2 Raja-raja 7:4

7:4 If we go into the city, we’ll die of starvation, ¹  and if we stay here we’ll die! So come on, let’s defect ²  to the Syrian camp! If they spare us, ³  we’ll live; if they kill us – well, we were going to die anyway.” ⁴ 

2 Raja-raja 7:9

7:9 Then they said to one another, “It’s not right what we’re doing! This is a day to celebrate, but we haven’t told anyone. ⁵  If we wait until dawn, ⁶  we’ll be punished. ⁷  So come on, let’s go and inform the royal palace.”

2 Raja-raja 4:10

4:10 Let’s make a small private upper room ⁸  and furnish it with ⁹  a bed, table, chair, and lamp. When he visits us, he can stay there.”

2 Raja-raja 3:8

3:8 He then asked, “Which invasion route are we going to take?” ¹⁰  Jehoram ¹¹  answered, “By the road through the Desert of Edom.”

2 Raja-raja 6:16

6:16 He replied, “Don’t be afraid, for our side outnumbers them.” ¹² 

2 Raja-raja 7:12

7:12 The king got up in the night and said to his advisers, ¹³  “I will tell you what the Syrians have done to us. They know we are starving, so they left the camp and hid in the field, thinking, ‘When they come out of the city, we will capture them alive and enter the city.’”

2 Raja-raja 6:28

6:28 Then the king asked her, “What’s your problem?” She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Hand over your son; we’ll eat him today and then eat my son tomorrow.’

2 Raja-raja 10:4

10:4 They were absolutely terrified ¹⁴  and said, “Look, two kings could not stop him! ¹⁵  How can we?” ¹⁶ 

2 Raja-raja 14:8

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.” ¹⁷ 

2 Raja-raja 7:3

7:3 Now four men with a skin disease ¹⁸  were sitting at the entrance of the city gate. They said to one another, “Why are we just sitting here waiting to die? ¹⁹ 

2 Raja-raja 22:13

22:13 “Go, seek an oracle from ²⁰  the Lord for me and the people – for all Judah. Find out about ²¹  the words of this scroll that has been discovered. For the Lord’s fury has been ignited against us, ²²  because our ancestors have not obeyed the words of this scroll by doing all that it instructs us to do.” ²³ 

2 Raja-raja 6:29

6:29 So we boiled my son and ate him. Then I said to her the next day, ‘Hand over your son and we’ll eat him.’ But she hid her son!”

2 Raja-raja 7:13

7:13 One of his advisers replied, “Pick some men and have them take five of the horses that are left in the city. (Even if they are killed, their fate will be no different than that of all the Israelite people – we’re all going to die!) ²⁴  Let’s send them out so we can know for sure what’s going on.” ²⁵ 

2 Raja-raja 18:30

18:30 Don’t let Hezekiah talk you into trusting in the Lord when he says, “The Lord will certainly rescue us; this city will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.”

2 Raja-raja 4:9

4:9 She said to her husband, “Look, I’m sure ²⁶  that the man who regularly passes through here is a very special prophet. ²⁷ 

2 Raja-raja 6:11

6:11 This made the king of Syria upset. ²⁸  So he summoned his advisers ²⁹  and said to them, “One of us must be helping the king of Israel.” ³⁰ 

2 Raja-raja 6:15

6:15 The prophet’s ³¹  attendant got up early in the morning. When he went outside there was an army surrounding the city, along with horses and chariots. He said to Elisha, ³²  “Oh no, my master! What will we do?”

2 Raja-raja 7:6

7:6 The Lord had caused the Syrian camp to hear the sound of chariots and horses and a large army. Then they said to one another, “Look, the king of Israel has paid the kings of the Hittites and Egypt to attack us!”

2 Raja-raja 3:11

3:11 Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there no prophet of the Lord here that we might seek the Lord’s direction?” ³³  One of the servants of the king of Israel answered, “Elisha son of Shapat is here; he used to be Elijah’s servant.” ³⁴ 

2 Raja-raja 9:25

9:25 Jehu ordered ³⁵  his officer Bidkar, “Pick him up and throw him into the part of the field that once belonged to Naboth of Jezreel. Remember, you and I were riding together behind his father Ahab, when the Lord pronounced this judgment on him,

2 Raja-raja 18:32

18:32 until I come and take you to a land just like your own – a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey. Then you will live and not die. Don’t listen to Hezekiah, for he is misleading you when he says, “The Lord will rescue us.”

2 Raja-raja 3:10

3:10 The king of Israel said, “Oh no! ³⁶  Certainly the Lord has summoned these three kings so that he can hand them over to the king of Moab!”

2 Raja-raja 3:23

3:23 The Moabites ³⁷  said, “It’s blood! The kings are totally destroyed! ³⁸  They have struck one another down! Now, Moab, seize the plunder!”

2 Raja-raja 4:13

4:13 Elisha said to Gehazi, ³⁹  “Tell her, ‘Look, you have treated us with such great respect. ⁴⁰  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.” ⁴¹ 

2 Raja-raja 3:6

3:6 At that time King Jehoram left Samaria and assembled all Israel for war.

2 Raja-raja 6:8

Elisha Defeats an Army

6:8 Now the king of Syria was at war with Israel. He consulted his advisers, who said, “Invade ⁴²  at such and such ⁴³  a place.”

2 Raja-raja 19:3

19:3 “This is what Hezekiah says: ⁴⁴  ‘This is a day of distress, insults, ⁴⁵  and humiliation, ⁴⁶  as when a baby is ready to leave the birth canal, but the mother lacks the strength to push it through. ⁴⁷ 

2 Raja-raja 10:15

10:15 When he left there, he met ⁴⁸  Jehonadab, son of Rekab, who had been looking for him. ⁴⁹  Jehu greeted him and asked, ⁵⁰  “Are you as committed to me as I am to you?” ⁵¹  Jehonadab answered, “I am!” Jehu replied, “If so, give me your hand.” ⁵²  So he offered his hand and Jehu ⁵³  pulled him up into the chariot.

2 Raja-raja 3:12

3:12 Jehoshaphat said, “The Lord speaks through him.” ⁵⁴  So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to visit him.

2 Raja-raja 6:2

6:2 Let’s go to the Jordan. Each of us will get a log from there and we will build a meeting place for ourselves there.” He said, “Go.”

2 Raja-raja 4:41

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.” ⁵⁵  There was no longer anything harmful in the pot.

2 Raja-raja 6:1

Elisha Makes an Ax Head Float

6:1 Some of the prophets ⁵⁶  said to Elisha, “Look, the place where we meet with you ⁵⁷  is too cramped ⁵⁸  for us.

2 Raja-raja 6:22

6:22 He replied, “Do not strike them down! You did not capture them with your sword or bow, so what gives you the right to strike them down? ⁵⁹  Give them some food and water, so they can eat and drink and then go back to their master.”

2 Raja-raja 6:33

6:33 He was still talking to them when ⁶⁰  the messenger approached ⁶¹  and said, “Look, the Lord is responsible for this disaster! ⁶²  Why should I continue to wait for the Lord to help?”

2 Raja-raja 19:6

19:6 Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master this: ‘This is what the Lord says: “Don’t be afraid because of the things you have heard – these insults the king of Assyria’s servants have hurled against me. ⁶³ 

2 Raja-raja 22:8

22:8 Hilkiah the high priest informed Shaphan the scribe, “I found the law scroll in the Lord’s temple.” Hilkiah gave the scroll to Shaphan and he read it.

2 Raja-raja 25:24

25:24 Gedaliah took an oath so as to give them and their troops some assurance of safety. ⁶⁴  He said, “You don’t need to be afraid to submit to the Babylonian officials. Settle down in the land and submit to the king of Babylon. Then things will go well for you.”

2 Raja-raja 2:3

2:3 Some members of the prophetic guild ⁶⁵  in Bethel came out to Elisha and said, “Do you know that today the Lord is going to take your master from you?” ⁶⁶  He answered, “Yes, I know. Be quiet.”

2 Raja-raja 2:5

2:5 Some members of the prophetic guild in Jericho approached Elisha and said, “Do you know that today the Lord is going to take your master from you?” He answered, “Yes, I know. Be quiet.”

2 Raja-raja 2:16

2:16 They said to him, “Look, there are fifty capable men with your servants. Let them go and look for your master, for the wind sent from the Lord ⁶⁷  may have carried him away and dropped him on one of the hills or in one of the valleys.” But Elisha ⁶⁸  replied, “Don’t send them out.”

2 Raja-raja 3:7

3:7 He sent ⁶⁹  this message to King Jehoshaphat of Judah: “The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you fight with me against Moab?” Jehoshaphat ⁷⁰  replied, “I will join you in the campaign; my army and horses are at your disposal.” ⁷¹ 

2 Raja-raja 5:7

5:7 When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God? Can I kill or restore life? Why does he ask me to cure a man of his skin disease? ⁷²  Certainly you must see that he is looking for an excuse to fight me!” ⁷³ 

2 Raja-raja 6:26

6:26 While the king of Israel was passing by on the city wall, a woman shouted to him, “Help us, my master, O king!”

2 Raja-raja 19:4

19:4 Perhaps the Lord your God will hear all these things the chief adviser has spoken on behalf of his master, the king of Assyria, who sent him to taunt the living God. ⁷⁴  When the Lord your God hears, perhaps he will punish him for the things he has said. ⁷⁵  So pray for this remnant that remains.’” ⁷⁶ 

2 Raja-raja 23:3

23:3 The king stood by the pillar and renewed ⁷⁷  the covenant before the Lord, agreeing to follow ⁷⁸  the Lord and to obey his commandments, laws, and rules with all his heart and being, ⁷⁹  by carrying out the terms ⁸⁰  of this covenant recorded on this scroll. All the people agreed to keep the covenant. ⁸¹ 

[7:4]  ¹ tn Heb “If we say, ‘We will enter the city,’ the famine is in the city and we will die there.”

[7:4]  ² tn Heb “fall.”

[7:4]  ³ tn Heb “keep us alive.”

[7:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “we will die.” The paraphrastic translation attempts to bring out the logical force of their reasoning.

[7:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “this day is a day of good news and we are keeping silent.”

[7:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “the light of the morning.”

[7:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “punishment will find us.”

[4:10]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Heb “and let’s put there for him.”

[3:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Where is the road we will go up?”

[3:8]  ¹¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jehoram) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:16]  ¹² tn Heb “for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

[7:12]  ¹³ tn Heb “servants” (also in v. 13).

[10:4]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “they were very, very afraid.” The term מְאֹד (me’od) “very,” is repeated for emphasis.

[10:4]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “did not stand before him.”

[10:4]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “How can we stand?”

[14:8]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “let us look at each other [in the] face.” The expression refers here to meeting in battle. See v. 11.

[7:3]  ¹⁸ sn See the note at 2 Kgs 5:1.

[7:3]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “until we die.”

[22:13]  ²⁰ tn Or “inquire of.”

[22:13]  ²¹ tn Heb “concerning.”

[22:13]  ²² tn Heb “for great is the anger of the Lord which has been ignited against us.”

[22:13]  ²³ tn Heb “by doing all that is written concerning us.” Perhaps עָלֵינוּ (’alenu), “concerning us,” should be altered to עָלָיו (’alav), “upon it,” in which case one could translate, “by doing all that is written in it.”

[7:13]  ²⁴ tn Heb “Let them take five of the remaining horses that remain in it. Look, they are like all the people of Israel that remain in it. Look, they are like all the people of Israel that have come to an end.” The MT is dittographic here; the words “that remain in it. Look they are like all the people of Israel” have been accidentally repeated. The original text read, “Let them take five of the remaining horses that remain in it. Look, they are like all the people of Israel that have come to an end.”

[7:13]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and let us send so we might see.”

[4:9]  ²⁶ tn Heb “I know.”

[4:9]  ²⁷ tn Heb “holy man of God.”

[6:11]  ²⁸ tn Heb “and the heart of the king of Syria was stirred up over this thing.”

[6:11]  ²⁹ tn Heb “servants.”

[6:11]  ³⁰ tn Heb “Will you not tell me who among us [is] for the king of Israel?” The sarcastic rhetorical question expresses the king’s suspicion.

[6:15]  ³¹ tn Heb “man of God’s.”

[6:15]  ³² tn Heb “his young servant said to him.”

[3:11]  ³³ tn Heb “that we might inquire of the Lord through him?”

[3:11]  ³⁴ tn Heb “who poured water on the hands of Elijah.” This refers to one of the typical tasks of a servant.

[9:25]  ³⁵ tn Heb “said to.”

[3:10]  ³⁶ tn Or “ah.”

[3:23]  ³⁷ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Moabites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:23]  ³⁸ tn The translation assumes the verb is חָרַב (kharav, “to be desolate”). The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb form for emphasis. (For another example of the Hophal infinitive with a Niphal finite verb, see Lev 19:20. Cf. also IBHS 582 §35.2.1c.) Some prefer to derive the verb from a proposed homonym meaning “at HALOT 349 s.v. II חרב and BDB 352 s.v. חָרְבָה).

[4:13]  ³⁹ tn Heb “he said to him.”

[4:13]  ⁴⁰ 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]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “Among my people I am living.” This answer suggests that she has security within the context of her family.

[6:8]  ⁴² tc The verb form used here is difficult to analyze. On the basis of the form נְחִתִּים (nÿkhitim) in v. 9 from the root נָחַת (nakhat), it is probably best to emend the verb to תִּנְחְתוּ (tinkhÿtu; a Qal imperfect form from the same root). The verb נָחַת in at least two other instances carries the nuance “go down, descend” in a military context. For a defense of this view, see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 72.

[6:8]  ⁴³ sn The advisers would have mentioned a specific location, but the details are not significant to the narrator’s purpose, so he simply paraphrases here.

[19:3]  ⁴⁴ tn In the Hebrew text this verse begins with “they said to him.”

[19:3]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “rebuke,” “correction.”

[19:3]  ⁴⁶ tn Or “contempt.”

[19:3]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “when sons come to the cervical opening and there is no strength to give birth.”

[10:15]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “found.”

[10:15]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “and he went from there and found Jehonadab son of Rekab [who was coming] to meet him.”

[10:15]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “and he blessed him and said to him.”

[10:15]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “Is there with your heart [what is] right, as my heart [is] with your heart?”

[10:15]  ⁵² tc Heb “Jehonadab said, ‘There is and there is. Give your hand.’” If the text is allowed to stand, there are two possible ways to understand the syntax of וָיֵשׁ (vayesh), “and there is”: (1) The repetition of יֵשׁ (yesh, “there is and there is”) could be taken as emphatic, “indeed I am.” In this case, the entire statement could be taken as Jehonadab’s words or one could understand the words “give your hand” as Jehu’s. In the latter case the change in speakers is unmarked. (2) וָיֵשׁ begins Jehu’s response and has a conditional force, “if you are.” In this case, the transition in speakers is unmarked. However, it is possible that וַיֹּאמֶר (vayyo’mer), “and he said,” or וַיֹּאמֶר יֵהוּא (vayyo’mer yehu), “and Jehu said,” originally appeared between יֵשׁ and וָיֵשׁ and has accidentally dropped from the text by homoioarcton (note that both the proposed וַיֹּאמֶר and וָיֵשׁ begin with vav, ו). The present translation assumes such a textual reconstruction; it is supported by the LXX, Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate.

[10:15]  ⁵³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jehu) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:12]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “the word of the Lord is with him.”

[4:41]  ⁵⁵ tn Or “and let them eat.”

[6:1]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “the sons of the prophets.”

[6:1]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “sit before you.”

[6:1]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “narrow, tight.”

[6:22]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “Are [they] ones you captured with your sword or your bow (that) you can strike (them) down?”

[6:33]  ⁶⁰ tn The Hebrew text also has “look” here.

[6:33]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “came down to him.”

[6:33]  ⁶² tn Heb “Look, this is a disaster from the Lord.”

[19:6]  ⁶³ tn Heb “by which the servants of the king of Assyria have insulted me.”

[25:24]  ⁶⁴ tn The words “so as to give them…some assurance of safety” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[2:3]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “the sons of the prophets.”

[2:3]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “from your head.” The same expression occurs in v. 5.

[2:16]  ⁶⁷ tn Or “the spirit of the Lord.”

[2:16]  ⁶⁸ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:7]  ⁶⁹ tn Heb “went and sent.”

[3:7]  ⁷⁰ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jehoshaphat) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:7]  ⁷¹ tn Heb “I will go up – like me, like you; like my people, like your people; like my horses; like your horses.”

[5:7]  ⁷² tn Heb “Am I God, killing and restoring life, that this one sends to me to cure a man from his skin disease?” In the Hebrew text this is one lengthy rhetorical question, which has been divided up in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[5:7]  ⁷³ tn Heb “Indeed, know and see that he is seeking an occasion with respect to me.”

[19:4]  ⁷⁴ tn Heb “all the words of the chief adviser whom his master, the king of Assyria, sent to taunt the living God.”

[19:4]  ⁷⁵ tn Heb “and rebuke the words which the Lord your God hears.”

[19:4]  ⁷⁶ tn Heb “and lift up a prayer on behalf of the remnant that is found.”

[23:3]  ⁷⁷ tn Heb “cut,” that is, “made, agreed to.”

[23:3]  ⁷⁸ tn Heb “walk after.”

[23:3]  ⁷⁹ tn Or “soul.”

[23:3]  ⁸⁰ tn Heb “words.”

[23:3]  ⁸¹ tn Heb “stood in the covenant.”