Discovery Box2 Kings 9:1
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.
2 Kings 13:1--14:29
Context13:1 In the twenty-third year of the reign of Judah’s King Joash son of Ahaziah, Jehu’s son Jehoahaz became king over Israel. He reigned in Samaria 3 for seventeen years. 13:2 He did evil in the sight of 4 the Lord. He continued in 5 the sinful ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat who had encouraged Israel to sin; he did not repudiate those sins. 6 13:3 The Lord was furious with 7 Israel and handed them over to 8 King Hazael of Syria and to Hazael’s son Ben Hadad for many years. 9
13:4 Jehoahaz asked for the Lord’s mercy 10 and the Lord responded favorably, 11 for he saw that Israel was oppressed by the king of Syria. 12 13:5 The Lord provided a deliverer 13 for Israel and they were freed from Syria’s power. 14 The Israelites once more lived in security. 15 13:6 But they did not repudiate 16 the sinful ways of the family 17 of Jeroboam, who encouraged Israel to sin; they continued in those sins. 18 There was even an Asherah pole 19 standing in Samaria. 13:7 Jehoahaz had no army left 20 except for fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and 10,000 foot soldiers. The king of Syria had destroyed his troops 21 and trampled on them like dust. 22
13:8 The rest of the events of Jehoahaz’s reign, including all his accomplishments and successes, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel. 23 13:9 Jehoahaz passed away 24 and was buried 25 in Samaria. His son Joash replaced him as king.
13:10 In the thirty-seventh year of King Joash’s reign over Judah, Jehoahaz’s son Jehoash became king over Israel. He reigned in Samaria 26 for sixteen years. 13:11 He did evil in the sight of 27 the Lord. He did not repudiate 28 the sinful ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat who encouraged Israel to sin; he continued in those sins. 29 13:12 The rest of the events of Joash’s 30 reign, including all his accomplishments and his successful war with King Amaziah of Judah, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel. 31 13:13 Joash passed away 32 and Jeroboam succeeded him on the throne. 33 Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.
13:14 Now Elisha had a terminal illness. 34 King Joash of Israel went down to visit him. 35 He wept before him and said, “My father, my father! The chariot 36 and horsemen of Israel!” 37 13:15 Elisha told him, “Take a bow and some arrows,” and he did so. 38 13:16 Then Elisha 39 told the king of Israel, “Aim the bow.” 40 He did so, 41 and Elisha placed his hands on the king’s hands. 13:17 Elisha 42 said, “Open the east window,” and he did so. 43 Elisha said, “Shoot!” and
he did so. 44 Elisha 45 said, “This arrow symbolizes the victory the Lord will give you over Syria. 46 You will annihilate Syria in Aphek!” 47 13:18 Then Elisha 48 said, “Take the arrows,” and he did so. 49 He told the king of Israel, “Strike the ground!” He struck the ground three times and stopped. 13:19 The prophet 50 got angry at him and said, “If you had struck the ground five or six times, you would have annihilated Syria! 51 But now, you will defeat Syria only three times.”
13:20 Elisha died and was buried. 52 Moabite raiding parties invaded 53 the land at the beginning of the year. 54 13:21 One day some men 55 were burying a man when they spotted 56 a raiding party. So they threw the dead man 57 into Elisha’s tomb. When the body 58 touched Elisha’s bones, the dead man 59 came to life and stood on his feet.
13:22 Now King Hazael of Syria oppressed Israel throughout Jehoahaz’s reign. 60 13:23 But the Lord had mercy on them and felt pity for them. 61 He extended his favor to them 62 because of the promise he had made 63 to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He has been unwilling to destroy them or remove them from his presence to this very day. 64 13:24 When King Hazael of Syria died, his son Ben Hadad replaced him as king. 13:25 Jehoahaz’s son Jehoash took back from 65 Ben Hadad son of Hazael the cities that he had taken from his father Jehoahaz in war. Joash defeated him three times and recovered the Israelite cities.
14:1 In the second year of the reign of Israel’s King Joash son of Joahaz, 66 Joash’s 67 son Amaziah became king over Judah. 14:2 He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. 68 His mother 69 was Jehoaddan, who was from Jerusalem. 14:3 He did what the Lord approved, 70 but not like David his father. He followed the example of his father Joash. 71 14:4 But the high places were not eliminated; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense on the high places.
14:5 When he had secured control of the kingdom, 72 he executed the servants who had assassinated his father. 73 14:6 But he did not execute the sons of the assassins. He obeyed the Lord’s commandment as recorded in the law scroll of Moses, 74 “Fathers must not be put to death for what their sons do, 75 and sons must not be put to death for what their fathers do. 76 A man must be put to death only for his own sin.” 77
14:7 He defeated 78 10,000 Edomites in the Salt Valley; he captured Sela in battle and renamed it Joktheel, a name it has retained to this very day. 14:8 Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash son of Jehoahaz son of Jehu, king of Israel. He said, “Come, let’s meet face to face.” 79 14:9 King Jehoash of Israel sent this message back to King Amaziah of Judah, “A thornbush in Lebanon sent this message to a cedar in Lebanon, ‘Give your daughter to my son as a wife.’ Then a wild animal 80 of Lebanon came by and trampled down the thorn. 81 14:10 You thoroughly defeated Edom 82 and it has gone to your head! 83 Gloat over your success, 84 but stay in your palace. Why bring calamity on yourself? Why bring down yourself and Judah along with you?” 85 14:11 But Amaziah would not heed the warning, 86 so King Jehoash of Israel attacked. 87 He and King Amaziah of Judah met face to face 88 in Beth Shemesh of Judah. 14:12 Judah was defeated by Israel, and each man ran back home. 89 14:13 King Jehoash of Israel captured King Amaziah of Judah, son of Jehoash son of Ahaziah, in Beth Shemesh. He 90 attacked 91 Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate – a distance of about six hundred feet. 92 14:14 He took away all the gold and silver, all the items found in the Lord’s temple and in the treasuries of the royal palace, and some hostages. 93 Then he went back to Samaria. 94
( 14:15 The rest of the events of Jehoash’s 95 reign, including all his accomplishments and his successful war with King Amaziah of Judah, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel. 96 14:16 Jehoash passed away 97 and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel. His son Jeroboam replaced him as king.)
14:17 King Amaziah son of Joash of Judah lived for fifteen years after the death of King Jehoash son of Jehoahaz of Israel. 14:18 The rest of the events of Amaziah’s reign are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah. 98 14:19 Conspirators plotted against him in Jerusalem, 99 so he fled to Lachish. But they sent assassins after him 100 and they killed him there. 14:20 His body was carried back by horses 101 and he was buried in Jerusalem with his ancestors in the city of David. 14:21 All the people of Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in his father Amaziah’s place. 14:22 Azariah 102 built up Elat and restored it to Judah after the king 103 had passed away. 104
14:23 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Judah’s King Amaziah, son of Joash, Jeroboam son of Joash became king over Israel. He reigned for forty-one years in Samaria. 105 14:24 He did evil in the sight of 106 the Lord; he did not repudiate 107 the sinful ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat who encouraged Israel to sin. 14:25 He restored the border of Israel from Lebo Hamath in the north to the sea of the Arabah in the south, 108 in accordance with the word of the Lord God of Israel announced through 109 his servant Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath Hepher. 14:26 The Lord saw Israel’s intense suffering; 110 everyone was weak and incapacitated and Israel had no deliverer. 111 14:27 The Lord had not decreed that he would blot out Israel’s memory 112 from under heaven, 113 so he delivered them through Jeroboam son of Joash.
14:28 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. 114 14:29 Jeroboam passed away 115 and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel. 116 His son Zechariah replaced him as king.
[9:1] 1 tn Heb “one of the sons of the prophets.”
[13:1] 3 map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.
[13:2] 5 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
[13:2] 6 tn Heb “walked after.”
[13:2] 7 tn Heb “he did not turn aside from it.”
[13:3] 7 tn Heb “and the anger of the
[13:3] 8 tn Heb “he gave them into the hand of.”
[13:3] 9 tn Heb “all the days.”
[13:4] 9 tn Heb “appeased the face of the
[13:4] 10 tn Heb “and the
[13:4] 11 tn Heb “for he saw the oppression of Israel, for the king of Syria oppressed them.”
[13:5] 11 sn The identity of this unnamed “deliverer” is debated. For options see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 143.
[13:5] 12 tn Heb “and they went from under the hand of Syria.”
[13:5] 13 tn Heb “and the sons of Israel lived in their tents as before.”
[13:6] 13 tn Heb “they did not turn away from.”
[13:6] 15 tc Heb “in it he walked.” The singular verb (הָלַךְ, halakh) is probably due to an error of haplography and should be emended to the plural (הָלְכּוּ, halÿku). Note that a vav immediately follows (on the form וְגַם, vÿgam).
[13:6] 16 tn Or “an image of Asherah”; ASV, NASB “the Asherah”; NCV “the Asherah idol.”
[13:7] 15 tn Heb “Indeed he did not leave to Jehoahaz people.” The identity of the subject is uncertain, but the king of Syria, mentioned later in the verse, is a likely candidate.
[13:7] 16 tn Heb “them,” i.e., the remainder of this troops.
[13:7] 17 tn Heb “and made them like dust for trampling.”
[13:8] 17 tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Jehoahaz, and all which he did and his strength, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel?”
[13:9] 19 tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
[13:9] 20 tn Heb “and they buried him.”
[13:10] 21 map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.
[13:11] 23 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
[13:11] 24 tn Heb “turn away from all.”
[13:11] 25 tn Heb “in it he walked.”
[13:12] 25 sn Jehoash and Joash are alternate forms of the same name.
[13:12] 26 tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Joash, and all which he did and his strength, [and] how he fought with Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel?”
[13:13] 27 tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
[13:13] 28 tn Heb “sat on his throne.”
[13:14] 29 tn Heb “Now Elisha was ill with the illness by which he would die.”
[13:14] 30 tn Heb “went down to him.”
[13:14] 31 tn Though the noun is singular here, it may be collective, in which case it could be translated “chariots.”
[13:14] 32 sn By comparing Elisha to a one-man army, the king emphasizes the power of the prophetic word. See the note at 2:12.
[13:15] 31 tn Heb “and he took a bow and some arrows.”
[13:16] 33 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[13:16] 34 tn Heb “Cause your hand to ride on the bow.”
[13:16] 35 tn Heb “and he caused his hand to ride.”
[13:17] 35 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[13:17] 36 tn Heb “He opened [it].”
[13:17] 37 tn Heb “and he shot.”
[13:17] 38 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[13:17] 39 tn Heb “The arrow of victory of the
[13:17] 40 tn Heb “you will strike down Syria in Aphek until destruction.”
[13:18] 37 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[13:18] 38 tn Heb “and he took [them].”
[13:19] 39 tn Heb “man of God.”
[13:19] 40 tn Heb “[It was necessary] to strike five or six times, then you would strike down Syria until destruction.” On the syntax of the infinitive construct, see GKC 349 §114.k.
[13:20] 41 tn Heb “and they buried him.”
[13:20] 43 tc The MT reading בָּא שָׁנָה (ba’ shanah), “it came, year,” should probably be emended to בְּבָּא הַשָּׁנָה (bÿba’ hashanah), “at the coming [i.e., ‘beginning’] of the year.” See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 148.
[13:21] 43 tn Heb “and it so happened [that] they.”
[13:21] 44 tn Heb “and look, they saw.”
[13:21] 45 tn Heb “the man”; the adjective “dead” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[13:21] 47 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the dead man) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Otherwise the reader might think it was Elisha rather than the unnamed dead man who came back to life.
[13:22] 45 tn Heb “all the days of Jehoahaz.”
[13:23] 47 tn Or “showed them compassion.”
[13:23] 48 tn Heb “he turned to them.”
[13:23] 49 tn Heb “because of his covenant with.”
[13:23] 50 tn Heb “until now.”
[13:25] 49 tn Heb “from the hand of.”
[14:1] 51 sn The name Joahaz is an alternate form of Jehoahaz.
[14:1] 52 sn The referent here is Joash of Judah (see 12:21), not Joash of Israel, mentioned earlier in the verse.
[14:2] 53 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[14:2] 54 tn Heb “the name of his mother.”
[14:3] 55 tn Heb “he did what was proper in the eyes of the
[14:3] 56 tn Heb “according to all which Joash his father had done, he did.”
[14:5] 57 tn Heb “when the kingdom was secure in his hand.”
[14:5] 58 tn Heb “he struck down his servants, the ones who had struck down the king, his father.”
[14:6] 59 tn Heb “as it is written in the scroll of the law of Moses which the
[14:6] 60 tn Heb “on account of sons.”
[14:6] 61 tn Heb “on account of fathers.”
[14:6] 62 sn This law is recorded in Deut 24:16.
[14:7] 61 tn Or “struck down.”
[14:8] 63 tn Heb “let us look at each other [in the] face.” The expression refers here to meeting in battle. See v. 11.
[14:9] 65 tn Heb “the animal of the field.”
[14:9] 66 sn Judah is the thorn in the allegory. Amaziah’s success has deceived him into thinking he is on the same level as the major powers in the area (symbolized by the cedar). In reality he is not capable of withstanding an attack by a real military power such as Israel (symbolized by the wild animal).
[14:10] 67 tn Or “you have indeed defeated Edom.”
[14:10] 68 tn Heb “and your heart has lifted you up.”
[14:10] 69 tn Heb “be glorified.”
[14:10] 70 tn Heb “Why get involved in calamity and fall, you and Judah with you?”
[14:11] 69 tn Heb “did not listen.”
[14:11] 71 tn Heb “looked at each other [in the] face.”
[14:12] 71 tn Heb “and Judah was struck down before Israel and they fled, each to his tent.”
[14:13] 73 tc The MT has the plural form of the verb, but the final vav (ו) is virtually dittographic. The word that immediately follows in the Hebrew text begins with a yod (י). The form should be emended to the singular, which is consistent in number with the verb (“he broke down”) that follows.
[14:13] 75 tn Heb “four hundred cubits.” The standard cubit in the OT is assumed by most authorities to be about eighteen inches (45 cm) long.
[14:14] 75 tn Heb “the sons of the pledges.”
[14:14] 76 map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.
[14:15] 77 sn Jehoash and Joash are alternate forms of the same name.
[14:15] 78 tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Jehoash, and all which he did and his strength, [and] how he fought with Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel?”
[14:16] 79 tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
[14:18] 81 tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Amaziah, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah?”
[14:19] 83 tn Heb “and they conspired against him [with] a conspiracy in Jerusalem.”
[14:19] 84 tn Heb “and they sent after him to Lachish.”
[14:20] 85 tn Heb “and they carried him on horses.”
[14:22] 87 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Azariah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[14:22] 88 sn This must refer to Amaziah.
[14:22] 89 tn Heb “lay with his fathers.”
[14:23] 89 map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.
[14:24] 91 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
[14:24] 92 tn Heb “turn away from all.”
[14:25] 93 tn The phrases “in the north” and “in the south” are added in the translation for clarification.
[14:25] 94 tn Heb “which he spoke by the hand of.”
[14:26] 95 tc Heb “for the
[14:26] 96 tn Heb “[there was] none but the restrained, and [there was] none but the abandoned, and there was no deliverer for Israel.” On the meaning of the terms עָצוּר (’atsur) and עָזוּב (’azur), see the note at 1 Kgs 14:10.
[14:27] 98 tn The phrase “from under heaven” adds emphasis to the verb “blot out” and suggest total annihilation. For other examples of the verb מָחָה (makhah), “blot out,” combined with “from under heaven,” see Exod 17:14; Deut 9:14; 25:19; 29:20.
[14:28] 99 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.”
[14:29] 101 tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
[14:29] 102 tn The MT has simply “with the kings of Israel,” which appears to stand in apposition to the immediately preceding “with his fathers.” But it is likely that the words “and he was buried in Samaria” have been accidentally omitted from the text. See 13:13 and 14:16.
