2 Kings 7:13

7:13 One of his advisers replied, “Pick some men and have them take five of the horses that are left in the city. (Even if they are killed, their fate will be no different than that of all the Israelite people – we’re all going to die!) ¹  Let’s send them out so we can know for sure what’s going on.” ² 

2 Kings 23:11

23:11 He removed from the entrance to the Lord’s temple the statues of horses ³  that the kings of Judah had placed there in honor of the sun god. (They were kept near the room of Nathan Melech the eunuch, which was situated among the courtyards.) ⁴  He burned up the chariots devoted to the sun god. ⁵ 

[7:13]  ¹ tn Heb “Let them take five of the remaining horses that remain in it. Look, they are like all the people of Israel that remain in it. Look, they are like all the people of Israel that have come to an end.” The MT is dittographic here; the words “that remain in it. Look they are like all the people of Israel” have been accidentally repeated. The original text read, “Let them take five of the remaining horses that remain in it. Look, they are like all the people of Israel that have come to an end.”

[7:13]  ² tn Heb “and let us send so we might see.”

[23:11]  ³ tn The MT simply reads “the horses.” The words “statues of” have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[23:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “who/which was in the […?].” The meaning of the Hebrew term פַּרְוָרִים (parvarim), translated here “courtyards,” is uncertain. The relative clause may indicate where the room was located or explain who Nathan Melech was, “the eunuch who was in the courtyards.” See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 288-89, who translate “the officer of the precincts.”

[23:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “and the chariots of the sun he burned with fire.”