2 Kings 6:8-12

Elisha Defeats an Army

6:8 Now the king of Syria was at war with Israel. He consulted his advisers, who said, “Invade ¹  at such and such ²  a place.” 6:9 But the prophet sent this message to the king of Israel, “Make sure you don’t pass through this place because Syria is invading there.” 6:10 So the king of Israel sent a message to the place the prophet had pointed out, warning it ³  to be on its guard. This happened on several occasions. ⁴  6:11 This made the king of Syria upset. ⁵  So he summoned his advisers ⁶  and said to them, “One of us must be helping the king of Israel.” ⁷  6:12 One of his advisers said, “No, my master, O king. The prophet Elisha who lives in Israel keeps telling the king of Israel the things you say in your bedroom.”

2 Kings 7:1

7:1 Elisha replied, “Hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Lord says, ‘About this time tomorrow a seah ⁸  of finely milled flour will sell for a shekel and two seahs of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria.’”

2 Kings 13:23

13:23 But the Lord had mercy on them and felt pity for them. ⁹  He extended his favor to them ¹⁰  because of the promise he had made ¹¹  to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He has been unwilling to destroy them or remove them from his presence to this very day. ¹² 

Isaiah 7:1-9

Ahaz Receives a Sign

7:1 During ¹³  the reign of Ahaz son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, King Rezin of Syria and King Pekah son of Remaliah of Israel marched up to Jerusalem ¹⁴  to do battle, but they were unable to prevail against it. ¹⁵ 

7:2 It was reported to the family ¹⁶  of David, “Syria has allied with ¹⁷  Ephraim.” They and their people were emotionally shaken, just as the trees of the forest shake before the wind. ¹⁸  7:3 So the Lord told Isaiah, “Go out with your son Shear-jashub ¹⁹  and meet Ahaz at the end of the conduit of the upper pool which is located on the road to the field where they wash and dry cloth. ²⁰  7:4 Tell him, ‘Make sure you stay calm! ²¹  Don’t be afraid! Don’t be intimidated ²²  by these two stubs of smoking logs, ²³  or by the raging anger of Rezin, Syria, and the son of Remaliah. 7:5 Syria has plotted with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah to bring about your demise. ²⁴  7:6 They say, “Let’s attack Judah, terrorize it, and conquer it. ²⁵  Then we’ll set up the son of Tabeel as its king.” ²⁶  7:7 For this reason the sovereign master, ²⁷  the Lord, says:

“It will not take place;

it will not happen.

7:8 For Syria’s leader is Damascus,

and the leader of Damascus is Rezin.

Within sixty-five years Ephraim will no longer exist as a nation. ²⁸ 

7:9 Ephraim’s leader is Samaria,

and Samaria’s leader is the son of Remaliah.

If your faith does not remain firm,

then you will not remain secure.” ²⁹ 

Ezekiel 20:14

20:14 I acted for the sake of my reputation, so that I would not be profaned before the nations in whose sight I had brought them out.

Ezekiel 20:22

20:22 But I refrained from doing so, ³⁰  and acted instead for the sake of my reputation, so that I would not be profaned before the nations in whose sight I had brought them out.

[6:8]  ¹ tc The verb form used here is difficult to analyze. On the basis of the form נְחִתִּים (nÿkhitim) in v. 9 from the root נָחַת (nakhat), it is probably best to emend the verb to תִּנְחְתוּ (tinkhÿtu; a Qal imperfect form from the same root). The verb נָחַת in at least two other instances carries the nuance “go down, descend” in a military context. For a defense of this view, see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 72.

[6:8]  ² sn The advisers would have mentioned a specific location, but the details are not significant to the narrator’s purpose, so he simply paraphrases here.

[6:10]  ³ tn The vav + perfect here indicates action contemporary with the preceding main verb (“sent”). See IBHS 533-34 §32.2.3e.

[6:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “and the king of Israel sent to the place about which the man of God spoke to him, and he warned it and he guarded himself there, not once and not twice.”

[6:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “and the heart of the king of Syria was stirred up over this thing.”

[6:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “servants.”

[6:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “Will you not tell me who among us [is] for the king of Israel?” The sarcastic rhetorical question expresses the king’s suspicion.

[7:1]  ⁸ sn A seah was a dry measure equivalent to about 7 quarts.

[13:23]  ⁹ tn Or “showed them compassion.”

[13:23]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “he turned to them.”

[13:23]  ¹¹ tn Heb “because of his covenant with.”

[13:23]  ¹² tn Heb “until now.”

[7:1]  ¹³ tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[7:1]  ¹⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[7:1]  ¹⁵ tn Or perhaps, “but they were unable to attack it.” This statement sounds like a summary of the whole campaign. The following context explains why they were unable to defeat the southern kingdom. The parallel passage (2 Kgs 16:5; cf. Num 22:11; 1 Sam 17:9 for a similar construction) affirms that Syria and Israel besieged Ahaz. Consequently, the statement that “they were not able to battle against them” must refer to the inability to conquer Ahaz.

[7:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “house.” In this context the “house of David” includes King Ahaz, his family, and the royal court. See also Jer 21:12; Zech 12:7-8, 10, 12, for a similar use of the phrase.

[7:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “rests upon.” Most understand the verb as נוּחַ (nuakh, “rest”), but HALOT 685 s.v. II נחה proposes that this is a hapax legomenon which means “stand by.”

[7:2]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and his heart shook and the heart of his people shook, like the shaking of the trees of the forest before the wind.” The singular pronoun “his” is collective, referring to the Davidic house/family. לֵבָב (levav, “heart”) here refers to the seat of the emotions.

[7:3]  ¹⁹ tn The name means “a remnant will return.” Perhaps in this context, where the Lord is trying to encourage Ahaz, the name suggests that only a few of the enemy invaders will return home; the rest will be defeated.

[7:3]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the field of the washer”; traditionally “the fuller’s field” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); NIV “the Washerman’s Field.”

[7:4]  ²¹ tn Heb “guard yourself and be quiet,” but the two verbs should be coordinated.

[7:4]  ²² tn Heb “and let not your heart be weak”; ASV “neither let thy heart be faint.”

[7:4]  ²³ sn The derogatory metaphor indicates that the power of Rezin and Pekah is ready to die out.

[7:5]  ²⁴ tn This sentence opens with the conjunction יַעַן כִּי (ya’an ki, “because”). Consequently some take vv. 5-6 with what precedes, as another reason why Ahaz might be tempted to fear (see v. 4). However, it is more likely that vv. 5-6 give the basis for the Lord’s announcement in vv. 7-9. The conjunction יַעַן כִּי here introduces the basis for judgment (as in 3:16; 8:6; 29:13), which is then followed by the formal announcement of judgment.

[7:6]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and let us break it open for ourselves”; NASB “make for ourselves a breach in its walls”; NLT “fight our way into.”

[7:6]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and we will make the son of Tabeel king in its midst.”

[7:7]  ²⁷ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here and in vv. 14, 19 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[7:8]  ²⁸ tn Heb “Ephraim will be too shattered to be a nation”; NIV “to be a people.”

[7:9]  ²⁹ tn Heb “if you do not believe, you will not endure.” The verb forms are second plural; the Lord here addresses the entire Davidic family and court. (Verse 4 was addressed to the king.) There is a wordplay in the Hebrew text, designed to draw attention to the alternatives set before the king (cf. 1:20). “Believe” (תַאֳמִינוּ, ta’aminu) is a Hiphil form of the verb אָמָן (’aman); “endure” (תֵאָמֵנוּ, te’amenu) is a Niphal form of this same verb.

[20:22]  ³⁰ tn Heb “drew my hand back.” This idiom also occurs in Lam 2:8 and Ps 74:11.