2 Raja-raja 10:29

A Summary of Jehu’s Reign

10:29 However, Jehu did not repudiate the sins which Jeroboam son of Nebat had encouraged Israel to commit; the golden calves remained in Bethel ¹  and Dan. ² 

2 Raja-raja 17:15

17:15 They rejected his rules, the covenant he had made with their ancestors, and the laws he had commanded them to obey. ³  They paid allegiance to ⁴  worthless idols, and so became worthless to the Lord. ⁵  They copied the practices of the surrounding nations in blatant disregard of the Lord’s command. ⁶ 

2 Raja-raja 22:20

22:20 ‘Therefore I will allow you to die and be buried in peace. ⁷  You will not have to witness ⁸  all the disaster I will bring on this place.’”’” Then they reported back to the king.

2 Raja-raja 23:3

23:3 The king stood by the pillar and renewed ⁹  the covenant before the Lord, agreeing to follow ¹⁰  the Lord and to obey his commandments, laws, and rules with all his heart and being, ¹¹  by carrying out the terms ¹²  of this covenant recorded on this scroll. All the people agreed to keep the covenant. ¹³ 

2 Raja-raja 23:25

23:25 No king before or after repented before the Lord as he did, with his whole heart, soul, and being in accordance with the whole law of Moses. ¹⁴ 

¹ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

² tn Heb “Except the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat which he caused Israel to commit, Jehu did not turn aside from after them – the golden calves which [were in] Bethel and which [were] in Dan.”

³ tn Or “and his warnings he had given them.”

⁴ tn Heb “They went [or, ‘followed’] after.” This idiom probably does not mean much if translated literally. It is found most often in Deuteronomy or in literature related to the covenant. It refers in the first instance to loyalty to God and to His covenant or His commandments (1 Kgs 14:8; 2 Chr 34:31) with the metaphor of a path or way underlying it (Deut 11:28; 28:14). To “follow other gods” was to abandon this way and this loyalty (to “abandon” or “forget” God, Judg 2:12; Hos 2:13) and to follow the customs or religious traditions of the pagan nations (2 Kgs 17:15). The classic text on “following” God or another god is 1 Kgs 18:18, 21 where Elijah taunts the people with “halting between two opinions” whether the Lord was the true God or Baal was. The idiom is often found followed by “to serve and to worship” or “they served and worshiped” such and such a god or entity (Jer 8:2; 11:10; 13:10; 16:11; 25:6; 35:15).

⁵ tn Heb “they followed after the worthless thing/things and became worthless.” The words “to the Lord” are not in the Hebrew text but are implicit from the context. There is an obvious wordplay on the verb “became worthless” and the noun “worthless thing”, which is probably to be understood collectively and to refer to idols as it does in Jer 8:19; 10:8; 14:22; Jonah 2:8.

⁶ tn Heb “and [they walked] after the nations which were around them, concerning which the Lord commanded them not to do like them.”

⁷ tn Heb “Therefore, look, I am gathering you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your tomb in peace.”

⁸ tn Heb “your eyes will not see.”

⁹ tn Heb “cut,” that is, “made, agreed to.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “walk after.”

¹¹ tn Or “soul.”

¹² tn Heb “words.”

¹³ tn Heb “stood in the covenant.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “and like him there was not a king before him who returned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his being according to all the law of Moses, and after him none arose like him.”

sn The description of Josiah’s devotion as involving his whole “heart, soul, and being” echoes the language of Deut 6:5.