2 Kings 8:12-15

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?” ¹  Elisha answered, “The Lord has revealed to me that you will be the king of Syria.” ²  8:14 He left Elisha and went to his master. Ben Hadad ³  asked him, “What did Elisha tell you?” Hazael ⁴  replied, “He told me you would surely recover.” 8:15 The next day Hazael ⁵  took a piece of cloth, dipped it in water, and spread it over Ben Hadad’s ⁶  face until he died. Then Hazael replaced him as king.

2 Kings 10:32

10:32 In those days the Lord began to reduce the size of Israel’s territory. ⁷  Hazael attacked their eastern border. ⁸ 

Jeremiah 17:9

17:9 The human mind is more deceitful than anything else.

It is incurably bad. ⁹  Who can understand it?

Jeremiah 17:1

17:1 ¹⁰ The sin of Judah is engraved with an iron chisel

on their stone-hard ¹¹  hearts.

It is inscribed with a diamond ¹²  point

on the horns of their altars. ¹³ 

Colossians 1:12

1:12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share ¹⁴  in the saints’ ¹⁵  inheritance in the light.

[8:13]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Heb “The Lord has shown me you [as] king over Syria.”

[8:14]  ³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Ben Hadad) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Hazael) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Hazael) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Ben Hadad) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:32]  ⁷ tn Heb “began to cut off Israel.”

[10:32]  ⁸ tn Heb “Hazael struck them down in all the territory of Israel, from the Jordan on the east.” In the Hebrew text the phrase “from the Jordan on the east” begins v. 33.

[17:9]  ⁹ tn Or “incurably deceitful”; Heb “It is incurable.” For the word “deceitful” compare the usage of the verb in Gen 27:36 and a related noun in 2 Kgs 10:19. For the adjective “incurable” compare the usage in Jer 15:18. It is most commonly used with reference to wounds or of pain. In Jer 17:16 it is used metaphorically for a “woeful day” (i.e., day of irreparable devastation).

[17:1]  ¹⁰ tn The chapter division which was not a part of the original text but was added in the middle ages obscures the fact that there is no new speech here. The division may have resulted from the faulty identification of the “them” in the preceding verse. See the translator’s note on that verse.

[17:1]  ¹¹ tn The adjective “stone-hard” is not in the Hebrew text. It is implicit in the metaphor and is supplied in the translation for clarity. Cf. Ezek 11:19; 36:26; and Job 19:24 for the figure.

[17:1]  ¹² tn Heb “adamant.” The word “diamond” is an accommodation to modern times. There is no evidence that diamond was known in ancient times. This hard stone (perhaps emery) became metaphorical for hardness; see Ezek 3:9 and Zech 7:12. For discussion see W. E. Staples, “Adamant,” IDB 1:45.

[17:1]  ¹³ tn This verse has been restructured for the sake of the English poetry: Heb “The sin of Judah is engraved [or written] with an iron pen, inscribed with a point of a diamond [or adamant] upon the tablet of their hearts and on the horns of their altars.”

[1:12]  ¹⁴ tn BDAG 473 s.v. ἱκανόω states, “τινὰ εἴς τι someone for someth. Col 1:12.” The point of the text is that God has qualified the saints for a “share” or “portion” in the inheritance of the saints.

[1:12]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “the inheritance of the saints.” The genitive noun τῶν ἁγίων (twn Jagiwn) is a possessive genitive: “the saints’ inheritance.”