1 Raja-raja 3:26

3:26 The real mother ¹  spoke up to the king, for her motherly instincts were aroused. ²  She said, “My master, give her the living child! Whatever you do, don’t kill him!” ³  But the other woman said, “Neither one of us will have him! Let them cut him in two!”

1 Raja-raja 8:9

8:9 There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets Moses had placed there in Horeb. ⁴  It was there that ⁵  the Lord made an agreement with the Israelites after he brought them out of the land of Egypt.

1 Raja-raja 8:15

8:15 He said, “The Lord God of Israel is worthy of praise because he has fulfilled ⁶  what he promised ⁷  my father David.

1 Raja-raja 8:23

8:23 He prayed: ⁸  “O Lord, God of Israel, there is no god like you in heaven above or on earth below! You maintain covenantal loyalty ⁹  to your servants who obey you with sincerity. ¹⁰ 

1 Raja-raja 8:37

8:37 “The time will come when the land suffers from a famine, a plague, blight and disease, or a locust ¹¹  invasion, or when their enemy lays siege to the cities of the land, ¹²  or when some other type of plague or epidemic occurs.

1 Raja-raja 8:56

8:56 “The Lord is worthy of praise because he has made Israel his people secure ¹³  just as he promised! Not one of all the faithful promises he made through his servant Moses is left unfulfilled! ¹⁴ 

1 Raja-raja 10:21

10:21 All of King Solomon’s cups were made of gold, and all the household items in the Palace of the Lebanon Forest were made of pure gold. There were no silver items, for silver was not considered very valuable in Solomon’s time. ¹⁵ 

1 Raja-raja 14:10

14:10 So I am ready to bring disaster ¹⁶  on the dynasty ¹⁷  of Jeroboam. I will cut off every last male belonging to Jeroboam in Israel, including even the weak and incapacitated. ¹⁸  I will burn up the dynasty of Jeroboam, just as one burns manure until it is completely consumed. ¹⁹ 

1 Raja-raja 17:1

Elijah Visits a Widow in Sidonian Territory

17:1 Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As certainly as the Lord God of Israel lives (whom I serve), ²⁰  there will be no dew or rain in the years ahead unless I give the command.” ²¹ 

1 Raja-raja 18:5

18:5 Ahab told Obadiah, “Go through the land to all the springs and valleys. Maybe we can find some grazing areas ²²  so we can keep the horses and mules alive and not have to kill ²³  some of the animals.”

1 Raja-raja 18:23

18:23 Let them bring us two bulls. Let them choose one of the bulls for themselves, cut it up into pieces, and place it on the wood. But they must not set it on fire. I will do the same to the other bull and place it on the wood. But I will not set it on fire.

1 Raja-raja 18:26

18:26 So they took a bull, as he had suggested, ²⁴  and prepared it. They invoked the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “Baal, answer us.” But there was no sound and no answer. They jumped ²⁵  around on the altar they had made. ²⁶ 

1 Raja-raja 18:34

18:34 Then he said, “Fill four water jars and pour the water on the offering and the wood.” When they had done so, ²⁷  he said, “Do it again.” So they did it again. Then he said, “Do it a third time.” So they did it a third time.

1 Raja-raja 18:43

18:43 He told his servant, “Go on up and look in the direction of the sea.” So he went on up, looked, and reported, “There is nothing.” ²⁸  Seven times Elijah sent him to look. ²⁹ 

1 Raja-raja 20:27

20:27 When the Israelites had mustered and had received their supplies, they marched out to face them in battle. When the Israelites deployed opposite them, they were like two small flocks ³⁰  of goats, but the Syrians filled the land.

1 Raja-raja 20:32

20:32 So they put sackcloth around their waists and ropes on their heads and went to the king of Israel. They said, “Your servant ³¹  Ben Hadad says, ‘Please let me live!’” Ahab ³²  replied, “Is he still alive? He is my brother.” ³³ 

[3:26]  ¹ tn Heb “the woman whose son was alive.”

[3:26]  ² tn Heb “for her compassions grew warm for her son.”

[3:26]  ³ tn The infinitive absolute before the negated jussive emphasizes the main verb.

[8:9]  ⁴ sn Horeb is another name for Mount Sinai.

[8:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “in Horeb where.”

[8:15]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew text reads, “by his hand.”

[8:15]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew text reads, “by his mouth.”

[8:23]  ⁸ tn Heb “said.”

[8:23]  ⁹ tn Heb “one who keeps the covenant and the loyal love.” The expression is a hendiadys.

[8:23]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “who walk before you with all their heart.”

[8:37]  ¹¹ tn Actually two Hebrew terms appear here, both of which are usually taken as referring to locusts. Perhaps different stages of growth or different varieties are in view.

[8:37]  ¹² tn Heb “in the land, his gates.”

[8:56]  ¹³ tn Heb “he has given a resting place to his people Israel.”

[8:56]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “not one word from his entire good word he spoke by Moses his servant has fallen.”

[10:21]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “there was no silver, it was not regarded as anything in the days of Solomon.”

[14:10]  ¹⁶ sn Disaster. There is a wordplay in the Hebrew text. The word translated “disaster” (רָעָה, ra’ah) is from the same root as the expression “you have sinned” in v. 9 (וַתָּרַע [vattara’], from רָעַע, [ra’a’]). Jeroboam’s sins would receive an appropriate punishment.

[14:10]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “house.”

[14:10]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and I will cut off from Jeroboam those who urinate against a wall (including both those who are) restrained and let free (or “abandoned”) in Israel.” The precise meaning of the idiomatic phrase עָצוּר וְעָזוּב (’atsur vÿ’azuv) is uncertain. For various options see HALOT 871 s.v. עצר 6 and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 107. The two terms are usually taken as polar opposites (“slaves and freemen” or “minors and adults”), but Cogan and Tadmor, on the basis of contextual considerations (note the usage with אֶפֶס [’efes], “nothing but”) in Deut 32:36 and 2 Kgs 14:26, argue convincingly that the terms are synonyms, meaning “restrained and abandoned,” and refer to incapable or incapacitated individuals.

[14:10]  ¹⁹ tn The traditional view understands the verb בָּעַר (ba’ar) to mean “burn.” Manure was sometimes used as fuel (see Ezek 4:12, 15). However, an alternate view takes בָּעַר as a homonym meaning “sweep away” (HALOT 146 s.v. II בער). In this case one might translate, “I will sweep away the dynasty of Jeroboam, just as one sweeps away manure it is gone” (cf. ASV, NASB, TEV). Either metaphor emphasizes the thorough and destructive nature of the coming judgment.

[17:1]  ²⁰ tn Heb “before whom I stand.”

[17:1]  ²¹ tn Heb “except at the command of my word.”

[18:5]  ²² tn Heb “grass.”

[18:5]  ²³ tn Heb “to cut off.”

[18:26]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and they took the bull which he allowed them.”

[18:26]  ²⁵ tn Heb “limped” (the same verb is used in v. 21).

[18:26]  ²⁶ tc The MT has “which he made,” but some medieval Hebrew mss and the ancient versions have the plural form of the verb.

[18:34]  ²⁷ tn The words “when they had done so” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[18:43]  ²⁸ sn So he went on up, looked, and reported, “There is nothing.” Several times in this chapter those addressed by Elijah obey his orders. In vv. 20 and 42 Ahab does as instructed, in vv. 26 and 28 the prophets follow Elijah’s advice, and in vv. 30, 34, 40 and 43 the people and servants do as they are told. By juxtaposing Elijah’s commands with accounts of those commands being obeyed, the narrator emphasizes the authority of the Lord’s prophet.

[18:43]  ²⁹ tn Heb “He said, ‘Return,’ seven times.”

[20:27]  ³⁰ tn The noun translated “small flocks” occurs only here. The common interpretation derives the word from the verbal root חשׂף, “to strip off; to make bare.” In this case the noun refers to something “stripped off” or “made bare.” HALOT 359 s.v. II חשׂף derives the noun from a proposed homonymic verbal root (which occurs only in Ps 29:9) meaning “cause a premature birth.” In this case the derived noun could refer to goats that are undersized because they are born prematurely.

[20:32]  ³¹ sn Your servant. By referring to Ben Hadad as Ahab’s servant, they are suggesting that Ahab make him a subject in a vassal treaty arrangement.

[20:32]  ³² tn Heb “he”; the referent (Ahab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[20:32]  ³³ sn He is my brother. Ahab’s response indicates that he wants to make a parity treaty and treat Ben Hadad as an equal partner.