2 Kings 5:22

5:22 He answered, “Everything is fine. ¹  My master sent me with this message, ‘Look, two servants of the prophets just arrived from the Ephraimite hill country. ²  Please give them a talent ³  of silver and two suits of clothes.’”

2 Kings 10:15

10:15 When he left there, he met ⁴  Jehonadab, son of Rekab, who had been looking for him. ⁵  Jehu greeted him and asked, ⁶  “Are you as committed to me as I am to you?” ⁷  Jehonadab answered, “I am!” Jehu replied, “If so, give me your hand.” ⁸  So he offered his hand and Jehu ⁹  pulled him up into the chariot.

2 Kings 14:9

14:9 King Jehoash of Israel sent this message back to King Amaziah of Judah, “A thornbush in Lebanon sent this message to a cedar in Lebanon, ‘Give your daughter to my son as a wife.’ Then a wild animal ¹⁰  of Lebanon came by and trampled down the thorn. ¹¹ 

[5:22]  ¹ tn Heb “peace.”

[5:22]  ² tn Heb “Look now, here, two servants came to me from the Ephraimite hill country, from the sons of the prophets.”

[5:22]  ³ 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 pounds of silver (cf. NCV, NLT, CEV).

[10:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “found.”

[10:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “and he went from there and found Jehonadab son of Rekab [who was coming] to meet him.”

[10:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “and he blessed him and said to him.”

[10:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “Is there with your heart [what is] right, as my heart [is] with your heart?”

[10:15]  ⁸ tc Heb “Jehonadab said, ‘There is and there is. Give your hand.’” If the text is allowed to stand, there are two possible ways to understand the syntax of וָיֵשׁ (vayesh), “and there is”: (1) The repetition of יֵשׁ (yesh, “there is and there is”) could be taken as emphatic, “indeed I am.” In this case, the entire statement could be taken as Jehonadab’s words or one could understand the words “give your hand” as Jehu’s. In the latter case the change in speakers is unmarked. (2) וָיֵשׁ begins Jehu’s response and has a conditional force, “if you are.” In this case, the transition in speakers is unmarked. However, it is possible that וַיֹּאמֶר (vayyo’mer), “and he said,” or וַיֹּאמֶר יֵהוּא (vayyo’mer yehu), “and Jehu said,” originally appeared between יֵשׁ and וָיֵשׁ and has accidentally dropped from the text by homoioarcton (note that both the proposed וַיֹּאמֶר and וָיֵשׁ begin with vav, ו). The present translation assumes such a textual reconstruction; it is supported by the LXX, Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate.

[10:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jehu) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “the animal of the field.”

[14:9]  ⁸ sn Judah is the thorn in the allegory. Amaziah’s success has deceived him into thinking he is on the same level as the major powers in the area (symbolized by the cedar). In reality he is not capable of withstanding an attack by a real military power such as Israel (symbolized by the wild animal).