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2 Kings 6-10
Common English Bible
2 Kings 6-10
Common English Bible
An ax head floats
6 The members of the group of prophets said to Elisha, “Look, the place where we now live under your authority is too small for us. 2 Let’s go to the Jordan River and each get a log from there. Then we can make a place to live there.”
Elisha said, “Do it!”
3 One of them said, “Please come with us, your servants.”
Elisha said, “Okay, I’ll go.” 4 So he went with them. They came to the Jordan River and began cutting down trees. 5 One of them was cutting down a tree when his ax head fell into the water. He cried out, “Oh, no! Master, it was a borrowed ax!”
6 The man of God said, “Where did it fall?” He showed Elisha the place. Elisha then cut a piece of wood, threw it into the river there, and the ax head floated up. 7 “Lift it out,” Elisha said. So the man then reached out and grabbed it.
Aramean attacks are stopped
8 Aram’s king was fighting against Israel. He took counsel with his officers, saying, “I’ll camp at such-and-such a place.”
9 The man of God sent word to Israel’s king: “Beware of passing by this place because the Arameans are going down there.” 10 Then Israel’s king sent word to the place the man of God had mentioned to him. Time after time, Elisha warned the king, and the king stayed on the alert.
11 Aram’s king was extremely upset about this. He called his officers and said to them, “Tell me! Who among us is siding with Israel’s king?”
12 One of his officers said, “No one, Your Majesty! It’s Elisha the Israelite prophet who tells Israel’s king the words that you speak in the privacy of your bedroom.”
13 He said, “Go and find out where he is. Then I will send men to capture him.”
They told him, “He is in Dothan.” 14 So the king sent horses and chariots there with a strong army. They came at night and surrounded the city.
15 Elisha’s servant got up early and went out. He saw an army with horses and chariots surrounding the city. His servant said to Elisha, “Oh, no! Master, what will we do?”
16 “Don’t be afraid,” Elisha said, “because there are more of us than there are of them.” 17 Then Elisha prayed, “Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he saw that the mountain was full of horses and fiery chariots surrounding Elisha. 18 The Arameans came toward him, so Elisha prayed to the Lord, “Strike this nation with blindness.” And the Lord struck them blind, just as Elisha asked. 19 Elisha said to them, “This isn’t the right road or the right city. Follow me, and I’ll lead you to the man you are looking for.” But he took them to Samaria!
20 When they arrived in Samaria, Elisha said, “Lord, open the eyes of these men so they can see.” The Lord opened their eyes, and they saw that they were right in the middle of Samaria! 21 When he saw them, Israel’s king said to Elisha, “Should I kill them, my father? Should I?”
22 He said, “No, don’t kill them. Did you capture them with your own sword or bow? Do you have the right to kill them?[a] Put food and water in front of them so they can eat and drink and return to their master.” 23 So the king gave them a great feast, and they ate and drank. Then the king let them go, and they returned to their master. After that, Aramean raiding parties didn’t come into Israel anymore.
Ben-hadad attacks Samaria
24 Now it happened later that Aram’s King Ben-hadad gathered all his forces and went up to attack Samaria. 25 The siege lasted so long that there was a great famine in Samaria. A donkey’s head sold for eighty shekels of silver and a quarter kab of doves’ dung[b] for five shekels. 26 Israel’s king was passing by on the city wall when a woman appealed to him, “Help me, Your Majesty!”
27 The king said, “No! May the Lord help you! Where can I find help for you? From the threshing floor or the winepress?” 28 But then the king asked her, “What’s troubling you?”
She answered, “A woman said to me, ‘Give up your son so we can eat him today; we’ll eat my son tomorrow.’ 29 So we cooked and ate my son. The next day I said to her, ‘Hand over your son so we can eat him.’ But she had hidden her son.”
30 When the king heard the woman’s story, he ripped his clothes. And as he passed by along the wall, the people could see that he was wearing mourning clothes underneath. 31 He said, “So may God do to me, and more, if the head of Elisha, Shaphat’s son, remains on his shoulders today!”
32 Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. The king sent a messenger on ahead, but before the man arrived, Elisha said to the elders, “Do you see that this murderer has sent someone to cut off my head? Watch for when the messenger comes, then close the door and hold it shut against him. The sound of his master’s feet is right behind him, isn’t it?”
33 While Elisha was still speaking with them, the messenger[c] arrived and said, “Look, this disaster is the Lord’s doing. Why should I trust the Lord any longer?”
7 Elisha said, “Hear the Lord’s word! This is what the Lord says: At this time tomorrow a seah[d] of wheat flour will sell for a shekel at Samaria’s gate, and two seahs of barley will sell for a shekel.”
2 Then the officer, the one the king leaned on for support, spoke to the man of God: “Come on! Even if the Lord should make windows in the sky, how could that happen?”
Elisha said, “You will see it with your own eyes, but you won’t eat from it.”
The siege is broken
3 Now there were four men with skin disease[e] at the entrance to the city. They said to each other, “What are we doing sitting here until we die? 4 If we decide, ‘Let’s go into the city,’ the famine is there, and we’ll die in the city. But if we stay here, we’ll die just the same. So let’s go and surrender to the Aramean camp. If they let us live, we’ll live. If they kill us, we’ll die.” 5 So they set out in the evening to the Aramean camp, and they came to the edge of the camp. But there was no one there because 6 the Lord had made the Aramean camp hear the sound of chariots, horses, and a strong army. They had said to each other, “Listen! Israel’s king has hired the Hittite and Egyptian kings to come against us!” 7 So they had got up and fled in the evening, leaving their tents, horses, and donkeys. They left the camp exactly as it was and ran for their lives.
8 So these men with skin disease came to the edge of the camp. They entered a tent where they ate and drank. They carried off some silver, gold, and garments, and they hid them. Then they returned and went into another tent. They took more things from there, went away, and hid them. 9 But then they said to each other, “What we’re doing isn’t right. Today is a day of good news, but we’re keeping quiet about it. If we wait until dawn, something bad will happen to us. Come on! Let’s go and tell the palace.” 10 So they went and called out to the gatekeepers, telling them, “We went to the Aramean camp, and listen to this: No one was there, not even the sound of anyone! The only things there were tied-up horses and donkeys, and the tents left just as they were.” 11 The gatekeepers shouted out the news, and it was reported within the palace.
12 The king got up in the night. He said to his servants, “Let me tell you what the Arameans are doing to us. They know we are starving, so they’ve left the camp to hide in the fields. They are thinking, The Israelites will come out from the city, and then we’ll capture them alive and invade the city.”
13 But one of his servants answered, “Please let some men take five of the horses that are left, and let’s send them out to see what happens. They are in the same situation as the large number of Israelites who are left here; they are no better off than the large number of Israelites who’ve already perished.”[f] 14 So they chose two chariots with their horses.
The king sent them after the Aramean army, saying, “Go and see!” 15 So they went after the Arameans as far as the Jordan River. The road was filled the whole way with garments and equipment that the Arameans had thrown away in their rush. The messengers returned and reported this to the king.
16 Then the people went out and looted the Aramean camp. And so it happened that a seah of wheat flour did sell for a shekel, and two seahs of barley sold for a shekel, in agreement with the Lord’s word. 17 But the king had put the officer whom he leaned on for support in charge of the city gate. The people trampled the officer at the gate, and he died. This was just what the man of God said when the king had come down to him. 18 Because when the man of God said to the king, “At this time tomorrow two seahs of barley will sell for a shekel at Samaria’s gate, and one seah of wheat flour will sell for a shekel,” 19 the officer had answered the man of God, “Come on! Even if the Lord should make windows in the sky, how could that happen?” Then Elisha had said, “You will see it with your own eyes, but you won’t eat from it.” 20 That’s exactly what happened to him. The people trampled him at the city gate, and he died.
The woman from Shunem
8 Elisha spoke to the woman whose son he had brought back to life: “You and your household must go away and live wherever you can, because the Lord has called for a famine. It is coming to the land and will last seven years.”
2 So the woman went and did what the man of God asked. She and her household moved away, living in Philistia seven years. 3 When seven years had passed, the woman returned from Philistia. She went to appeal to the king for her house and her farmland. 4 The king was speaking to Gehazi, the man of God’s servant, asking him, “Tell me about all the great things Elisha has done.” 5 So Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha had brought the dead to life. At that very moment, the woman whose son he had brought back to life began to appeal to the king for her house and her farmland.
Gehazi said, “Your Majesty, this is the woman herself! And this is her son, the one Elisha brought to life!”
6 The king questioned the woman, and she told him her story. Then the king appointed an official to help her, saying, “Return everything that belongs to her, as well as everything that the farmland has produced, starting from the day she left the country until right now.”
Hazael becomes king
7 Now Elisha had gone to Damascus when Aram’s King Ben-hadad became sick. The king was told, “The man of God has come all this way.”
8 So the king said to Hazael, “Take a gift with you and go to meet the man of God. Question the Lord through him: ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’”
9 So Hazael went out to meet Elisha. He took along forty camel-loads of Damascus’ finest goods as a gift. He came and stood before Elisha and said, “Your son Ben-hadad, the king of Aram, sent me to you to ask, ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’”
10 Elisha said to him, “Go and tell him, ‘You will definitely recover,’ but actually the Lord has shown me that he will die.” 11 Elisha stared straight at Hazael until he felt uneasy.[g] Then the man of God began to cry.
12 Hazael said, “Master, why are you crying?”
“Because I know what violence you will do to the Israelites,” Elisha said. “You will drive them from their forts with fire. You will kill their young men with the sword. You will smash their children and rip open their pregnant women.”
13 Hazael replied, “How could your servant, who is nothing but a dog, do such mighty things?”
Elisha said, “The Lord has shown me that you will be king over Aram.” 14 Then Hazael left Elisha and returned to his master.
“What did Elisha say to you?” Ben-hadad asked.
“He told me that you will certainly live,” Hazael replied. 15 But the next day he took a blanket, soaked it in water, and put it over Ben-hadad’s face until he died. Hazael succeeded him as king.
Jehoram rules Judah
16 In the fifth year of Israel’s King Joram, Ahab’s son, Jehoram, the son of Judah’s King Jehoshaphat, became king.[h] 17 He was 32 years old when he became king, and he ruled for eight years in Jerusalem. 18 He walked in the ways of Israel’s kings, just as Ahab’s dynasty had done, because he married Ahab’s daughter. He did what was evil in the Lord’s eyes. 19 Nevertheless, because of his servant David, the Lord wasn’t willing to destroy Judah. The Lord had promised to preserve a lamp for David and his sons forever. 20 During Jehoram’s rule Edom rebelled against Judah’s power and appointed their own king. 21 Jehoram[i] along with all his chariots crossed over to Zair. He got up at night to attack the Edomites who had surrounded him and his chariot commanders,[j] but his army fled back home. 22 So Edom has been independent of Judah to this day. Libnah rebelled at the same time. 23 The rest of Jehoram’s deeds and all that he accomplished, aren’t they written in the official records of Judah’s kings? 24 Jehoram died and was buried with his ancestors in David’s City. His son Ahaziah succeeded him as king.
Ahaziah rules Judah
25 Ahaziah, the son of Judah’s king Jehoram, became king in the twelfth year of Israel’s King Joram,[k] Ahab’s son. 26 Ahaziah was 22 years old when he became king, and he ruled for one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah; she was the granddaughter of Israel’s King Omri. 27 He walked in the ways of Ahab’s dynasty, doing what was evil in the Lord’s eyes, just as Ahab’s dynasty had done, because he had married into Ahab’s family. 28 Ahaziah went with Joram, Ahab’s son, to fight against Aram’s King Hazael at Ramoth-gilead, where the Arameans wounded Joram. 29 King Joram returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds the Arameans had given him at Ramah in his battle with Aram’s King Hazael. Then Judah’s King Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram, went down to visit Joram, Ahab’s son, at Jezreel because he had been wounded.
Jehu rules Israel
9 The prophet Elisha called to a member of the group of prophets, “Get ready, take this jug of oil with you, and go to Ramoth-gilead. 2 When you arrive there, look for Jehu, Jehoshaphat’s son and Nimshi’s grandson. Go to him, then pull him away from his associates, taking him to a private room. 3 Take the jug of oil and pour it on his head. Then say, ‘This is what the Lord has said: I anoint you king of Israel.’ Then open the door, and run out of there without stopping.”
4 So the young prophet went to Ramoth-gilead. 5 He came in, and the military commanders were sitting right there. He said, “Commander, I have a word for you.”
“For which one of us?” Jehu asked.
The young prophet said, “For you, Commander.”
6 So Jehu got up and went inside. The prophet then poured oil on his head and said to him, “This is what the Lord, Israel’s God, says: I anoint you king over the Lord’s people, over Israel. 7 You will strike down your master Ahab’s family. In this way I will take revenge for the violence done by Jezebel to my servants the prophets and to all the Lord’s servants. 8 Ahab’s whole family will die. I will eliminate from Ahab everyone who urinates on a wall, whether slave or free, in Israel. 9 I will make Ahab’s dynasty like the dynasty of Jeroboam, Nebat’s son, and like the dynasty of Baasha, Ahijah’s son. 10 And as for Jezebel: The dogs will devour her in the area of Jezreel. No one will bury her.” Then the young prophet opened the door and ran.
11 Jehu went out to his master’s officers. They said to him, “Is everything okay? Why did this fanatic come to you?”
Jehu said to them, “You know the man and the nonsense he talks.”
12 “That’s a lie!” they said. “Come on, tell us!”
Jehu replied, “This is what he said to me: ‘This is what the Lord says: I anoint you king of Israel.’”
13 Then each man quickly took his cloak and put it beneath Jehu on the paved steps.[l] They blew a trumpet and said, “Jehu has become king!”
Jehu kills his enemies
14 Then Jehu, Jehoshaphat’s son and Nimshi’s grandson, plotted against Joram. Now Joram along with all of Israel had been guarding Ramoth-gilead against Aram’s King Hazael, 15 but King Joram[m] had gone back to Jezreel to recover from wounds that the Arameans had given him when he fought Hazael. So Jehu said, “If this is the way you feel, then don’t let anyone escape from the city to talk about it in Jezreel.” 16 Then Jehu got on a chariot and drove to Jezreel because Joram was resting there. Judah’s King Ahaziah had also come to visit Joram.
17 The guard standing on the tower at Jezreel saw a crowd of people coming with Jehu. He said, “I see a crowd of people.”
Joram said, “Take a chariot driver. Send him out to meet them to ask, ‘Do you come in peace?’”
18 So the driver went to meet him and said, “The king asks, ‘Do you come in peace?’”
Jehu replied, “What do you care about peace? Come around and follow me.”
Meanwhile, the tower guard reported, “The messenger met them, but he isn’t returning.”
19 The king sent a second driver. He came to them and said, “The king asks, ‘Do you come in peace?’”
Jehu said, “What do you care about peace? Come around and follow me.”
20 The tower guard reported, “The messenger met them, but he isn’t returning. And the style of chariot driving is like Jehu, Nimshi’s son. Jehu drives like a madman.”
21 Joram said, “Hitch up the chariot!” So they hitched up his chariot. Then Israel’s King Joram and Judah’s King Ahaziah—each in his own chariot—went out to meet Jehu. They happened to meet him at the plot of ground that belonged to Naboth the Jezreelite.
22 When Joram saw Jehu, he said, “Do you come in peace, Jehu?”
He said, “How can there be peace as long as the immoralities of your mother Jezebel and her many acts of sorcery continue?”
23 Then Joram turned his chariot around and fled. He shouted to Ahaziah, “It’s a trap, Ahaziah!”
24 Jehu took his bow and shot Joram in the back. The arrow went through his heart, and he fell down in his chariot. 25 Jehu said to Bidkar his chariot officer, “Pick him up, and throw him on the plot of ground belonging to Naboth the Jezreelite. Remember how you and I were driving chariot teams behind his father Ahab when the Lord spoke this prophecy about him: 26 Yesterday I saw Naboth’s blood and his sons’ blood, declares the Lord. I swear that I will pay you back on this very plot of ground, declares the Lord. Now pick him up, and throw him on that plot of ground, in agreement with the Lord’s word.”
27 Judah’s King Ahaziah saw this and fled on the road to Beth-haggan. Jehu chased after him. “Do the same to him!” he commanded. They shot him[n] in his chariot on the way up to Gur, near Ibleam. Ahaziah fled to Megiddo and died there. 28 His servants carried him back in a chariot to Jerusalem. He was buried in his tomb with his ancestors in David’s City. 29 Ahaziah had become Judah’s king in the eleventh year of Ahab’s son Joram.
30 Jehu then went to Jezreel. When Jezebel heard of it, she put on her eye shadow and arranged her hair. She looked down out of the window. 31 When Jehu came through the gate, she said, “Do you come in peace, Zimri, you master murderer?”
32 Jehu looked up to the window and said, “Who’s on my side? Anyone?” Two or three high officials looked down at him. 33 Then he said, “Throw her out!” So they threw her out of the window. Some of her blood splattered against the wall and on the horses, and they trampled her. 34 Jehu then went in to eat and drink. He said, “Deal with this cursed woman and bury her. She was, after all, a king’s daughter.” 35 They went to bury her, but they couldn’t find her body. Only her skull was left, along with her hands and feet. 36 They went back and reported this to Jehu. He said, “This is the Lord’s word spoken through his servant Elijah from Tishbe: Dogs will devour Jezebel’s flesh in the area of Jezreel. 37 Jezebel’s corpse will be like dung spread out in a field in that plot of land in Jezreel, so no one will be able to say, This was Jezebel.”
Jehu kills Ahab’s family
10 Now Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. So Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria, to the senior officers of the city,[o] the elders, and the guardians of Ahab’s sons.[p] 2 The letters said: “Your master’s sons are in your possession, along with horses and chariots, a fortified city, and weapons. Now when this letter reaches you, 3 look for the best and most capable of your master’s sons. Place him on his father’s throne. Then fight for your master’s family.”
4 But they were frozen with fear. They said, “Not even two kings could resist him! How can we?” 5 So the palace administrator, the mayor, the elders, and the guardians sent a letter back to Jehu that read, “We are your servants. We will do whatever you tell us. We won’t make anyone king. Do whatever seems right to you.”
6 Jehu wrote them a second letter: “If you are loyal to me and ready to obey me, take the heads of your master’s sons and bring them to me at Jezreel at this time tomorrow.”
Now the king’s seventy sons were with the city leaders who were raising them. 7 So when the letter came to them, they took the king’s sons and slaughtered all seventy of them. They placed their heads in baskets and sent them to Jehu at Jezreel.
8 A messenger came and told Jehu, “They have brought the heads of the king’s sons.”
He responded, “Pile them in two stacks at the entrance of the gate where they will stay until morning.” 9 In the morning he went out and stood there to address all the people. “You are innocent. I’m the one who plotted against my master and killed him, but who killed all these people? 10 Know this: Nothing that the Lord has said against Ahab’s dynasty will fail to come true. The Lord has done what he said he would do, speaking through his servant Elijah.” 11 Then Jehu struck down all those belonging to Ahab’s family who were left in Jezreel, so that not one of his leaders, close acquaintances, or priests remained.
12 Next Jehu set out for Samaria. Beth-eked of the Shepherds was on his way. 13 There Jehu met up with the brothers of Judah’s King Ahaziah. “Who are you?” he asked.
“We’re Ahaziah’s relatives,” they replied. “We’ve come down for a visit with the king’s sons and the queen mother’s sons.”
14 Jehu then commanded, “Take them alive!” His soldiers took them alive, then slaughtered them at the well of Beth-eked. There were forty-two of them, but not one was left.
Jehu kills Baal worshippers
15 Jehu departed from there and encountered Rechab’s son Jehonadab. Jehu greeted him, and asked, “Are you as committed to me as I am to you?”
Jehonadab responded, “Yes, I am.”
“If so,” said Jehu, “then give me your hand.” So Jehonadab put out his hand, and Jehu pulled him up into the chariot.
16 Jehu said, “Come with me and see my zeal for the Lord.” So Jehu had Jehonadab ride with him in his chariot. 17 When Jehu arrived in Samaria, he killed all those belonging to Ahab who were left in Samaria until they were completely wiped out, in agreement with the Lord’s word that was spoken to Elijah.
18 Then Jehu gathered all the people, saying to them, “Ahab served Baal a little. Jehu will serve him a great deal! 19 So invite all of Baal’s prophets, all his worshippers, and all his priests to come to me. Don’t leave anyone out, because I have a great sacrifice planned for Baal. Anyone who doesn’t show up won’t survive.” But Jehu was lying so that he could wipe out Baal’s worshippers. 20 Jehu called for a holy assembly for Baal, and it was done. 21 Jehu then sent word throughout Israel. All Baal’s worshippers came. No one stayed away. They entered Baal’s temple until it was packed from one end to the other. 22 Then Jehu said to the person in charge of the vestments, “Bring out the special clothes for all Baal’s worshippers.” So he brought out robes for them. 23 Then Jehu and Jehonadab, Rechab’s son, entered Baal’s temple. They said to Baal’s worshippers, “Make sure there are no worshippers of the Lord here with you. There should be only Baal worshippers.” 24 Then they went in to offer sacrifices and entirely burned offerings. But Jehu had stationed eighty soldiers outside and told them, “I’m handing these people over to you. Whoever lets even one of them escape will pay for it with his life.” 25 So when Jehu finished offering the entirely burned offering, he said to the guards and the officers, “Go in and kill everyone! Don’t let anyone escape!” They killed the Baal worshippers without mercy. The guards and the officers then disposed of the bodies and entered the inner part of Baal’s temple. 26 They brought the sacred pillar[q] out of Baal’s temple and burned it. 27 They tore down Baal’s sacred pillar and destroyed Baal’s temple, turning it into a public restroom, which is what it still is today.
28 This is how Jehu eliminated Baal from Israel. 29 However, Jehu didn’t deviate from the sins that Jeroboam, Nebat’s son, had caused Israel to commit—specifically, the gold calves that were in Bethel and Dan.
Jehu rules Israel
30 The Lord said to Jehu: Because you’ve done well by doing what is right in my eyes, treating Ahab’s family as I wished, your descendants will sit on Israel’s throne for four generations. 31 But Jehu wasn’t careful to keep the Lord God of Israel’s Instruction with all his heart. He didn’t deviate from the sins that Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit.
32 In those days the Lord began to reduce Israel’s size. Hazael struck them down in every region of Israel: 33 from the Jordan River eastward, throughout the land of Gilead (Gad, Reuben, and Manasseh), and from Aroer by the Arnon Valley (that is, Gilead) and Bashan.
34 The rest of Jehu’s deeds, all that he accomplished, and all his powerful acts, aren’t they written in the official records of Israel’s kings? 35 Jehu lay down with his ancestors. He was buried in Samaria. His son Jehoahaz succeeded him as king. 36 Jehu had ruled over Israel for twenty-eight years in Samaria.
Footnotes
- 2 Kings 6:22 Heb uncertain
- 2 Kings 6:25 Or wild onions or carob pods
- 2 Kings 6:33 Or perhaps the king; cf 7:2
- 2 Kings 7:1 One seah is approximately seven and a half quarts.
- 2 Kings 7:3 Traditionally leprosy, a term used for several different skin diseases
- 2 Kings 7:13 Heb uncertain
- 2 Kings 8:11 Heb uncertain
- 2 Kings 8:16 LXX, Syr; MT includes Jehoshaphat had been Judah’s king.
- 2 Kings 8:21 Heb Joram (also in 8:23-24); the king’s name is usually spelled in its long form Jehoram (cf 2 Chron 21:9).
- 2 Kings 8:21 Heb uncertain
- 2 Kings 8:25 Heb Jehoram (also in 8:29); the king’s name is variously spelled in either long Jehoram or short Joram form.
- 2 Kings 9:13 Heb uncertain
- 2 Kings 9:15 Heb Jehoram (also in 9:17, 21-24); the king’s name is variously spelled in either long Jehoram or short Joram form.
- 2 Kings 9:27 LXX, Vulg; MT lacks They shot him.
- 2 Kings 10:1 Vulg, LXX; MT Jezreel
- 2 Kings 10:1 LXX; MT lacks sons.
- 2 Kings 10:26 LXX, Syr, Vulg; MT pillars
2 Kings 6-10
New International Version
2 Kings 6-10
New International Version
An Axhead Floats
6 The company(A) 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(B) 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(C) 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(D) 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(E),” 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.”(F) 14 Then he sent(G) 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,”(H) the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more(I) 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(J) of fire all around Elisha.
18 As the enemy came down toward him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, “Strike this army with blindness.”(K) 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?(L) Shall I kill them?”
22 “Do not kill them,” he answered. “Would you kill those you have captured(M) 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(N) from Aram stopped raiding Israel’s territory.
Famine in Besieged Samaria
24 Some time later, Ben-Hadad(O) king of Aram mobilized his entire army and marched up and laid siege(P) to Samaria. 25 There was a great famine(Q) in the city; the siege lasted so long that a donkey’s head sold for eighty shekels[a] of silver, and a quarter of a cab[b] of seed pods[c](R) for five shekels.[d]
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(S) 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(T) his robes. As he went along the wall, the people looked, and they saw that, under his robes, he had sackcloth(U) 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(V) 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(W) is sending someone to cut off my head?(X) 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(Y) 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[e] of the finest flour will sell for a shekel[f] and two seahs[g] of barley for a shekel(Z) at the gate of Samaria.”
2 The officer on whose arm the king was leaning(AA) said to the man of God, “Look, even if the Lord should open the floodgates(AB) of the heavens, could this happen?”
“You will see it with your own eyes,” answered Elisha, “but you will not eat(AC) any of it!”
The Siege Lifted
3 Now there were four men with leprosy[h](AD) 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(AE) of chariots and horses and a great army, so that they said to one another, “Look, the king of Israel has hired(AF) the Hittite(AG) and Egyptian kings to attack us!” 7 So they got up and fled(AH) 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(AI) 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(AJ) 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.(AK) So the messengers returned and reported to the king. 16 Then the people went out and plundered(AL) 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,(AM) 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,(AN) 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(AO) 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(AP) 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(AQ) in the land that will last seven years.”(AR) 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(AS) 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,(AT) and Ben-Hadad(AU) 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,(AV) “Take a gift(AW) with you and go to meet the man of God. Consult(AX) 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.’(AY) Nevertheless,[i] 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.(AZ) Then the man of God began to weep.(BA)
12 “Why is my lord weeping?” asked Hazael.
“Because I know the harm(BB) you will do to the Israelites,” he answered. “You will set fire to their fortified places, kill their young men with the sword, dash(BC) their little children(BD) to the ground, and rip open(BE) their pregnant women.”
13 Hazael said, “How could your servant, a mere dog,(BF) accomplish such a feat?”
“The Lord has shown me that you will become king(BG) 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.(BH) Then Hazael succeeded him as king.
Jehoram King of Judah(BI)
16 In the fifth year of Joram(BJ) son of Ahab king of Israel, when Jehoshaphat was king of Judah, Jehoram(BK) 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(BL) 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(BM) Judah. He had promised to maintain a lamp(BN) for David and his descendants forever.
20 In the time of Jehoram, Edom rebelled against Judah and set up its own king.(BO) 21 So Jehoram[j] 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(BP) against Judah. Libnah(BQ) 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(BR)
25 In the twelfth(BS) 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,(BT) a granddaughter of Omri(BU) king of Israel. 27 He followed the ways of the house of Ahab(BV) and did evil(BW) 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.(BX) The Arameans wounded Joram; 29 so King Joram returned to Jezreel(BY) to recover from the wounds the Arameans had inflicted on him at Ramoth[k] in his battle with Hazael(BZ) king of Aram.
Then Ahaziah(CA) son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to Jezreel to see Joram son of Ahab, because he had been wounded.
Jehu Anointed King of Israel
9 The prophet Elisha summoned a man from the company(CB) of the prophets and said to him, “Tuck your cloak into your belt,(CC) take this flask of olive oil(CD) with you and go to Ramoth Gilead.(CE) 2 When you get there, look for Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi. Go to him, get him away from his companions and take him into an inner room. 3 Then take the flask and pour the oil(CF) on his head and declare, ‘This is what the Lord says: I anoint you king over Israel.’ Then open the door and run; don’t delay!”
4 So the young prophet went to Ramoth Gilead. 5 When he arrived, he found the army officers sitting together. “I have a message for you, commander,” he said.
“For which of us?” asked Jehu.
“For you, commander,” he replied.
6 Jehu got up and went into the house. Then the prophet poured the oil(CG) on Jehu’s head and declared, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anoint you king over the Lord’s people Israel. 7 You are to destroy the house of Ahab your master, and I will avenge(CH) the blood of my servants(CI) the prophets and the blood of all the Lord’s servants shed by Jezebel.(CJ) 8 The whole house(CK) of Ahab will perish. I will cut off from Ahab every last male(CL) in Israel—slave or free.[l] 9 I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam(CM) son of Nebat and like the house of Baasha(CN) son of Ahijah. 10 As for Jezebel, dogs(CO) will devour her on the plot of ground at Jezreel, and no one will bury her.’” Then he opened the door and ran.
11 When Jehu went out to his fellow officers, one of them asked him, “Is everything all right? Why did this maniac(CP) come to you?”
“You know the man and the sort of things he says,” Jehu replied.
12 “That’s not true!” they said. “Tell us.”
Jehu said, “Here is what he told me: ‘This is what the Lord says: I anoint you king over Israel.’”
13 They quickly took their cloaks and spread(CQ) them under him on the bare steps. Then they blew the trumpet(CR) and shouted, “Jehu is king!”
Jehu Kills Joram and Ahaziah(CS)
14 So Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi, conspired against Joram. (Now Joram and all Israel had been defending Ramoth Gilead(CT) against Hazael king of Aram, 15 but King Joram[m] had returned to Jezreel to recover(CU) from the wounds the Arameans had inflicted on him in the battle with Hazael king of Aram.) Jehu said, “If you desire to make me king, don’t let anyone slip out of the city to go and tell the news in Jezreel.” 16 Then he got into his chariot and rode to Jezreel, because Joram was resting there and Ahaziah(CV) king of Judah had gone down to see him.
17 When the lookout(CW) standing on the tower in Jezreel saw Jehu’s troops approaching, he called out, “I see some troops coming.”
“Get a horseman,” Joram ordered. “Send him to meet them and ask, ‘Do you come in peace?(CX)’”
18 The horseman rode off to meet Jehu and said, “This is what the king says: ‘Do you come in peace?’”
“What do you have to do with peace?” Jehu replied. “Fall in behind me.”
The lookout reported, “The messenger has reached them, but he isn’t coming back.”
19 So the king sent out a second horseman. When he came to them he said, “This is what the king says: ‘Do you come in peace?’”
Jehu replied, “What do you have to do with peace? Fall in behind me.”
20 The lookout reported, “He has reached them, but he isn’t coming back either. The driving is like(CY) that of Jehu son of Nimshi—he drives like a maniac.”
21 “Hitch up my chariot,” Joram ordered. And when it was hitched up, Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah rode out, each in his own chariot, to meet Jehu. They met him at the plot of ground that had belonged to Naboth(CZ) the Jezreelite. 22 When Joram saw Jehu he asked, “Have you come in peace, Jehu?”
“How can there be peace,” Jehu replied, “as long as all the idolatry and witchcraft of your mother Jezebel(DA) abound?”
23 Joram turned about and fled, calling out to Ahaziah, “Treachery,(DB) Ahaziah!”
24 Then Jehu drew his bow(DC) and shot Joram between the shoulders. The arrow pierced his heart and he slumped down in his chariot. 25 Jehu said to Bidkar, his chariot officer, “Pick him up and throw him on the field that belonged to Naboth the Jezreelite. Remember how you and I were riding together in chariots behind Ahab his father when the Lord spoke this prophecy(DD) against him: 26 ‘Yesterday I saw the blood of Naboth(DE) and the blood of his sons, declares the Lord, and I will surely make you pay for it on this plot of ground, declares the Lord.’[n] Now then, pick him up and throw him on that plot, in accordance with the word of the Lord.”(DF)
27 When Ahaziah king of Judah saw what had happened, he fled up the road to Beth Haggan.[o] Jehu chased him, shouting, “Kill him too!” They wounded him in his chariot on the way up to Gur near Ibleam,(DG) but he escaped to Megiddo(DH) and died there. 28 His servants took him by chariot(DI) to Jerusalem and buried him with his ancestors in his tomb in the City of David. 29 (In the eleventh(DJ) year of Joram son of Ahab, Ahaziah had become king of Judah.)
Jezebel Killed
30 Then Jehu went to Jezreel. When Jezebel heard about it, she put on eye makeup,(DK) arranged her hair and looked out of a window. 31 As Jehu entered the gate, she asked, “Have you come in peace, you Zimri,(DL) you murderer of your master?”[p]
32 He looked up at the window and called out, “Who is on my side? Who?” Two or three eunuchs looked down at him. 33 “Throw her down!” Jehu said. So they threw her down, and some of her blood spattered the wall and the horses as they trampled her underfoot.(DM)
34 Jehu went in and ate and drank. “Take care of that cursed woman,” he said, “and bury her, for she was a king’s daughter.”(DN) 35 But when they went out to bury her, they found nothing except her skull, her feet and her hands. 36 They went back and told Jehu, who said, “This is the word of the Lord that he spoke through his servant Elijah the Tishbite: On the plot of ground at Jezreel dogs(DO) will devour Jezebel’s flesh.[q](DP) 37 Jezebel’s body will be like dung(DQ) on the ground in the plot at Jezreel, so that no one will be able to say, ‘This is Jezebel.’”
Ahab’s Family Killed
10 Now there were in Samaria(DR) seventy sons(DS) of the house of Ahab. So Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria: to the officials of Jezreel,[r](DT) to the elders and to the guardians(DU) of Ahab’s children. He said, 2 “You have your master’s sons with you and you have chariots and horses, a fortified city and weapons. Now as soon as this letter reaches you, 3 choose the best and most worthy of your master’s sons and set him on his father’s throne. Then fight for your master’s house.”
4 But they were terrified and said, “If two kings could not resist him, how can we?”
5 So the palace administrator, the city governor, the elders and the guardians sent this message to Jehu: “We are your servants(DV) and we will do anything you say. We will not appoint anyone as king; you do whatever you think best.”
6 Then Jehu wrote them a second letter, saying, “If you are on my side and will obey me, take the heads of your master’s sons and come to me in Jezreel by this time tomorrow.”
Now the royal princes, seventy of them, were with the leading men of the city, who were rearing them. 7 When the letter arrived, these men took the princes and slaughtered all seventy(DW) of them. They put their heads(DX) in baskets and sent them to Jehu in Jezreel. 8 When the messenger arrived, he told Jehu, “They have brought the heads of the princes.”
Then Jehu ordered, “Put them in two piles at the entrance of the city gate until morning.”
9 The next morning Jehu went out. He stood before all the people and said, “You are innocent. It was I who conspired against my master and killed him, but who killed all these? 10 Know, then, that not a word the Lord has spoken against the house of Ahab will fail. The Lord has done what he announced(DY) through his servant Elijah.”(DZ) 11 So Jehu(EA) killed everyone in Jezreel who remained of the house of Ahab, as well as all his chief men, his close friends and his priests, leaving him no survivor.(EB)
12 Jehu then set out and went toward Samaria. At Beth Eked of the Shepherds, 13 he met some relatives of Ahaziah king of Judah and asked, “Who are you?”
They said, “We are relatives of Ahaziah,(EC) and we have come down to greet the families of the king and of the queen mother.(ED)”
14 “Take them alive!” he ordered. So they took them alive and slaughtered them by the well of Beth Eked—forty-two of them. He left no survivor.(EE)
15 After he left there, he came upon Jehonadab(EF) son of Rekab,(EG) who was on his way to meet him. Jehu greeted him and said, “Are you in accord with me, as I am with you?”
“I am,” Jehonadab answered.
“If so,” said Jehu, “give me your hand.”(EH) So he did, and Jehu helped him up into the chariot. 16 Jehu said, “Come with me and see my zeal(EI) for the Lord.” Then he had him ride along in his chariot.
17 When Jehu came to Samaria, he killed all who were left there of Ahab’s family;(EJ) he destroyed them, according to the word of the Lord spoken to Elijah.
Servants of Baal Killed
18 Then Jehu brought all the people together and said to them, “Ahab served(EK) Baal a little; Jehu will serve him much. 19 Now summon(EL) all the prophets of Baal, all his servants and all his priests. See that no one is missing, because I am going to hold a great sacrifice for Baal. Anyone who fails to come will no longer live.” But Jehu was acting deceptively in order to destroy the servants of Baal.
20 Jehu said, “Call an assembly(EM) in honor of Baal.” So they proclaimed it. 21 Then he sent word throughout Israel, and all the servants of Baal came; not one stayed away. They crowded into the temple of Baal until it was full from one end to the other. 22 And Jehu said to the keeper of the wardrobe, “Bring robes for all the servants of Baal.” So he brought out robes for them.
23 Then Jehu and Jehonadab son of Rekab went into the temple of Baal. Jehu said to the servants of Baal, “Look around and see that no one who serves the Lord is here with you—only servants of Baal.” 24 So they went in to make sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had posted eighty men outside with this warning: “If one of you lets any of the men I am placing in your hands escape, it will be your life for his life.”(EN)
25 As soon as Jehu had finished making the burnt offering, he ordered the guards and officers: “Go in and kill(EO) them; let no one escape.”(EP) So they cut them down with the sword. The guards and officers threw the bodies out and then entered the inner shrine of the temple of Baal. 26 They brought the sacred stone(EQ) out of the temple of Baal and burned it. 27 They demolished the sacred stone of Baal and tore down the temple(ER) of Baal, and people have used it for a latrine to this day.
28 So Jehu(ES) destroyed Baal worship in Israel. 29 However, he did not turn away from the sins(ET) of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit—the worship of the golden calves(EU) at Bethel(EV) and Dan.
30 The Lord said to Jehu, “Because you have done well in accomplishing what is right in my eyes and have done to the house of Ahab all I had in mind to do, your descendants will sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation.”(EW) 31 Yet Jehu was not careful(EX) to keep the law of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not turn away from the sins(EY) of Jeroboam, which he had caused Israel to commit.
32 In those days the Lord began to reduce(EZ) the size of Israel. Hazael(FA) overpowered the Israelites throughout their territory 33 east of the Jordan in all the land of Gilead (the region of Gad, Reuben and Manasseh), from Aroer(FB) by the Arnon(FC) Gorge through Gilead to Bashan.
34 As for the other events of Jehu’s reign, all he did, and all his achievements, are they not written in the book of the annals(FD) of the kings of Israel?
35 Jehu rested with his ancestors and was buried in Samaria. And Jehoahaz his son succeeded him as king. 36 The time that Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria was twenty-eight years.
Footnotes
- 2 Kings 6:25 That is, about 2 pounds or about 920 grams
- 2 Kings 6:25 That is, probably about 1/4 pound or about 100 grams
- 2 Kings 6:25 Or of doves’ dung
- 2 Kings 6:25 That is, about 2 ounces or about 58 grams
- 2 Kings 7:1 That is, probably about 12 pounds or about 5.5 kilograms of flour; also in verses 16 and 18
- 2 Kings 7:1 That is, about 2/5 ounce or about 12 grams; also in verses 16 and 18
- 2 Kings 7:1 That is, probably about 20 pounds or about 9 kilograms of barley; also in verses 16 and 18
- 2 Kings 7:3 The Hebrew for leprosy was used for various diseases affecting the skin; also in verse 8.
- 2 Kings 8:10 The Hebrew may also be read Go and say, ‘You will certainly not recover,’ for.
- 2 Kings 8:21 Hebrew Joram, a variant of Jehoram; also in verses 23 and 24
- 2 Kings 8:29 Hebrew Ramah, a variant of Ramoth
- 2 Kings 9:8 Or Israel—every ruler or leader
- 2 Kings 9:15 Hebrew Jehoram, a variant of Joram; also in verses 17 and 21-24
- 2 Kings 9:26 See 1 Kings 21:19.
- 2 Kings 9:27 Or fled by way of the garden house
- 2 Kings 9:31 Or “Was there peace for Zimri, who murdered his master?”
- 2 Kings 9:36 See 1 Kings 21:23.
- 2 Kings 10:1 Hebrew; some Septuagint manuscripts and Vulgate of the city
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