Discovery Box2 Kings 9:1-3
Context9:1 Now Elisha the prophet summoned a member of the prophetic guild 1 and told him, “Tuck your robes into your belt, take this container 2 of olive oil in your hand, and go to Ramoth Gilead. 9:2 When you arrive there, look for Jehu son of Jehoshaphat son of Nimshi and take him aside into an inner room. 3 9:3 Take the container of olive oil, pour it over his head, and say, ‘This is what the Lord says, “I have designated 4 you as king over Israel.”’ Then open the door and run away quickly!” 5
2 Kings 9:6-14
Context9:6 So Jehu 6 got up and went inside. Then the prophet 7 poured the olive oil on his head and said to him, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says, ‘I have designated you as king over the Lord’s people Israel. 9:7 You will destroy the family of your master Ahab. 8 I will get revenge against Jezebel for the shed blood of my servants the prophets and for the shed blood of all the Lord’s servants. 9 9:8 Ahab’s entire family will die. I 10 will cut off every last male belonging to Ahab in Israel, including even the weak and incapacitated. 11 9:9 I will make Ahab’s dynasty 12 like those of Jeroboam son of Nebat and Baasha son of Ahijah. 9:10 Dogs will devour Jezebel on the plot of ground in Jezreel; she will not be buried.’” 13 Then he opened the door and ran away.
9:11 When Jehu rejoined 14 his master’s servants, they 15 asked him, “Is everything all right? 16 Why did this madman visit you?” He replied, “Ah, it’s not important. You know what kind of man he is and the kinds of things he says.” 17 9:12 But they said, “You’re lying! Tell us what he said.” So he told them what he had said. He also related how he had said, 18 “This is what the Lord says, ‘I have designated you as king over Israel.’” 9:13 Each of them quickly took off his cloak and they spread them out at Jehu’s 19 feet on the steps. 20 The trumpet was blown 21 and they shouted, “Jehu is 22 king!” 9:14 Then Jehu son of Jehoshaphat son of Nimshi conspired against Joram.
Now Joram had been in Ramoth Gilead with the whole Israelite army, 23 guarding against an invasion by King Hazael of Syria.
[9:1] 1 tn Heb “one of the sons of the prophets.”
[9:2] 3 tn Heb “and go and set him apart from his brothers and bring him into an inner room in an inner room.”
[9:3] 5 tn Heb “and open the door and run away and do not delay.”
[9:6] 6 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jehu) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[9:6] 7 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the prophet) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[9:7] 8 tn Or “strike down the house of Ahab your master.”
[9:7] 9 tn Heb “I will avenge the shed blood of my servants the prophets and the shed blood of all the servants of the
[9:8] 10 tc The LXX has the second person, “you.”
[9:8] 11 tn Heb “and I will cut off from Ahab those who urinate against a wall, [including both those who are] restrained and let free [or, ‘abandoned’] in Israel.” On the phrase וְעָצוּר וְעָזוּב (vÿ’atsur vÿ’azur, translated here “weak and incapacitated”) see the note at 1 Kgs 14:10.
[9:10] 13 sn Note how the young prophet greatly expands the message Elisha had given to him. In addition to lengthening the introductory formula (by adding “the God of Israel”) and the official declaration that accompanies the act of anointing (by adding “the
[9:11] 14 tn Heb “went out to.”
[9:11] 15 tc The MT has the singular, “he said,” but many witnesses correctly read the plural.
[9:11] 16 tn Heb “Is there peace?”
[9:11] 17 tn Heb “He said, ‘You, you know the man and his thoughts.’” Jehu tries to deflect their question by reminding them that the man is an eccentric individual who says strange things. His reply suggests that the man said nothing of importance. The translation seeks to bring out the tone and intent of Jehu’s reply.
[9:12] 18 tn Heb “So he said, ‘Like this and like this he said to me, saying.’” The words “like this and like this” are probably not a direct quote of Jehu’s words to his colleagues. Rather this is the narrator’s way of avoiding repetition and indicating that Jehu repeated, or at least summarized, what the prophet had said to him.
[9:13] 19 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Jehu) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[9:13] 20 tn Heb “and they hurried and took, each one his garment, and they placed [them] beneath him on the bone [?] of the steps.” The precise nuance of גֶרֶם (gerem), “bone,” is unclear. Some suggest the nuance “bare” here; it may be a technical architectural term in this context.
[9:13] 21 tn Heb “they blew the trumpet.” This has been translated as a passive to avoid the implication that the same ones who shouted had all blown trumpets.
