2 Raja-raja 1:1-15
Konteks1:1 After Ahab died, Moab rebelled against Israel. 1 1:2 Ahaziah fell through a window lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria 2 and was injured. He sent messengers with these orders, 3 “Go, ask 4 Baal Zebub, 5 the god of Ekron, if I will survive this injury.”
1:3 But the Lord’s angelic messenger told Elijah the Tishbite, “Get up, go to meet the messengers from the king of Samaria. Say this to them: ‘You must think there is no God in Israel! That explains why you are on your way to seek an oracle from Baal Zebub the god of Ekron. 6 1:4 Therefore this is what the Lord says, “You will not leave the bed you lie on, for you will certainly die!”’” So Elijah went on his way.
1:5 When the messengers returned to the king, 7 he asked them, “Why have you returned?” 1:6 They replied, 8 “A man came up to meet us. He told us, “Go back to the king who sent you and tell him, ‘This is what the Lord says: “You must think there is no God in Israel! That explains why you are sending for an oracle from Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron. 9 Therefore you will not leave the bed you lie on, for you will certainly die.”’” 1:7 The king 10 asked them, “Describe the appearance 11 of this man who came up to meet you and told you these things.” 1:8 They replied, 12 “He was a hairy man 13 and had a leather belt 14 tied around his waist.” The king 15 said, “He is Elijah the Tishbite.”
1:9 The king 16 sent a captain and his fifty soldiers 17 to retrieve Elijah. 18 The captain 19 went up to him, while he was sitting on the top of a hill. 20 He told him, “Prophet, 21 the king says, ‘Come down!’” 1:10 Elijah replied to the captain, 22 “If I am indeed a prophet, may fire come down from the sky and consume you and your fifty soldiers!” Fire then came down 23 from the sky and consumed him and his fifty soldiers.
1:11 The king 24 sent another captain and his fifty soldiers to retrieve Elijah. He went up and told him, 25 “Prophet, this is what the king says, ‘Come down at once!’” 26 1:12 Elijah replied to them, 27 “If I am indeed a prophet, may fire come down from the sky and consume you and your fifty soldiers!” Fire from God 28 came down from the sky and consumed him and his fifty soldiers.
1:13 The king 29 sent a third captain and his fifty soldiers. This third captain went up and fell 30 on his knees before Elijah. He begged for mercy, “Prophet, please have respect for my life and for the lives of these fifty servants of yours. 1:14 Indeed, 31 fire came down from the sky and consumed the two captains who came before me, along with their men. 32 So now, please have respect for my life.” 1:15 The Lord’s angelic messenger said to Elijah, “Go down with him. Don’t be afraid of him.” So he got up and went down 33 with him to the king.
2 Raja-raja 4:1-44
Konteks4:1 Now a wife of one of the prophets 34 appealed 35 to Elisha for help, saying, “Your servant, my husband is dead. You know that your servant was a loyal follower of the Lord. 36 Now the creditor is coming to take away my two boys to be his servants.” 4:2 Elisha said to her, “What can I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” She answered, “Your servant has nothing in the house except a small jar of olive oil.” 4:3 He said, “Go and ask all your neighbors for empty containers. 37 Get as many as you can. 38 4:4 Go and close the door behind you and your sons. Pour the olive oil into all the containers; 39 set aside each one when you have filled it.” 4:5 So she left him and closed the door behind her and her sons. As they were bringing the containers to her, she was pouring the olive oil. 4:6 When the containers were full, she said to one of her sons, 40 “Bring me another container.” But he answered her, “There are no more.” Then the olive oil stopped flowing. 4:7 She went and told the prophet. 41 He said, “Go, sell the olive oil. Repay your creditor, and then you and your sons can live off the rest of the profit.”
4:8 One day Elisha traveled to Shunem, where a prominent 42 woman lived. She insisted that he stop for a meal. 43 So whenever he was passing through, he would stop in there for a meal. 44 4:9 She said to her husband, “Look, I’m sure 45 that the man who regularly passes through here is a very special prophet. 46 4:10 Let’s make a small private upper room 47 and furnish it with 48 a bed, table, chair, and lamp. When he visits us, he can stay there.”
4:11 One day Elisha 49 came for a visit; he went 50 into the upper room and rested. 51 4:12 He told his servant Gehazi, “Ask the Shunammite woman to come here.” 52 So he did so and she came to him. 53 4:13 Elisha said to Gehazi, 54 “Tell her, ‘Look, you have treated us with such great respect. 55 What can I do for you? Can I put in a good word for you with the king or the commander of the army?’” She replied, “I’m quite secure.” 56 4:14 So he asked Gehazi, 57 “What can I do for her?” Gehazi replied, “She has no son, and her husband is old.” 4:15 Elisha told him, “Ask her to come here.” 58 So he did so 59 and she came and stood in the doorway. 60 4:16 He said, “About this time next year 61 you will be holding a son.” She said, “No, my master! O prophet, do not lie to your servant!” 4:17 The woman did conceive, and at the specified time the next year she gave birth to a son, just as Elisha had told her.
4:18 The boy grew and one day he went out to see his father who was with the harvest workers. 62 4:19 He said to his father, “My head! My head!” His father 63 told a servant, “Carry him to his mother.” 4:20 So he picked him up and took him to his mother. He sat on her lap 64 until noon and then died. 4:21 She went up and laid him down on the prophet’s 65 bed. She shut the door behind her and left. 4:22 She called to her husband, “Send me one of the servants and one of the donkeys, so I can go see the prophet quickly and then return.” 4:23 He said, “Why do you want to go see him today? It is not the new moon 66 or the Sabbath.” She said, “Everything’s fine.” 67 4:24 She saddled the donkey and told her servant, “Lead on. 68 Do not stop unless I say so.” 69
4:25 So she went to visit 70 the prophet at Mount Carmel. When he 71 saw her at a distance, he said to his servant Gehazi, “Look, it’s the Shunammite woman. 4:26 Now, run to meet her and ask her, ‘Are you well? Are your husband and the boy well?’” She told Gehazi, 72 “Everything’s fine.” 4:27 But when she reached the prophet on the mountain, she grabbed hold of his feet. Gehazi came near to push her away, but the prophet said, “Leave her alone, for she is very upset. 73 The Lord has kept the matter hidden from me; he didn’t tell me about it.” 4:28 She said, “Did I ask my master for a son? Didn’t I say, ‘Don’t mislead me?’” 4:29 Elisha 74 told Gehazi, “Tuck your robes into your belt, take my staff, 75 and go! Don’t stop to exchange greetings with anyone! 76 Place my staff on the child’s face.” 4:30 The mother of the child said, “As certainly as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So Elisha 77 got up and followed her back.
4:31 Now Gehazi went on ahead of them. He placed the staff on the child’s face, but there was no sound or response. When he came back to Elisha 78 he told him, “The child did not wake up.” 4:32 When Elisha arrived at the house, there was 79 the child lying dead on his bed. 4:33 He went in by himself and closed the door. 80 Then he prayed to the Lord. 4:34 He got up on the bed and spread his body out over 81 the boy; he put his mouth on the boy’s 82 mouth, his eyes over the boy’s eyes, and the palms of his hands against the boy’s palms. He bent down over him, and the boy’s skin 83 grew warm. 4:35 Elisha 84 went back and walked around in the house. 85 Then he got up on the bed again 86 and bent down over him. The child sneezed seven times and opened his eyes. 4:36 Elisha 87 called to Gehazi and said, “Get the Shunammite woman.” So he did so 88 and she came to him. He said to her, “Take your son.” 4:37 She came in, fell at his feet, and bowed down. Then she picked up her son and left.
4:38 Now Elisha went back to Gilgal, while there was famine in the land. Some of the prophets were visiting him 89 and he told his servant, “Put the big pot on the fire 90 and boil some stew for the prophets.” 91 4:39 Someone went out to the field to gather some herbs and found a wild vine. 92 He picked some of its fruit, 93 enough to fill up the fold of his robe. He came back, cut it up, and threw the slices 94 into the stew pot, not knowing they were harmful. 95 4:40 The stew was poured out 96 for the men to eat. When they ate some of the stew, they cried out, “Death is in the pot, O prophet!” They could not eat it. 4:41 He said, “Get some flour.” Then he threw it into the pot and said, “Now pour some out for the men so they may eat.” 97 There was no longer anything harmful in the pot.
4:42 Now a man from Baal Shalisha brought some food for the prophet 98 – twenty loaves of bread made from the firstfruits of the barley harvest, as well as fresh ears of grain. 99 Elisha 100 said, “Set it before the people so they may eat.” 4:43 But his attendant said, “How can I feed a hundred men with this?” 101 He replied, “Set it before the people so they may eat, for this is what the Lord says, ‘They will eat and have some left over.’” 102 4:44 So he set it before them; they ate and had some left over, just as the Lord predicted. 103
[1:1] 1 sn This statement may fit better with the final paragraph of 1 Kgs 22.
[1:2] 2 map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.
[1:2] 3 tn Heb “and he sent messengers and said to them.”
[1:2] 4 tn That is, “seek an oracle from.”
[1:2] 5 sn Apparently Baal Zebub refers to a local manifestation of the god Baal at the Philistine city of Ekron. The name appears to mean “Lord of the Flies,” but it may be a deliberate scribal corruption of Baal Zebul, “Baal, the Prince,” a title known from the Ugaritic texts. For further discussion and bibliography, see HALOT 261 s.v. זְבוּב בַּעַל and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 25.
[1:3] 6 tn Heb “Is it because there is no God in Israel [that] you are going to inquire of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron?” The translation seeks to bring out the sarcastic tone of the rhetorical question.
[1:5] sn The narrative is elliptical and telescoped here. The account of Elijah encountering the messengers and delivering the Lord’s message is omitted; we only here of it as the messengers report what happened to the king.
[1:6] 9 tn Heb “Is it because there is no God in Israel [that] you are sending to inquire of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron?” The translation seeks to bring out the sarcastic tone of the rhetorical question. In v. 3 the messengers are addressed (in the phrase “you are on your way” the second person plural pronoun is used in Hebrew), but here the king is addressed (in the phrase “you are sending” the second person singular pronoun is used).
[1:7] 10 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[1:7] 11 tn Heb “What was the manner…?”
[1:8] 12 tn Heb “said to him.”
[1:8] 13 tn Heb “an owner of hair.” This idiomatic expression indicates that Elijah was very hairy. For other examples where the idiom “owner of” is used to describe a characteristic of someone, see HALOT 143 s.v. בַּעַל. For example, an “owner of dreams” is one who frequently has dreams (Gen 37:19) and an “owner of anger” is a hot-tempered individual (Prov 22:24).
[1:8] 14 tn Heb “belt of skin” (i.e., one made from animal hide).
[1:8] 15 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[1:9] 16 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[1:9] 17 tn Heb “officer of fifty and his fifty.”
[1:9] 19 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the captain) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[1:9] 20 sn The prophet Elijah’s position on the top of the hill symbolizes his superiority to the king and his messengers.
[1:9] 21 tn Heb “man of God” (also in vv. 10, 11, 12, 13).
[1:10] 22 tn Heb “answered and said to the officer of fifty.”
[1:10] 23 tn Wordplay contributes to the irony here. The king tells Elijah to “come down” (Hebrew יָרַד, yarad), but Elijah calls fire down (יָרַד) on the arrogant king’s officer.
[1:11] 24 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[1:11] 25 tc The MT reads, “he answered and said to him.” The verb “he answered” (וַיַּעַן, vayya’an) is probably a corruption of “he went up” (וַיַּעַל, vayya’al). See v. 9.
[1:11] 26 sn In this second panel of the three-paneled narrative, the king and his captain are more arrogant than before. The captain uses a more official sounding introduction (“this is what the king says”) and the king adds “at once” to the command.
[1:12] 27 tc Two medieval Hebrew
[1:12] 28 tn Or “intense fire.” The divine name may be used idiomatically to emphasize the intensity of the fire. Whether one translates אֱלֹהִים (’elohim) here as a proper name or idiomatically, this addition to the narrative (the name is omitted in the first panel, v. 10b) emphasizes the severity of the judgment and is appropriate given the more intense command delivered by the king to the prophet in this panel.
[1:13] 29 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[1:13] 30 tn Heb “went up and approached and kneeled.”
[1:14] 32 tn Heb “their fifty.”
[1:15] 33 sn In this third panel the verb “come down” (יָרַד, yarad) occurs again, this time describing Elijah’s descent from the hill at the Lord’s command. The moral of the story seems clear: Those who act as if they have authority over God and his servants just may pay for their arrogance with their lives; those who, like the third commander, humble themselves and show the proper respect for God’s authority and for his servants will be spared and find God quite cooperative.
[4:1] 34 tn Heb “a wife from among the wives of the sons of the prophets.”
[4:1] 36 tn Heb “your servant feared the
[4:3] 37 tn Heb “Go, ask for containers from outside, from all your neighbors, empty containers.”
[4:3] 38 tn Heb “Do not borrow just a few.”
[4:4] 39 tn Heb “all these vessels.”
[4:7] 41 tn Heb “man of God” (also in vv. 16, 22, 25, 27 [twice]).
[4:8] 42 tn Heb “great,” perhaps “wealthy.”
[4:8] 43 tn Or “she urged him to eat some food.”
[4:8] 44 tn Or “he would turn aside there to eat some food.”
[4:9] 46 tn Heb “holy man of God.”
[4:10] 47 tn Heb “a small upper room of a wall”; according to HALOT 832 s.v. עֲלִיָּה, this refers to “a fully walled upper room.”
[4:10] 48 tn Heb “and let’s put there for him.”
[4:11] 49 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[4:11] 50 tn Heb “turned aside.”
[4:11] 51 tn Or “slept there.”
[4:12] 52 tn Heb “Call for this Shunammite woman.”
[4:12] 53 tn Heb “and he called for her and she stood before him.”
[4:13] 54 tn Heb “he said to him.”
[4:13] 55 tn Heb “you have turned trembling to us with all this trembling.” The exaggerated language is probably idiomatic. The point seems to be that she has taken great pains or gone out of her way to be kind to them. Her concern was a sign of her respect for the prophetic office.
[4:13] 56 tn Heb “Among my people I am living.” This answer suggests that she has security within the context of her family.
[4:14] 57 tn Heb “and he said.”
[4:15] 58 tn Heb “Call for her.”
[4:15] 59 tn Heb “and he called her.”
[4:15] 60 tn Heb “and he called for her and she stood in the door.”
[4:16] 61 tn Heb “at this appointed time, at the time [when it is] reviving.” For a discussion of the second phrase see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 57.
[4:18] 62 tn Heb “to his father, to the harvesters.”
[4:19] 63 tn Heb “He”; the referent (the boy’s father) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[4:21] 65 tn Heb “man of God’s.”
[4:23] 66 sn The new moon was a time of sacrifice and special feasts (Num 28:14; 1 Sam 20:5). Apparently it was a convenient time to visit a prophet. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 57.
[4:24] 68 tn Heb “lead [the donkey on] and go.”
[4:24] 69 tn Heb “do not restrain for me the riding unless I say to you.”
[4:25] 70 tn Heb “went and came.”
[4:25] 71 tn Heb “the man of God.” The phrase has been replaced by the relative pronoun “he” in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[4:26] 72 tn Heb “she said.” The narrator streamlines the story at this point, omitting any reference to Gehazi running to meet her and asking her the questions.
[4:27] 73 tn Heb “her soul [i.e., ‘disposition’] is bitter.”
[4:29] 74 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[4:29] 75 tn Heb “take my staff in your hand.”
[4:29] 76 tn Heb “If you meet a man, do not greet him with a blessing; if a man greets you with a blessing, do not answer.”
[4:30] 77 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity. The referent must be Elisha here, since the following verse makes it clear that Gehazi had gone on ahead of them.
[4:31] 78 tn Heb “to meet him.”
[4:33] 80 tn Heb “and closed the door behind the two of them.”
[4:34] 81 tn Heb “he went up and lay down over.”
[4:34] 82 tn Heb “his” (also in the next two clauses).
[4:34] 83 tn Or perhaps, “body”; Heb “flesh.”
[4:35] 84 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[4:35] 85 tn Heb “and he returned and went into the house, once here and once there.”
[4:35] 86 tn Heb “and he went up.”
[4:36] 87 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[4:36] 88 tn Heb “and he called for her.”
[4:38] 89 tn Heb “the sons of the prophets were sitting before him.”
[4:38] 90 tn The words “the fire” are added for clarification.
[4:38] 91 tn Heb “sons of the prophets.”
[4:39] 92 tn Heb “a vine of the field.”
[4:39] 93 tn Heb “[some] of the gourds of the field.”
[4:39] 94 tn Heb “he came and cut [them up].”
[4:39] 95 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.
[4:40] 96 tn Heb “and they poured out [the stew].” The plural subject is probably indefinite.
[4:41] 97 tn Or “and let them eat.”
[4:42] 98 tn Heb “man of God.”
[4:42] 99 tn On the meaning of the word צִקְלוֹן (tsiqlon), “ear of grain,” see HALOT 148 s.v. בָּצֵק and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 59.
[4:42] 100 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[4:43] 101 tn Heb “How can I set this before a hundred men?”
[4:43] 102 tn The verb forms are infinitives absolute (Heb “eating and leaving over”) and have to be translated in light of the context.
