2 Raja-raja 8:8-9

8:8 So the king told Hazael, “Take a gift ¹  and go visit the prophet. Request from him an oracle from the Lord. Ask him, ²  ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’” 8:9 So Hazael went to visit Elisha. ³  He took along a gift, ⁴  as well as ⁵  forty camel loads of all the fine things of Damascus. When he arrived, he stood before him and said, “Your son, ⁶  King Ben Hadad of Syria, has sent me to you with this question, ⁷  ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’”

2 Raja-raja 19:29

19:29 ⁸ This will be your confirmation that I have spoken the truth: ⁹  This year you will eat what grows wild, ¹⁰  and next year ¹¹  what grows on its own from that. But in the third year you will plant seed and harvest crops; you will plant vines and consume their produce. ¹² 

[8:8]  ¹ tn The Hebrew text also has “in your hand.”

[8:8]  ² tn Heb “Inquire of the Lord through him, saying.”

[8:9]  ³ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:9]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew text also has “in his hand.”

[8:9]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ sn The words “your son” emphasize the king’s respect for the prophet.

[8:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “saying.”

[19:29]  ⁸ tn At this point the word concerning the king of Assyria (vv. 21-28) ends and the Lord again directly addresses Hezekiah and the people (see v. 20).

[19:29]  ⁹ tn Heb “and this is your sign.” In this case the אוֹת (’ot), “sign,” is a future confirmation of God’s intervention designated before the actual intervention takes place. For similar “signs” see Exod 3:12 and Isa 7:14-25.

[19:29]  ¹⁰ sn This refers to crops that grew up on their own (that is, without cultivation) from the seed planted in past years.

[19:29]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and in the second year.”

[19:29]  ¹² tn The four plural imperatival verb forms in v. 29b are used rhetorically. The Lord commands the people to plant, harvest, etc. to emphasize the certainty of restored peace and prosperity. See IBHS 572 §34.4.c.