2 Kings 8:9
Context8:9 So Hazael went to visit Elisha. 1 He took along a gift, 2 as well as 3 forty camel loads of all the fine things of Damascus. When he arrived, he stood before him and said, “Your son, 4 King Ben Hadad of Syria, has sent me to you with this question, 5 ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’”
2 Kings 14:28
Context14:28 The rest of the events of Jeroboam’s reign, including all his accomplishments, his military success in restoring Israelite control over Damascus and Hamath, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel. 6


[8:9] 1 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[8:9] 2 tn The Hebrew text also has “in his hand.”
[8:9] 3 tn Heb “and.” It is possible that the conjunction is here explanatory, equivalent to English “that is.” In this case the forty camel loads constitute the “gift” and one should translate, “He took along a gift, consisting of forty camel loads of all the fine things of Damascus.”
[8:9] 4 sn The words “your son” emphasize the king’s respect for the prophet.
[14:28] 6 tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Jeroboam, and all which he did and his strength, [and] how he fought and how he restored Damascus and Hamath to Judah in Israel, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel?” The phrase “to Judah” is probably not original; it may be a scribal addition by a Judahite scribe who was trying to link Jeroboam’s conquests with the earlier achievements of David and Solomon, who ruled in Judah. The Syriac Peshitta has simply “to Israel.” M. Cogan and H. Tadmor (II Kings [AB], 162) offer this proposal, but acknowledge that it is “highly speculative.”