2 Kings 5:3

5:3 She told her mistress, “If only my master were in the presence of the prophet who is in Samaria! ¹  Then he would cure him of his skin disease.”

2 Kings 5:1

Elisha Heals a Syrian General

5:1 Now Naaman, the commander of the king of Syria’s army, was esteemed and respected by his master, ²  for through him the Lord had given Syria military victories. But this great warrior had a skin disease. ³ 

2 Kings 25:14-17

25:14 They also took the pots, shovels, ⁴  trimming shears, ⁵  pans, and all the bronze utensils used by the priests. ⁶  25:15 The captain of the royal guard took the golden and silver censers ⁷  and basins. 25:16 The bronze of the items that King Solomon made for the Lord’s temple – including the two pillars, the big bronze basin called “The Sea,” the twelve bronze bulls under “The Sea,” ⁸  and the movable stands – was too heavy to be weighed. 25:17 Each of the pillars was about twenty-seven feet ⁹  high. The bronze top of one pillar was about four and a half feet ¹⁰  high and had bronze latticework and pomegranate shaped ornaments all around it. The second pillar with its latticework was like it.

2 Kings 25:1

25:1 So King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came against Jerusalem with his whole army and set up camp outside ¹¹  it. They built siege ramps all around it. He arrived on the tenth day of the tenth month in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign. ¹² 

2 Kings 20:1

Hezekiah is Healed

20:1 In those days Hezekiah was stricken with a terminal illness. ¹³  The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz visited him and told him, “This is what the Lord says, ‘Give your household instructions, for you are about to die; you will not get well.’” ¹⁴ 

2 Kings 20:1

Hezekiah is Healed

20:1 In those days Hezekiah was stricken with a terminal illness. ¹⁵  The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz visited him and told him, “This is what the Lord says, ‘Give your household instructions, for you are about to die; you will not get well.’” ¹⁶ 

Job 32:8-9

32:8 But it is a spirit in people,

the breath ¹⁷  of the Almighty,

that makes them understand.

32:9 It is not the aged ¹⁸  who are wise,

nor old men who understand what is right.

Jeremiah 38:7-10

An Ethiopian Official Rescues Jeremiah from the Cistern

38:7 An Ethiopian, Ebed Melech, ¹⁹  a court official in the royal palace, heard that Jeremiah had been put ²⁰  in the cistern. While the king was holding court ²¹  at the Benjamin Gate, 38:8 Ebed Melech departed the palace and went to speak to the king. He said to him, 38:9 “Your royal Majesty, those men have been very wicked in all that they have done to the prophet Jeremiah. They have thrown him into a cistern and he is sure to die of starvation there because there is no food left in the city. ²²  38:10 Then the king gave Ebed Melech the Ethiopian the following order: “Take thirty ²³  men with you from here and go pull the prophet Jeremiah out of the cistern before he dies.”

[5:3]  ¹ map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.

[5:1]  ² tn Heb “was a great man before his master and lifted up with respect to the face.”

[5:1]  ³ tn For a discussion of מְצֹרָע (mÿtsora’), traditionally translated “leprous,” see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 63. Naaman probably had a skin disorder of some type, not leprosy/Hansen’s disease.

[25:14]  ⁴ sn These shovels were used to clean the altar.

[25:14]  ⁵ sn These were used to trim the wicks.

[25:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “with which they served [or, ‘fulfilled their duty’].”

[25:15]  ⁷ sn These held the embers used for the incense offerings.

[25:16]  ⁸ tc The MT lacks “the twelve bronze bulls under ‘the Sea,’” but these words have probably been accidentally omitted by homoioarcton. The scribe’s eye may have jumped from the וְהָ (vÿha-) on וְהַבָּקָר (vÿhabbaqar), “and the bulls,” to the וְהָ on וְהַמְּכֹנוֹת (vÿhammÿkhonot), “and the movable stands,” causing him to leave out the intervening words. See the parallel passage in Jer 52:20.

[25:17]  ⁹ tn Heb “eighteen cubits.” The standard cubit in the OT is assumed by most authorities to be about eighteen inches (45 cm) long.

[25:17]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “three cubits.” The parallel passage in Jer 52:22 has “five.”

[25:1]  ¹¹ tn Or “against.”

[25:1]  ¹² sn This would have been Jan 15, 588 b.c. The reckoning is based on the calendar that begins the year in the spring (Nisan = March/April).

[20:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “was sick to the point of dying.”

[20:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “will not live.”

[20:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “was sick to the point of dying.”

[20:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “will not live.”

[32:8]  ¹⁷ tn This is the word נְשָׁמָה (nÿshamah, “breath”); according to Gen 2:7 it was breathed into Adam to make him a living person (“soul”). With that divine impartation came this spiritual understanding. Some commentators identify the רוּחַ (ruakh) in the first line as the Spirit of God; this “breath” would then be the human spirit. Whether Elihu knew that much, however, is hard to prove.

[32:9]  ¹⁸ tn The MT has “the great” or “the many,” meaning great in years according to the parallelism.

[38:7]  ¹⁹ sn This individual, Ebed Melech, is mentioned only here. Later he will be promised deliverance from destruction when the city falls because he had shown trust in God (see Jer 39:16-18).

[38:7]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Ebed Melech, the Cushite, a man, an eunuch/official, and he was [= who was; a circumstantial clause] in the house of the king, heard that they had put Jeremiah…” The passive construction “Jeremiah had been put” has been used to avoid the indefinite subject “they” or the addition of “the officials.” For the translation of סָרִיס (saris) as “official” here rather than “eunuch” see the translator’s note on 29:2 and see also the usage in 34:19. For the translation of “Cushite” as Ethiopian see the study note on 13:23.

[38:7]  ²¹ tn Heb “And the king was sitting in the Benjamin Gate.” This clause is circumstantial to the following clause; thus “while the king was…” Most commentators agree that the reference to sitting in the gate here likely refers to the same kind of judicial context that has been posited for 26:10 (see the translator’s note there for further references). Hence the translation uses “sitting” with the more technical “holding court” to better reflect the probable situation.

[38:9]  ²² tn Heb “Those men have made evil all they have done to the prophet Jeremiah in that they have thrown him into the cistern and he will die of starvation in the place where he is because there is no more food in the city.” The particle אֵת (’et) before “they have thrown” (אֵת אֲשֶׁר הִשְׁלִיכוּ, ’et ’asher hishlikhu) is explanatory or further definition of “all they have done to” (i.e., the particle is repeated for apposition). The verb form “and he is sure to die” is an unusual use of the vav (ו) consecutive + imperfect that the grammars see as giving a logical consequence without a past nuance (cf. GKC 328 §111.l and IBHS 557-58 §33.3.1f).

[38:10]  ²³ tc Some modern English versions (e.g., NRSV, REB, TEV) and commentaries read “three” on the basis that thirty men would not be necessary for the task (cf. J. Bright, Jeremiah [AB], 231). Though the difference in “three” and “thirty” involves minimal emendation (שְׁלֹשָׁה [shÿlosha] for שְׁלֹשִׁים [shÿloshim]) there is no textual or versional evidence for it except for one Hebrew ms. Perhaps the number was large to prevent the officials from hindering Ebed Melech from accomplishing the task.