2 Raja-raja 4:38-39

Elisha Makes a Meal Edible

4:38 Now Elisha went back to Gilgal, while there was famine in the land. Some of the prophets were visiting him ¹  and he told his servant, “Put the big pot on the fire ²  and boil some stew for the prophets.” ³  4:39 Someone went out to the field to gather some herbs and found a wild vine. ⁴  He picked some of its fruit, ⁵  enough to fill up the fold of his robe. He came back, cut it up, and threw the slices ⁶  into the stew pot, not knowing they were harmful. ⁷ 

2 Raja-raja 5:13

5:13 His servants approached and said to him, “O master, ⁸  if the prophet had told you to do some difficult task, ⁹  you would have been willing to do it. ¹⁰  It seems you should be happy that he simply said, “Wash and you will be healed.” ¹¹ 

2 Raja-raja 7:10

7:10 So they went and called out to the gatekeepers ¹²  of the city. They told them, “We entered the Syrian camp and there was no one there. We didn’t even hear a man’s voice. ¹³  But the horses and donkeys are still tied up, and the tents remain up.” ¹⁴ 

2 Raja-raja 8:9

8:9 So Hazael went to visit Elisha. ¹⁵  He took along a gift, ¹⁶  as well as ¹⁷  forty camel loads of all the fine things of Damascus. When he arrived, he stood before him and said, “Your son, ¹⁸  King Ben Hadad of Syria, has sent me to you with this question, ¹⁹  ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’”

2 Raja-raja 16:7

16:7 Ahaz sent messengers to King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your dependent. ²⁰  March up and rescue me from the power ²¹  of the king of Syria and the king of Israel, who have attacked ²²  me.”

2 Raja-raja 22:9

22:9 Shaphan the scribe went to the king and reported, ²³  “Your servants melted down the silver in the temple ²⁴  and handed it over to the construction foremen assigned to the Lord’s temple.”

2 Raja-raja 25:23

25:23 All of the officers of the Judahite army ²⁵  and their troops heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah to govern. So they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah. The officers who came were Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah son of the Maacathite.

[4:38]  ¹ tn Heb “the sons of the prophets were sitting before him.”

[4:38]  ² tn The words “the fire” are added for clarification.

[4:38]  ³ tn Heb “sons of the prophets.”

[4:39]  ⁴ tn Heb “a vine of the field.”

[4:39]  ⁵ tn Heb “[some] of the gourds of the field.”

[4:39]  ⁶ tn Heb “he came and cut [them up].”

[4:39]  ⁷ tc The Hebrew text reads, “for they did not know” (יָדָעוּ, yada’u) but some emend the final shureq (וּ, indicating a third plural subject) to holem vav (וֹ, a third masculine singular pronominal suffix on a third singular verb) and read “for he did not know it.” Perhaps it is best to omit the final vav as dittographic (note the vav at the beginning of the next verb form) and read simply, “for he did not know.” See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 59.

[5:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “my father,” reflecting the perspective of each individual servant. To address their master as “father” would emphasize his authority and express their respect. See BDB 3 s.v. אָב and the similar idiomatic use of “father” in 2 Kgs 2:12.

[5:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “a great thing.”

[5:13]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “would you not do [it]?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course you would.”

[5:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “How much more [when] he said, “Wash and be healed.” The second imperative (“be healed”) states the expected result of obeying the first (‘wash”).

[7:10]  ¹² tn The MT has a singular form (“gatekeeper”), but the context suggests a plural. The pronoun that follows (“them”) is plural and a plural noun appears in v. 11. The Syriac Peshitta and the Targum have the plural here.

[7:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “and, look, there was no man or voice of a man there.”

[7:10]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “but the horses are tied up and the donkeys are tied up and the tents are as they were.”

[8:9]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:9]  ¹⁶ tn The Hebrew text also has “in his hand.”

[8:9]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ sn The words “your son” emphasize the king’s respect for the prophet.

[8:9]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “saying.”

[16:7]  ²⁰ tn Heb “son.” Both terms (“servant” and “son”) reflect Ahaz’s subordinate position as Tiglath-pileser’s subject.

[16:7]  ²¹ tn Heb “hand, palm.”

[16:7]  ²² tn Heb “who have arisen against.”

[22:9]  ²³ tn Heb “returned the king a word and said.”

[22:9]  ²⁴ tn Heb “that was found in the house.”

[25:23]  ²⁵ tn Heb “of the army.” The word “Judahite” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.