿshit), “house of […?],” is uncertain. For a discussion of various proposals, see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 166-67.
[15:6] 31 tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Azariah, and all which he did, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah?”
[15:7] 32 tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
[15:7] 33 tn Heb “and they buried him.”
[15:8] 33 map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.
[15:9] 34 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
[15:9] 35 tn Heb “turn away from.”
[15:10] 35 tc The MT reads, “and he struck him down before the people and killed him” (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). However, the reading קָבָל עָם (qaval ’am), “before the people,” is problematic to some because קָבָל is a relatively late Aramaic term. Nevertheless, the Aramaic term qobel certainly antedates the writing of Kings. The bigger problem seems to be the unnecessary intrusion of an Aramaic word at all here. Most interpreters prefer to follow Lucian’s Greek version and read “in Ibleam” (בְיִבְלְעָם, bÿivle’am). Cf. NAB, TEV.
[15:11] 36 tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Jeroboam, look, they are written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel.”
[15:12] 37 tn Heb “It was the word of the
[15:12] 38 tn “sons of four generations will sit for you on the throne of Israel.”
[15:12] 39 tn Heb “and it was so.”
[15:13] 38 sn Azariah was also known by the name Uzziah.
[15:13] 39 tn Heb “a month of days.”
[15:14] 39 tn Heb “and came to.”
[15:14] 40 tn Heb “went up from Tirzah and arrived in Samaria and attacked Shallum son of Jabesh in Samaria.”
[15:15] 40 tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Shallum, and his conspiracy which he conspired, look, they are written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel.”
[15:16] 41 tn Heb “then Menahem attacked Tiphsah and all who were in it and its borders from Tirzah, for it would not open, and he attacked.”
[15:17] 42 map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.
[15:18] 43 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
[15:18] 44 tn Heb “turn away from.”
[15:18] 45 tc The MT of v. 18 ends with the words, “all his days.” If this phrase is taken with what precedes, then one should translate, “[who encouraged Israel to sin] throughout his reign.” However, it may be preferable to emend the text to בְיֹמָיו (bÿyomav), “in his days,” and join the phrase to what follows. The translation assumes this change.
[15:19] 44 sn Pul was a nickname of Tiglath-pileser III (cf. 15:29). See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 171-72.
[15:19] 46 tn Heb “Pul.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“him”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[15:19] 47 tn The Hebrew term כִּכָּר (kikkar, “circle”) refers generally to something that is round. When used of metals it can refer to a disk-shaped weight made of the metal or to a standard unit of weight, generally regarded as a talent. Since the accepted weight for a talent of metal is about 75 pounds, this would have amounted to about 75,000 pounds of silver (cf. NCV “about seventy-four thousand pounds”); NLT “thirty-seven tons”; CEV “over thirty tons”; TEV “34,000 kilogrammes.”
[15:19] 48 tn Heb “so his hands would be with him.”
[15:19] 49 tn Heb “to keep hold of the kingdom in his hand.”
[15:20] 45 tn Heb “and Menahem brought out the silver over Israel, over the prominent men of means, to give to the king of Assyria, fifty shekels of silver for each man.”
[15:21] 46 tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Menahem, and all which he did, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel?”
[15:22] 47 tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
[15:23] 48 map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.
[15:24] 49 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
[15:24] 50 tn Heb “turn away from.”
[15:25] 50 tn Heb “and he struck him down in Samaria in the fortress of the house of the king, Argob and Arieh, and with him fifty men from the sons of the Gileadites, and they killed him.”
[15:26] 51 tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Pekahiah, and all which he did, look, they are written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel.”
[15:27] 52 map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.
[15:28] 53 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
[15:28] 54 tn Heb “turn away from.”
[15:29] 54 map For location see Map1 D2; Map2 D3; Map3 A2; Map4 C1.
[15:30] 55 tn Heb “and struck him down and killed him.”
[15:31] 56 tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Pekah, and all which he did, look, they are written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel.”
[15:33] 57 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[15:34] 58 tn Heb “he did what was proper in the eyes of the
[15:36] 59 tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Jotham, and that which he did, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah?”
[15:37] 60 tn Heb “the
