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2 Kings 5-8
New English Translation

Elisha Heals a Syrian General

5 Now Naaman, the commander of the king of Syria’s army, was esteemed and respected by his master,[a] for through him the Lord had given Syria military victories. But this great warrior had a skin disease.[b] 2 Raiding parties went out from Syria and took captive from the land of Israel a young girl, who became a servant to Naaman’s wife. 3 She told her mistress, “If only my master were in the presence of the prophet who is in Samaria! Then he would cure him of his skin disease.”

4 Naaman[c] went and told his master what the girl from the land of Israel had said. 5 The king of Syria said, “Go! I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman[d] went, taking with him 10 talents[e] of silver, 6,000 shekels of gold,[f] and 10 suits of clothes. 6 He brought the letter to the king of Israel. It read: “This is a letter of introduction for my servant Naaman,[g] whom I have sent to be cured of his skin disease.” 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?[h] Certainly you must see that he is looking for an excuse to fight me!”[i]

8 When Elisha the prophet[j] heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent this message to the king, “Why did you tear your clothes? Send him[k] to me so he may know there is a prophet in Israel.” 9 So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood in the doorway of Elisha’s house. 10 Elisha sent out a messenger who told him, “Go and wash seven times in the Jordan; your skin will be restored[l] and you will be healed.” 11 Naaman went away angry. He said, “Look, I thought for sure he would come out, stand there, invoke the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the area, and cure the skin disease. 12 The rivers of Damascus, the Abana and Pharpar, are better than any of the waters of Israel![m] Could I not wash in them and be healed?” So he turned around and went away angry. 13 His servants approached and said to him,[n] “O master,[o] if the prophet had told you to do some difficult task,[p] you would have been willing to do it.[q] It seems you should be happy that he simply said, ‘Wash and you will be healed.’[r] 14 So he went down and dipped in the Jordan seven times, as the prophet had instructed.[s] His skin became as smooth as a young child’s[t] and he was healed.

15 He and his entire entourage returned to the prophet. Naaman[u] came and stood before him. He said, “For sure[v] I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel! Now, please accept a gift from your servant.” 16 But Elisha[w] replied, “As certainly as the Lord lives (whom I serve),[x] I will take nothing from you.” Naaman[y] insisted that he take it, but he refused. 17 Naaman said, “If not, then please give your servant a load of dirt, enough for a pair of mules to carry,[z] for your servant will never again offer a burnt offering or sacrifice to a god other than the Lord.[aa] 18 May the Lord forgive your servant for this one thing: When my master enters the temple of Rimmon to worship, and he leans on my arm and I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the Lord forgive your servant for this.”[ab] 19 Elisha[ac] said to him, “Go in peace.”

When he had gone a short distance,[ad] 20 Gehazi, the prophet Elisha’s servant, thought,[ae] “Look, my master did not accept what this Syrian Naaman offered him.[af] As certainly as the Lord lives, I will run after him and accept something from him.” 21 So Gehazi ran after Naaman. When Naaman saw someone running after him, he got down from his chariot to meet him and asked, “Is everything all right?”[ag] 22 He answered, “Everything is fine.[ah] My master sent me with this message, ‘Look, two servants of the prophets just arrived from the Ephraimite hill country.[ai] Please give them a talent[aj] of silver and two suits of clothes.’” 23 Naaman said, “Please accept two talents of silver.”[ak] He insisted, and tied up two talents of silver in two bags, along with two suits of clothes. He gave them to two of his servants and they carried them for Gehazi.[al] 24 When he arrived at the hill, he took them from the servants[am] and put them in the house. Then he sent the men on their way.[an]

25 When he came and stood before his master, Elisha asked him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?” He answered, “Your servant hasn’t been anywhere.” 26 Elisha[ao] replied, “I was there in spirit when a man turned and got down from his chariot to meet you.[ap] This is not the proper time to accept silver or to accept clothes, olive groves, vineyards, sheep, cattle, and male and female servants.[aq] 27 Therefore Naaman’s skin disease will afflict[ar] you and your descendants forever!” When Gehazi[as] went out from his presence, his skin was as white as snow.[at]

Elisha Makes an Ax Head Float

6 Some of the prophets[au] said to Elisha, “Look, the place where we meet with you[av] is too cramped[aw] for us. 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.” 3 One of them said, “Please come along with your servants.” He replied, “All right, I’ll come.” 4 So he went with them. When they arrived at the Jordan, they started cutting down trees. 5 As one of them was felling a tree, the ax head[ax] dropped into the water. He shouted, “Oh no,[ay] my master! It was borrowed!” 6 The prophet[az] asked, “Where did it drop in?” When he showed him the spot, Elisha[ba] cut off a branch, threw it in at that spot, and made the ax head float. 7 He said, “Lift it out.” So he reached out his hand and grabbed it.

Elisha Defeats an Army

8 Now the king of Syria was at war with Israel. He consulted his advisers, who said, “Invade[bb] at such and such[bc] a place.” 9 But the prophet sent this message to the king of Israel, “Make sure you don’t pass through this place because Syria is invading there.” 10 So the king of Israel sent a message to the place the prophet had pointed out, warning it[bd] to be on its guard. This happened on several occasions.[be] 11 This made the king of Syria upset.[bf] So he summoned his advisers[bg] and said to them, “One of us must be helping the king of Israel.”[bh] 12 One of his advisers said, “No, my master, O king. The prophet Elisha who lives in Israel keeps telling the king of Israel the things you say in your bedroom.” 13 The king[bi] ordered, “Go, find out where he is, so I can send some men to capture him.”[bj] The king was told, “He is in Dothan.” 14 So he sent horses and chariots there, along with a good-sized army.[bk] They arrived during the night and surrounded the city.

15 The prophet’s[bl] 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,[bm] “Oh no, my master! What will we do?” 16 He replied, “Don’t be afraid, for our side outnumbers them.”[bn] 17 Then Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes so he can see.” The Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he saw that[bo] the hill was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. 18 As the army approached him,[bp] Elisha prayed to the Lord, “Strike these people[bq] with blindness.”[br] The Lord[bs] struck them with blindness as Elisha requested.[bt] 19 Then Elisha said to them, “This is not the right road or city. Follow me, and I will lead you to the man you’re looking for.” He led them to Samaria.

20 When they had entered Samaria, Elisha said, “O Lord, open their eyes, so they can see.” The Lord opened their eyes, and they saw that they were in the middle of Samaria.[bu] 21 When the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha, “Should I strike them down,[bv] my master?”[bw] 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?[bx] Give them some food and water, so they can eat and drink and then go back to their master.” 23 So he threw a big banquet[by] for them and they ate and drank. Then he sent them back[bz] to their master. After that no Syrian raiding parties again invaded the land of Israel.

The Lord Saves Samaria

24 Later King Ben Hadad of Syria assembled his entire army and attacked[ca] and besieged Samaria. 25 Samaria’s food supply ran out.[cb] They laid siege to it so long that[cc] a donkey’s head was selling for eighty shekels of silver[cd] and a quarter of a kab[ce] of dove’s droppings[cf] for five shekels of silver.[cg]

26 While the king of Israel was passing by on the city wall, a woman shouted to him, “Help us, my master, O king!” 27 He replied, “No, let the Lord help you. How can I help you? The threshing floor and winepress are empty.”[ch] 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.’ 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!” 30 When the king heard what the woman said, he tore his clothes. As he was passing by on the wall, the people could see he was wearing sackcloth under his clothes.[ci] 31 Then he said, “May God judge me severely[cj] if Elisha son of Shaphat still has his head by the end of the day!”[ck]

32 Now Elisha was sitting in his house with the community leaders.[cl] The king[cm] sent a messenger on ahead, but before he arrived,[cn] Elisha[co] said to the leaders,[cp] “Do you realize this assassin intends to cut off my head?[cq] Look, when the messenger arrives, shut the door and lean against it. His master will certainly be right behind him.”[cr] 33 He was still talking to them when[cs] the messenger approached[ct] and said, “Look, the Lord is responsible for this disaster![cu] Why should I continue to wait for the Lord to help?” 7 1 Elisha replied, “Listen to the Lord’s message. This is what the Lord has said, ‘About this time tomorrow a seah[cv] of finely milled flour will sell for a shekel and two seahs of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria.’” 2 An officer who was the king’s right-hand man[cw] responded to the prophet,[cx] “Look, even if the Lord made it rain by opening holes in the sky, could this happen so soon?”[cy] Elisha[cz] said, “Look, you will see it happen with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of the food!”[da]

3 Now four men with a skin disease[db] were sitting at the entrance of the city gate. They said to one another, “Why are we just sitting here waiting to die?[dc] 4 If we go into the city, we’ll die of starvation,[dd] and if we stay here we’ll die! So come on, let’s defect[de] to the Syrian camp! If they spare us,[df] we’ll live; if they kill us—well, we were going to die anyway.”[dg] 5 So they started toward[dh] the Syrian camp at dusk. When they reached the edge of the Syrian camp, there was no one there. 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 Egyptians to attack us!” 7 So they got up and fled at dusk, leaving behind their tents, horses, and donkeys. They left the camp as it was and ran for their lives. 8 When the men with a skin disease reached the edge of the camp, they entered a tent and had a meal.[di] They also took some silver, gold, and clothes and went and hid it all.[dj] Then they went back and entered another tent. They looted it[dk] and went and hid what they had taken. 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.[dl] If we wait until dawn,[dm] we’ll be punished.[dn] So come on, let’s go and inform the royal palace.” 10 So they went and called out to the gatekeepers[do] of the city. They told them, “We entered the Syrian camp and there was no one there. We didn’t even hear a man’s voice.[dp] But the horses and donkeys are still tied up, and the tents remain up.”[dq] 11 The gatekeepers relayed the news to the royal palace.[dr]

12 The king got up in the night and said to his advisers,[ds] “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.’” 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!)[dt] Let’s send them out so we can know for sure what’s going on.”[du] 14 So they picked two horsemen and the king sent them out to track the Syrian army.[dv] He ordered them, “Go and find out what’s going on.”[dw] 15 So they tracked them[dx] as far as the Jordan. The road was filled with clothes and equipment that the Syrians had discarded in their haste.[dy] The scouts[dz] went back and told the king. 16 Then the people went out and looted the Syrian camp. A seah[ea] of finely milled flour sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, just as in the Lord’s message.

17 Now the king had placed the officer who was his right-hand man[eb] at the city gate. When the people rushed out, they trampled him to death in the gate.[ec] This fulfilled the prophet’s word which he had spoken when the king tried to arrest him.[ed] 18 The prophet had told the king, “Two seahs of barley will sell for a shekel, and a seah of finely milled flour for a shekel; this will happen about this time tomorrow in the gate of Samaria.” 19 But the officer had replied to the prophet, “Look, even if the Lord made it rain by opening holes in the sky, could this happen so soon?”[ee] Elisha[ef] had said, “Look, you will see it happen with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of the food!”[eg] 20 This is exactly what happened to him. The people trampled him to death in the city gate.

Elisha Again Helps the Shunammite Woman

8 Now Elisha advised the woman whose son he had brought back to life, “You and your family should go and live somewhere else for a while,[eh] for the Lord has decreed that a famine will overtake the land for seven years.” 2 So the woman did as the prophet said.[ei] She and her family went and lived in the land of the Philistines for seven years. 3 After seven years the woman returned from the land of the Philistines and went to ask the king to give her back her house and field.[ej] 4 Now the king was talking to Gehazi, the prophet’s[ek] servant, and said, “Tell me all the great things that Elisha has done.” 5 While Gehazi[el] was telling the king how Elisha[em] had brought the dead back to life, the woman whose son he had brought back to life came to ask the king for her house and field.[en] Gehazi said, “My master, O king, this is the very woman, and this is her son whom Elisha brought back to life!” 6 The king asked the woman about it, and she gave him the details.[eo] The king assigned a eunuch to take care of her request and ordered him,[ep] “Give her back everything she owns, as well as the amount of crops her field produced from the day she left the land until now.”

Elisha Meets with Hazael

7 Elisha traveled to Damascus while King Ben Hadad of Syria was sick. The king[eq] was told, “The prophet[er] has come here.” 8 So the king told Hazael, “Take a gift[es] and go visit the prophet. Request from him an oracle from the Lord. Ask him,[et] ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’” 9 So Hazael went to visit Elisha.[eu] He took along a gift,[ev] as well as[ew] forty camel-loads of all the fine things of Damascus. When he arrived, he stood before him and said, “Your son,[ex] King Ben Hadad of Syria, has sent me to you with this question,[ey] ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’” 10 Elisha said to him, “Go and tell him, ‘You will surely recover,’[ez] but the Lord has revealed to me that he will surely die.” 11 Elisha[fa] just stared at him until Hazael became uncomfortable.[fb] Then the prophet started crying. 12 Hazael asked, “Why are you crying, my master?” He replied, “Because I know the trouble you will cause the Israelites. You will set fire to their fortresses, kill their young men with the sword, smash their children to bits, and rip open their pregnant women.” 13 Hazael said, “How could your servant, who is as insignificant as a dog, accomplish this great military victory?”[fc] Elisha answered, “The Lord has revealed to me that you will be the king of Syria.”[fd] 14 He left Elisha and went to his master. Ben Hadad[fe] asked him, “What did Elisha tell you?” Hazael[ff] replied, “He told me you would surely recover.” 15 The next day Hazael[fg] took a piece of cloth, dipped it in water, and spread it over Ben Hadad’s[fh] face until he died. Then Hazael replaced him as king.

Jehoram’s Reign over Judah

16 In the fifth year of the reign of Israel’s King Joram, son of Ahab, Jehoshaphat’s son Jehoram became king over Judah.[fi] 17 He was thirty-two years old when he became king and he reigned for eight years in Jerusalem. 18 He followed in the footsteps of the kings of Israel, just as Ahab’s dynasty had done, for he married Ahab’s daughter.[fj] He did evil in the sight of[fk] the Lord. 19 But the Lord was unwilling to destroy Judah. He preserved Judah for the sake of[fl] his servant David to whom he had promised a perpetual dynasty.[fm]

20 During his reign Edom freed themselves from Judah’s control and set up their own king.[fn] 21 Jehoram[fo] crossed over to Zair with all his chariots. The Edomites, who had surrounded him, attacked at night and defeated him and his chariot officers.[fp] The Israelite army retreated to their homeland.[fq] 22 So Edom has remained free from Judah’s control to this very day.[fr] At that same time Libnah also rebelled.

23 The rest of the events of Jehoram’s reign, including a record of his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah.[fs] 24 Jehoram passed away[ft] and was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. His son Ahaziah replaced him as king.

Ahaziah Takes the Throne of Judah

25 In the twelfth year of the reign of Israel’s King Joram, son of Ahab, Jehoram’s son Ahaziah became king over Judah. 26 Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king and he reigned for one year in Jerusalem. His mother was Athaliah, the granddaughter[fu] of King Omri of Israel. 27 He followed in the footsteps of Ahab’s dynasty and did evil in the sight of[fv] the Lord, as Ahab’s dynasty had done, for he was related to Ahab’s family.[fw]

28 He joined Ahab’s son Joram in a battle against King Hazael of Syria at Ramoth Gilead in which the Syrians defeated Joram. 29 King Joram returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds he received from the Syrians[fx] in Ramah when he fought against King Hazael of Syria. King Ahaziah son of Jehoram of Judah went down to visit[fy] Joram son of Ahab in Jezreel, for he was ill.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 5:1 tn Heb “was a great man before his master and lifted up with respect to the face.”
  2. 2 Kings 5:1 tn For a discussion of מְצֹרָע (metsoraʿ), traditionally translated “leprous,” see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 63. Naaman probably had a skin disorder of some type, not leprosy/Hansen’s disease.
  3. 2 Kings 5:4 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Naaman) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  4. 2 Kings 5:5 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Naaman) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  5. 2 Kings 5:5 tn The Hebrew term כִּכָּר (kikkar, “circle”) refers generally to something that is round. When used of metals it can refer to a disk-shaped weight made of the metal or to a standard unit of weight, generally regarded as a talent. Since the accepted weight for a talent of metal is about 75 pounds, this would have amounted to about 750 pounds of silver (cf. NCV, NLT, CEV).
  6. 2 Kings 5:5 tn Heb “six thousand gold […].” The unit of measure is not given in the Hebrew text. A number of English versions supply “pieces” (e.g., KJV, ASV, NAB, TEV) or “shekels” (e.g., NASB, NIV, NRSV).
  7. 2 Kings 5:6 tn Heb “and now when this letter comes to you, look, I have sent to you Naaman my servant.”
  8. 2 Kings 5:7 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.
  9. 2 Kings 5:7 tn Heb “Indeed, know and see that he is seeking an occasion with respect to me.”
  10. 2 Kings 5:8 tn Heb “man of God” (also in vv. 15, 20).
  11. 2 Kings 5:8 tn Heb “Let him come.”
  12. 2 Kings 5:10 tn Heb “will return to you.”
  13. 2 Kings 5:12 tn Heb “Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all of the waters of Israel?” The rhetorical question expects an emphatic “yes” as an answer.
  14. 2 Kings 5:13 tn Heb “They spoke to him. They said.”
  15. 2 Kings 5:13 tn Heb “my father,” reflecting the perspective of each individual servant. To address their master as “father” would emphasize his authority and express their respect. See BDB 3 s.v. אָב and the similar idiomatic use of “father” in 2 Kgs 2:12.
  16. 2 Kings 5:13 tn Heb “a great thing.”
  17. 2 Kings 5:13 tn Heb “would you not do [it]?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course you would.”
  18. 2 Kings 5:13 tn Heb “How much more [when] he said, “Wash and be healed.” The second imperative (“be healed”) states the expected result of obeying the first (‘wash”).
  19. 2 Kings 5:14 tn Heb “according to the word of the man of God.”
  20. 2 Kings 5:14 tn Heb “and his skin was restored, like the skin of a small child.”
  21. 2 Kings 5:15 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Naaman) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  22. 2 Kings 5:15 tn Heb “look.”
  23. 2 Kings 5:16 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  24. 2 Kings 5:16 tn Heb “before whom I stand.”
  25. 2 Kings 5:16 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Naaman) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  26. 2 Kings 5:17 tn Heb “and [if] not, may there be given to your servant a load [for] a pair of mules, earth.”
  27. 2 Kings 5:17 tn Heb “for your servant will not again make a burnt offering and sacrifice to other gods, only to the Lord.”
  28. 2 Kings 5:18 tn Heb “When my master enters the house of Rimmon to bow down there, and he leans on my hand and I bow down [in] the house of Rimmon, when I bow down [in] the house of Rimmon, may the Lord forgive your servant for this thing.”sn Rimmon was the Syrian storm god. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 65.
  29. 2 Kings 5:19 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  30. 2 Kings 5:19 tn Heb “and he went from him a distance of land.” The precise meaning of כִּבְרַה (kivrah) “distance,” is uncertain. See BDB 460 s.v. כִּבְרַה, and HALOT 459-60 s.v. II *כְּבָרַה, and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 65.
  31. 2 Kings 5:20 tn Heb “said” (i.e., to himself).
  32. 2 Kings 5:20 tn Heb “Look, my master spared this Syrian Naaman by not taking from his hand what he brought.”
  33. 2 Kings 5:21 tn Heb “Is there peace?”
  34. 2 Kings 5:22 tn Heb “peace.”
  35. 2 Kings 5:22 tn Heb “Look now, here, two servants came to me from the Ephraimite hill country, from the sons of the prophets.”
  36. 2 Kings 5:22 tn The Hebrew term כִּכָּר (kikkar, “circle”) refers generally to something that is round. When used of metals it can refer to a disk-shaped weight made of the metal or to a standard unit of weight, generally regarded as a talent. Since the accepted weight for a talent of metal is about 75 pounds, this would have amounted to about 75 pounds of silver (cf. NCV, NLT, CEV).
  37. 2 Kings 5:23 tn Heb “Be resolved and accept two talents.”
  38. 2 Kings 5:23 tn Heb “before him.”
  39. 2 Kings 5:24 tn Heb “from their hand.”
  40. 2 Kings 5:24 tn Heb “and he sent the men away and they went.”
  41. 2 Kings 5:26 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  42. 2 Kings 5:26 tn Heb “Did not my heart go as a man turned from his chariot to meet you?” The rhetorical question emphasizes that he was indeed present in “heart” (or “spirit”) and was very much aware of what Gehazi had done. In the MT the interrogative particle has been accidentally omitted before the negative particle.
  43. 2 Kings 5:26 tn In the MT the statement is phrased as a rhetorical question, “Is this the time…?” It expects an emphatic negative response.
  44. 2 Kings 5:27 tn Heb “cling to.”
  45. 2 Kings 5:27 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Gehazi) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  46. 2 Kings 5:27 tn Traditionally, “he went from before him, leprous like snow.” But see the note at 5:1, as well as M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 66.
  47. 2 Kings 6:1 tn Heb “the sons of the prophets.”
  48. 2 Kings 6:1 tn Heb “sit before you.”
  49. 2 Kings 6:1 tn Heb “narrow, tight.”
  50. 2 Kings 6:5 tn Heb “iron.”
  51. 2 Kings 6:5 tn Or “ah.”
  52. 2 Kings 6:6 tn Heb “man of God” (also in v. 9).
  53. 2 Kings 6:6 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  54. 2 Kings 6:8 tc The verb form used here is difficult to analyze. On the basis of the form נְחִתִּים (nekhittim) in v. 9 from the root נָחַת (nakhat), it is probably best to emend the verb to תִּנְחְתוּ (tinkhetu; 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.
  55. 2 Kings 6:8 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.
  56. 2 Kings 6:10 tn The vav + perfect here indicates action contemporary with the preceding main verb (“sent”). See IBHS 533-34 §32.2.3e.
  57. 2 Kings 6:10 tn Heb “and the king of Israel sent to the place about which the man of God spoke to him, and he warned it and he guarded himself there, not once and not twice.”
  58. 2 Kings 6:11 tn Heb “and the heart of the king of Syria was stirred up over this thing.”
  59. 2 Kings 6:11 tn Heb “servants.”
  60. 2 Kings 6:11 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.
  61. 2 Kings 6:13 tn Heb “he” (also a second time in this verse); the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  62. 2 Kings 6:13 tn Heb “Go and see where he [is] so I can send and take him.”
  63. 2 Kings 6:14 tn Heb “heavy force.”
  64. 2 Kings 6:15 tn Heb “man of God’s.”
  65. 2 Kings 6:15 tn Heb “his young servant said to him.”
  66. 2 Kings 6:16 tn Heb “for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”
  67. 2 Kings 6:17 tn Heb “and he saw, and look.”
  68. 2 Kings 6:18 tn Heb “and they came down to him.”
  69. 2 Kings 6:18 tn Or “this nation,” perhaps emphasizing the strength of the Syrian army.
  70. 2 Kings 6:18 tn On the basis of the Akkadian etymology of the word, M. Cogan and H. Tadmor (II Kings [AB], 74) translate “blinding light.” HALOT 761 s.v. סַנְוֵרִים suggests the glosses “dazzling, deception.”
  71. 2 Kings 6:18 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  72. 2 Kings 6:18 tn Heb “according to the word of Elisha.”
  73. 2 Kings 6:20 tn Heb “and they saw, and look, [they were] in the middle of Samaria.”
  74. 2 Kings 6:21 tn Heb “Should I strike them down? I will strike them down.” In the Hebrew text the first person imperfect form is repeated; the first form has the interrogative he prefixed to it; the second does not. It is likely that the second form should be omitted as dittographic or that the first should be emended to an infinitive absolute.
  75. 2 Kings 6:21 tn Heb “my father.” The king addresses the prophet in this way to indicate his respect. See 2 Kgs 2:12.
  76. 2 Kings 6:22 tn Heb “Are [they] ones you captured with your sword or your bow (that) you can strike (them) down?”
  77. 2 Kings 6:23 tn Or “held a great feast.”
  78. 2 Kings 6:23 tn Heb “they went back.”
  79. 2 Kings 6:24 tn Heb “went up.”
  80. 2 Kings 6:25 tn Heb “and there was a great famine in Samaria.”
  81. 2 Kings 6:25 tn Heb “and look, [they] were besieging it until.”
  82. 2 Kings 6:25 tn Heb “eighty, silver.” The unit of measurement is omitted.
  83. 2 Kings 6:25 sn A kab was a unit of dry measure, equivalent to approximately 2 quarts (2 liters).
  84. 2 Kings 6:25 tn The consonantal text (Kethib) reads “dove dung” (חֲרֵייוֹנִים, khareyonim), while the marginal reading (Qere) has “discharge” (דִּבְיוֹנִים, divyonim). Based on evidence from Akkadian, M. Cogan and H. Tadmor (II Kings [AB], 79) suggest that “dove’s dung” was a popular name for the inedible husks of seeds.
  85. 2 Kings 6:25 tn Heb “five, silver.” The unit of measurement is omitted.
  86. 2 Kings 6:27 tn Heb “From where can I help you, from the threshing floor or the winepress?” The rhetorical question expresses the king’s frustration. He has no grain or wine to give to the masses.
  87. 2 Kings 6:30 tn Heb “the people saw, and look, [there was] sackcloth against his skin underneath.”
  88. 2 Kings 6:31 tn Heb “So may God do to me, and so may he add.”
  89. 2 Kings 6:31 tn Heb “if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat stays on him today.”
  90. 2 Kings 6:32 tn Heb “and the elders were sitting with him.”
  91. 2 Kings 6:32 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  92. 2 Kings 6:32 tn Heb “sent a man from before him, before the messenger came to him.”
  93. 2 Kings 6:32 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  94. 2 Kings 6:32 tn Heb “elders.”
  95. 2 Kings 6:32 tn Heb “Do you see that this son of an assassin has sent to remove my head?”
  96. 2 Kings 6:32 tn Heb “Is not the sound of his master’s footsteps behind him?”
  97. 2 Kings 6:33 tn The Hebrew text also has “look” here.
  98. 2 Kings 6:33 tn Heb “came down to him.”
  99. 2 Kings 6:33 tn Heb “Look, this is a disaster from the Lord.”
  100. 2 Kings 7:1 sn A seah was a dry measure equivalent to about 11 quarts (11 liters).
  101. 2 Kings 7:2 tn Heb “the officer on whose hand the king leans.”
  102. 2 Kings 7:2 tn Heb “man of God.”
  103. 2 Kings 7:2 tn Heb “the Lord was making holes in the sky, could this thing be?” Opening holes in the sky would allow the waters stored up there to pour to the earth and assure a good crop. But, the officer argues, even if this were to happen, it would take a long time to grow and harvest the crop.
  104. 2 Kings 7:2 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  105. 2 Kings 7:2 tn Heb “you will not eat from there.”
  106. 2 Kings 7:3 sn See the note at 2 Kgs 5:1.
  107. 2 Kings 7:3 tn Heb “until we die.”
  108. 2 Kings 7:4 tn Heb “If we say, ‘We will enter the city,’ the famine is in the city and we will die there.”
  109. 2 Kings 7:4 tn Heb “fall.”
  110. 2 Kings 7:4 tn Heb “keep us alive.”
  111. 2 Kings 7:4 tn Heb “we will die.” The paraphrastic translation attempts to bring out the logical force of their reasoning.
  112. 2 Kings 7:5 tn Heb “they arose to go to.”
  113. 2 Kings 7:8 tn Heb “they ate and drank.”
  114. 2 Kings 7:8 tn Heb “and they hid [it].”
  115. 2 Kings 7:8 tn Heb “and they took from there.”
  116. 2 Kings 7:9 tn Heb “this day is a day of good news and we are keeping silent.”
  117. 2 Kings 7:9 tn Heb “the light of the morning.”
  118. 2 Kings 7:9 tn Heb “punishment will find us.”
  119. 2 Kings 7:10 tn The MT has a singular form (“gatekeeper”), but the context suggests a plural. The pronoun that follows (“them”) is plural and a plural noun appears in v. 11. The Syriac Peshitta and the Targum have the plural here.
  120. 2 Kings 7:10 tn Heb “and, look, there was no man or voice of a man there.”
  121. 2 Kings 7:10 tn Heb “but the horses are tied up and the donkeys are tied up and the tents are as they were.”
  122. 2 Kings 7:11 tn Heb “and the gatekeepers called out and they told [it] within the house of the king.”
  123. 2 Kings 7:12 tn Heb “servants” (also in v. 13).
  124. 2 Kings 7:13 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.”
  125. 2 Kings 7:13 tn Heb “and let us send so we might see.”
  126. 2 Kings 7:14 tn Heb “and the king sent [them] after the Syrian camp.”
  127. 2 Kings 7:14 tn Heb “Go and see.”
  128. 2 Kings 7:15 tn Heb “went after.”
  129. 2 Kings 7:15 tn Heb “and look, all the road was full of clothes and equipment that Syria had thrown away in their haste.”
  130. 2 Kings 7:15 tn Or “messengers.”
  131. 2 Kings 7:16 sn A seah was a dry measure equivalent to about 11 quarts (11 liters).
  132. 2 Kings 7:17 tn Heb “the officer on whose hand he leans.”
  133. 2 Kings 7:17 tn Heb “and the people trampled him in the gate and he died.”
  134. 2 Kings 7:17 tn Heb “just as the man of God had spoken, [the word] which he spoke when the king came down to him.”
  135. 2 Kings 7:19 tn Heb “the Lord was making holes in the sky, could this thing be?” See the note at 7:2.
  136. 2 Kings 7:19 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  137. 2 Kings 7:19 tn Heb “you will not eat from there.”tn In the Hebrew text vv. 18-19a are one lengthy sentence, “When the man of God spoke to the king…, the officer replied to the man of God, ‘Look…so soon?’” The translation divides this sentence up for stylistic reasons.
  138. 2 Kings 8:1 tn Heb “Get up and go, you and your house, and live temporarily where you can live temporarily.”
  139. 2 Kings 8:2 tn Heb “and the woman got up and did according to the word of the man of God.”
  140. 2 Kings 8:3 tn Heb “and went out to cry out to the king for her house and her field.”
  141. 2 Kings 8:4 tn Heb “man of God’s.”
  142. 2 Kings 8:5 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Gehazi) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  143. 2 Kings 8:5 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  144. 2 Kings 8:5 tn Heb “and look, the woman whose son he had brought back to life was crying out to the king for her house and her field.”sn The legal background of the situation is uncertain. For a discussion of possibilities, see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 87-88.
  145. 2 Kings 8:6 tn Heb “and the king asked the woman and she told him.”
  146. 2 Kings 8:6 tn Heb “and he assigned to her an official, saying.”
  147. 2 Kings 8:7 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  148. 2 Kings 8:7 tn Heb “man of God” (also a second time in this verse and in v. 11).
  149. 2 Kings 8:8 tn The Hebrew text also has “in your hand.”
  150. 2 Kings 8:8 tn Heb “Inquire of the Lord through him, saying.”
  151. 2 Kings 8:9 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  152. 2 Kings 8:9 tn The Hebrew text also has “in his hand.”
  153. 2 Kings 8:9 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.”
  154. 2 Kings 8:9 sn The words “your son” emphasize the king’s respect for the prophet.
  155. 2 Kings 8:9 tn Heb “saying.”
  156. 2 Kings 8:10 tc The consonantal text (Kethib) reads, “Go, say, ‘Surely you will not (לֹא, loʾ) live.’” In this case the vav beginning the next clause could be translated “for” or “because.” The reading tradition (Qere) has, “Go, say to him (לוֹ, lo), ‘You will surely recover.’” In this case the vav (ו) beginning the next clause would be translated “although” or “but.” The Qere has the support of some medieval Hebrew mss and the ancient versions, and is consistent with v. 14, where Hazael tells the king, “You will surely recover.” It also fits the immediate context. The sentence “you will live,” to be told to Ben Hadad and meaning to recover from the sickness contrasts telling Hazael that Ben Hadad will die. The missing component is the means of Ban Hadad’s death. So Elisha looks at Hazael until he is embarrassed, because as a prophet he knows that Hazael will kill Ben Hadad (not the sickness). It is possible that a scribe has changed לוֹ, “to him,” to לֹא, “not,” because he felt that Elisha would not lie to the king. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 90. But it is possible that Hazael, once he found out he would become the next king, decided to lie to the king to facilitate his assassination plot by making the king feel secure.
  157. 2 Kings 8:11 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  158. 2 Kings 8:11 tn Heb “and he made his face stand [i.e., be motionless] and set [his face?] until embarrassment.”
  159. 2 Kings 8:13 tn Heb “Indeed, what is your servant, a dog, that he could do this great thing?” With his reference to a dog, Hazael is not denying that he is a “dog” and protesting that he would never commit such a dastardly “dog-like” deed. Rather, as Elisha’s response indicates, Hazael is suggesting that he, like a dog, is too insignificant to ever be in a position to lead such conquests.
  160. 2 Kings 8:13 tn Heb “The Lord has shown me you [as] king over Syria.”
  161. 2 Kings 8:14 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Ben Hadad) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  162. 2 Kings 8:14 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Hazael) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  163. 2 Kings 8:15 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Hazael) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  164. 2 Kings 8:15 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Ben Hadad) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  165. 2 Kings 8:16 tc The Hebrew text reads, “and in the fifth year of Joram son of Ahab king of Israel, and [or, ‘while’?] Jehoshaphat [was?] king of Judah, Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah became king.” The first reference to “Jehoshaphat king of Judah” is probably due to a scribe accidentally copying the phrase from later in the verse. If the Hebrew text is retained, the verse probably refers to the beginning of a coregency between Jehoshaphat and Jehoram.
  166. 2 Kings 8:18 tn Heb “he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab did, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife.”
  167. 2 Kings 8:18 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
  168. 2 Kings 8:19 tn The Hebrew has only one sentence, “and the Lord was unwilling to destroy Judah for the sake of.” The translation divides it for the sake of clarity.
  169. 2 Kings 8:19 tn Heb “just as he had said to him, to give to him a lamp for his sons all the days.” The metaphorical “lamp” symbolizes the Davidic dynasty; this is reflected in the translation.
  170. 2 Kings 8:20 tn Heb “in his days Edom rebelled from under the hand of Judah and enthroned a king over them.”
  171. 2 Kings 8:21 tn Heb “Joram,” which is a short form of the name Jehoram (also in vv. 23, 24).
  172. 2 Kings 8:21 tc Heb “and he arose at night and defeated Edom, who had surrounded him, and the chariot officers.” The Hebrew text as it stands gives the impression that Jehoram was surrounded and launched a victorious night counterattack. It would then be quite natural to understand the last statement in the verse to refer to an Edomite retreat. Yet v. 22 goes on to state that the Edomite revolt was successful. Therefore, if the MT is retained, it may be better to understand the final statement in v. 21 as a reference to an Israelite retreat (made in spite of the success described in the preceding sentence). Instead the translation assumes an emendation of the Hebrew text, adding a vav (ו) to the accusative sign before Edom, reading אֹתוֹ (ʾoto, “him,”) instead of just אֶת (ʾet). In this reading, Edom is the subject of the verb rather than the direct object, “Edom struck him.” This is more consistent with the context but there is no manuscript evidence in favor of this.
  173. 2 Kings 8:21 tn Heb “and the people fled to their tents.”
  174. 2 Kings 8:22 tn Heb “and Edom rebelled from under the hand of Judah until this day.”
  175. 2 Kings 8:23 tn Heb “As for the rest of the acts of Joram and all which he did, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah?”
  176. 2 Kings 8:24 tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
  177. 2 Kings 8:26 tn Hebrew בַּת (bat), “daughter,” can refer, as here to a granddaughter. See HALOT 166 s.v. בַּת.
  178. 2 Kings 8:27 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
  179. 2 Kings 8:27 tn Heb “and he walked in the way of the house of Ahab and did evil in the eyes of the Lord like the house of Ahab, for he was a relative by marriage of the house of Ahab.” For this use of חֲתַן (khatan), normally “son-in-law,” see HALOT 365 s.v. חָתָן. Ahab was Ahaziah’s grandfather on his mother’s side.
  180. 2 Kings 8:29 tn Heb “which the Syrians inflicted [on] him.”
  181. 2 Kings 8:29 tn Heb “to see.”
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2 Kings 5-8
New International Version

Naaman Healed of Leprosy

5 Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram.(A) He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the Lord had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy.[a](B)

2 Now bands of raiders(C) from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. 3 She said to her mistress, “If only my master would see the prophet(D) who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”

4 Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said. 5 “By all means, go,” the king of Aram replied. “I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents[b] of silver, six thousand shekels[c] of gold and ten sets of clothing.(E) 6 The letter that he took to the king of Israel read: “With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy.”

7 As soon as the king of Israel read the letter,(F) he tore his robes and said, “Am I God?(G) Can I kill and bring back to life?(H) Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel(I) with me!”

8 When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his robes, he sent him this message: “Why have you torn your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet(J) in Israel.” 9 So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house. 10 Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash(K) yourself seven times(L) in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.”

11 But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand(M) over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. 12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters(N) of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went off in a rage.(O)

13 Naaman’s servants went to him and said, “My father,(P) if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!” 14 So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times,(Q) as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored(R) and became clean like that of a young boy.(S)

15 Then Naaman and all his attendants went back to the man of God(T). He stood before him and said, “Now I know(U) that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. So please accept a gift(V) from your servant.”

16 The prophet answered, “As surely as the Lord lives, whom I serve, I will not accept a thing.” And even though Naaman urged him, he refused.(W)

17 “If you will not,” said Naaman, “please let me, your servant, be given as much earth(X) as a pair of mules can carry, for your servant will never again make burnt offerings and sacrifices to any other god but the Lord. 18 But may the Lord forgive your servant for this one thing: When my master enters the temple of Rimmon to bow down and he is leaning(Y) on my arm and I have to bow there also—when I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the Lord forgive your servant for this.”

19 “Go in peace,”(Z) Elisha said.

After Naaman had traveled some distance, 20 Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said to himself, “My master was too easy on Naaman, this Aramean, by not accepting from him what he brought. As surely as the Lord(AA) lives, I will run after him and get something from him.”

21 So Gehazi hurried after Naaman. When Naaman saw him running toward him, he got down from the chariot to meet him. “Is everything all right?” he asked.

22 “Everything is all right,” Gehazi answered. “My master sent me to say, ‘Two young men from the company of the prophets have just come to me from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them a talent[d] of silver and two sets of clothing.’”(AB)

23 “By all means, take two talents,” said Naaman. He urged Gehazi to accept them, and then tied up the two talents of silver in two bags, with two sets of clothing. He gave them to two of his servants, and they carried them ahead of Gehazi. 24 When Gehazi came to the hill, he took the things from the servants and put them away in the house. He sent the men away and they left.

25 When he went in and stood before his master, Elisha asked him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?”

“Your servant didn’t go anywhere,” Gehazi answered.

26 But Elisha said to him, “Was not my spirit with you when the man got down from his chariot to meet you? Is this the time(AC) to take money or to accept clothes—or olive groves and vineyards, or flocks and herds, or male and female slaves?(AD) 27 Naaman’s leprosy(AE) will cling to you and to your descendants forever.” Then Gehazi(AF) went from Elisha’s presence and his skin was leprous—it had become as white as snow.(AG)

An Axhead Floats

6 The company(AH) of the prophets said to Elisha, “Look, the place where we meet with you is too small for us. 2 Let us go to the Jordan, where each of us can get a pole; and let us build a place there for us to meet.”

And he said, “Go.”

3 Then one of them said, “Won’t you please come with your servants?”

“I will,” Elisha replied. 4 And he went with them.

They went to the Jordan and began to cut down trees. 5 As one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron axhead fell into the water. “Oh no, my lord!” he cried out. “It was borrowed!”

6 The man of God asked, “Where did it fall?” When he showed him the place, Elisha cut a stick and threw(AI) it there, and made the iron float. 7 “Lift it out,” he said. Then the man reached out his hand and took it.

Elisha Traps Blinded Arameans

8 Now the king of Aram was at war with Israel. After conferring with his officers, he said, “I will set up my camp in such and such a place.”

9 The man of God sent word to the king(AJ) of Israel: “Beware of passing that place, because the Arameans are going down there.” 10 So the king of Israel checked on the place indicated by the man of God. Time and again Elisha warned(AK) the king, so that he was on his guard in such places.

11 This enraged the king of Aram. He summoned his officers and demanded of them, “Tell me! Which of us is on the side of the king of Israel?”

12 “None of us, my lord the king(AL),” said one of his officers, “but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom.”

13 “Go, find out where he is,” the king ordered, “so I can send men and capture him.” The report came back: “He is in Dothan.”(AM) 14 Then he sent(AN) horses and chariots and a strong force there. They went by night and surrounded the city.

15 When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” the servant asked.

16 “Don’t be afraid,”(AO) the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more(AP) than those who are with them.”

17 And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots(AQ) of fire all around Elisha.

18 As the enemy came down toward him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, “Strike this army with blindness.”(AR) So he struck them with blindness, as Elisha had asked.

19 Elisha told them, “This is not the road and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will lead you to the man you are looking for.” And he led them to Samaria.

20 After they entered the city, Elisha said, “Lord, open the eyes of these men so they can see.” Then the Lord opened their eyes and they looked, and there they were, inside Samaria.

21 When the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha, “Shall I kill them, my father?(AS) Shall I kill them?”

22 “Do not kill them,” he answered. “Would you kill those you have captured(AT) with your own sword or bow? Set food and water before them so that they may eat and drink and then go back to their master.” 23 So he prepared a great feast for them, and after they had finished eating and drinking, he sent them away, and they returned to their master. So the bands(AU) from Aram stopped raiding Israel’s territory.

Famine in Besieged Samaria

24 Some time later, Ben-Hadad(AV) king of Aram mobilized his entire army and marched up and laid siege(AW) to Samaria. 25 There was a great famine(AX) in the city; the siege lasted so long that a donkey’s head sold for eighty shekels[e] of silver, and a quarter of a cab[f] of seed pods[g](AY) for five shekels.[h]

26 As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried to him, “Help me, my lord the king!”

27 The king replied, “If the Lord does not help you, where can I get help for you? From the threshing floor? From the winepress?” 28 Then he asked her, “What’s the matter?”

She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son so we may eat him today, and tomorrow we’ll eat my son.’ 29 So we cooked my son and ate(AZ) him. The next day I said to her, ‘Give up your son so we may eat him,’ but she had hidden him.”

30 When the king heard the woman’s words, he tore(BA) his robes. As he went along the wall, the people looked, and they saw that, under his robes, he had sackcloth(BB) on his body. 31 He said, “May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders today!”

32 Now Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders(BC) were sitting with him. The king sent a messenger ahead, but before he arrived, Elisha said to the elders, “Don’t you see how this murderer(BD) is sending someone to cut off my head?(BE) Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door and hold it shut against him. Is not the sound of his master’s footsteps behind him?” 33 While he was still talking to them, the messenger came down to him.

The king said, “This disaster is from the Lord. Why should I wait(BF) for the Lord any longer?”

7 Elisha replied, “Hear the word of the Lord. This is what the Lord says: About this time tomorrow, a seah[i] of the finest flour will sell for a shekel[j] and two seahs[k] of barley for a shekel(BG) at the gate of Samaria.”

2 The officer on whose arm the king was leaning(BH) said to the man of God, “Look, even if the Lord should open the floodgates(BI) of the heavens, could this happen?”

“You will see it with your own eyes,” answered Elisha, “but you will not eat(BJ) any of it!”

The Siege Lifted

3 Now there were four men with leprosy[l](BK) at the entrance of the city gate. They said to each other, “Why stay here until we die? 4 If we say, ‘We’ll go into the city’—the famine is there, and we will die. And if we stay here, we will die. So let’s go over to the camp of the Arameans and surrender. If they spare us, we live; if they kill us, then we die.”

5 At dusk they got up and went to the camp of the Arameans. When they reached the edge of the camp, no one was there, 6 for the Lord had caused the Arameans to hear the sound(BL) of chariots and horses and a great army, so that they said to one another, “Look, the king of Israel has hired(BM) the Hittite(BN) and Egyptian kings to attack us!” 7 So they got up and fled(BO) in the dusk and abandoned their tents and their horses and donkeys. They left the camp as it was and ran for their lives.

8 The men who had leprosy(BP) reached the edge of the camp, entered one of the tents and ate and drank. Then they took silver, gold and clothes, and went off and hid them. They returned and entered another tent and took some things from it and hid them also.

9 Then they said to each other, “What we’re doing is not right. This is a day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves. If we wait until daylight, punishment will overtake us. Let’s go at once and report this to the royal palace.”

10 So they went and called out to the city gatekeepers and told them, “We went into the Aramean camp and no one was there—not a sound of anyone—only tethered horses and donkeys, and the tents left just as they were.” 11 The gatekeepers shouted the news, and it was reported within the palace.

12 The king got up in the night and said to his officers, “I will tell you what the Arameans have done to us. They know we are starving; so they have left the camp to hide(BQ) in the countryside, thinking, ‘They will surely come out, and then we will take them alive and get into the city.’”

13 One of his officers answered, “Have some men take five of the horses that are left in the city. Their plight will be like that of all the Israelites left here—yes, they will only be like all these Israelites who are doomed. So let us send them to find out what happened.”

14 So they selected two chariots with their horses, and the king sent them after the Aramean army. He commanded the drivers, “Go and find out what has happened.” 15 They followed them as far as the Jordan, and they found the whole road strewn with the clothing and equipment the Arameans had thrown away in their headlong flight.(BR) So the messengers returned and reported to the king. 16 Then the people went out and plundered(BS) the camp of the Arameans. So a seah of the finest flour sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley sold for a shekel,(BT) as the Lord had said.

17 Now the king had put the officer on whose arm he leaned in charge of the gate, and the people trampled him in the gateway, and he died,(BU) just as the man of God had foretold when the king came down to his house. 18 It happened as the man of God had said to the king: “About this time tomorrow, a seah of the finest flour will sell for a shekel and two seahs of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria.”

19 The officer had said to the man of God, “Look, even if the Lord should open the floodgates(BV) of the heavens, could this happen?” The man of God had replied, “You will see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of it!” 20 And that is exactly what happened to him, for the people trampled him in the gateway, and he died.

The Shunammite’s Land Restored

8 Now Elisha had said to the woman(BW) whose son he had restored to life, “Go away with your family and stay for a while wherever you can, because the Lord has decreed a famine(BX) in the land that will last seven years.”(BY) 2 The woman proceeded to do as the man of God said. She and her family went away and stayed in the land of the Philistines seven years.

3 At the end of the seven years she came back from the land of the Philistines and went to appeal to the king for her house and land. 4 The king was talking to Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, and had said, “Tell me about all the great things Elisha has done.” 5 Just as Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha had restored(BZ) the dead to life, the woman whose son Elisha had brought back to life came to appeal to the king for her house and land.

Gehazi said, “This is the woman, my lord the king, and this is her son whom Elisha restored to life.” 6 The king asked the woman about it, and she told him.

Then he assigned an official to her case and said to him, “Give back everything that belonged to her, including all the income from her land from the day she left the country until now.”

Hazael Murders Ben-Hadad

7 Elisha went to Damascus,(CA) and Ben-Hadad(CB) king of Aram was ill. When the king was told, “The man of God has come all the way up here,” 8 he said to Hazael,(CC) “Take a gift(CD) with you and go to meet the man of God. Consult(CE) the Lord through him; ask him, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’”

9 Hazael went to meet Elisha, taking with him as a gift forty camel-loads of all the finest wares of Damascus. He went in and stood before him, and said, “Your son Ben-Hadad king of Aram has sent me to ask, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’”

10 Elisha answered, “Go and say to him, ‘You will certainly recover.’(CF) Nevertheless,[m] the Lord has revealed to me that he will in fact die.” 11 He stared at him with a fixed gaze until Hazael was embarrassed.(CG) Then the man of God began to weep.(CH)

12 “Why is my lord weeping?” asked Hazael.

“Because I know the harm(CI) you will do to the Israelites,” he answered. “You will set fire to their fortified places, kill their young men with the sword, dash(CJ) their little children(CK) to the ground, and rip open(CL) their pregnant women.”

13 Hazael said, “How could your servant, a mere dog,(CM) accomplish such a feat?”

“The Lord has shown me that you will become king(CN) of Aram,” answered Elisha.

14 Then Hazael left Elisha and returned to his master. When Ben-Hadad asked, “What did Elisha say to you?” Hazael replied, “He told me that you would certainly recover.” 15 But the next day he took a thick cloth, soaked it in water and spread it over the king’s face, so that he died.(CO) Then Hazael succeeded him as king.

Jehoram King of Judah(CP)

16 In the fifth year of Joram(CQ) son of Ahab king of Israel, when Jehoshaphat was king of Judah, Jehoram(CR) son of Jehoshaphat began his reign as king of Judah. 17 He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years. 18 He followed the ways of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for he married a daughter(CS) of Ahab. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord. 19 Nevertheless, for the sake of his servant David, the Lord was not willing to destroy(CT) Judah. He had promised to maintain a lamp(CU) for David and his descendants forever.

20 In the time of Jehoram, Edom rebelled against Judah and set up its own king.(CV) 21 So Jehoram[n] went to Zair with all his chariots. The Edomites surrounded him and his chariot commanders, but he rose up and broke through by night; his army, however, fled back home. 22 To this day Edom has been in rebellion(CW) against Judah. Libnah(CX) revolted at the same time.

23 As for the other events of Jehoram’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? 24 Jehoram rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the City of David. And Ahaziah his son succeeded him as king.

Ahaziah King of Judah(CY)

25 In the twelfth(CZ) year of Joram son of Ahab king of Israel, Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah began to reign. 26 Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem one year. His mother’s name was Athaliah,(DA) a granddaughter of Omri(DB) king of Israel. 27 He followed the ways of the house of Ahab(DC) and did evil(DD) in the eyes of the Lord, as the house of Ahab had done, for he was related by marriage to Ahab’s family.

28 Ahaziah went with Joram son of Ahab to war against Hazael king of Aram at Ramoth Gilead.(DE) The Arameans wounded Joram; 29 so King Joram returned to Jezreel(DF) to recover from the wounds the Arameans had inflicted on him at Ramoth[o] in his battle with Hazael(DG) king of Aram.

Then Ahaziah(DH) son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to Jezreel to see Joram son of Ahab, because he had been wounded.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 5:1 The Hebrew for leprosy was used for various diseases affecting the skin; also in verses 3, 6, 7, 11 and 27.
  2. 2 Kings 5:5 That is, about 750 pounds or about 340 kilograms
  3. 2 Kings 5:5 That is, about 150 pounds or about 69 kilograms
  4. 2 Kings 5:22 That is, about 75 pounds or about 34 kilograms
  5. 2 Kings 6:25 That is, about 2 pounds or about 920 grams
  6. 2 Kings 6:25 That is, probably about 1/4 pound or about 100 grams
  7. 2 Kings 6:25 Or of doves’ dung
  8. 2 Kings 6:25 That is, about 2 ounces or about 58 grams
  9. 2 Kings 7:1 That is, probably about 12 pounds or about 5.5 kilograms of flour; also in verses 16 and 18
  10. 2 Kings 7:1 That is, about 2/5 ounce or about 12 grams; also in verses 16 and 18
  11. 2 Kings 7:1 That is, probably about 20 pounds or about 9 kilograms of barley; also in verses 16 and 18
  12. 2 Kings 7:3 The Hebrew for leprosy was used for various diseases affecting the skin; also in verse 8.
  13. 2 Kings 8:10 The Hebrew may also be read Go and say, ‘You will certainly not recover,’ for.
  14. 2 Kings 8:21 Hebrew Joram, a variant of Jehoram; also in verses 23 and 24
  15. 2 Kings 8:29 Hebrew Ramah, a variant of Ramoth
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