Footnotes

1. 2 Kings 9:1 tn Heb “one of the sons of the prophets.”
2. 2 Kings 9:1 tn Or “flask.”
3. 2 Kings 9:2 tn Heb “and go and set him apart from his brothers and bring him into an inner room in an inner room.”
4. 2 Kings 9:3 tn Heb “anointed.”
5. 2 Kings 9:3 tn Heb “and open the door and run away and do not delay.”
6. 2 Kings 9:4 tc Heb “the young man, the young man, the prophet.” The MT is probably dittographic, the phrase “the young man” being accidentally repeated. The phrases “the young man” and “the prophet” are appositional, with the latter qualifying more specifically the former.
7. 2 Kings 9:5 tn Heb “and he arrived and look, the officers of the army were sitting.”
8. 2 Kings 9:5 tn Heb “[there is] a word for me to you, O officer.”
9. 2 Kings 9:5 tn Heb “To whom from all of us?”
10. 2 Kings 9:6 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jehu) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
11. 2 Kings 9:6 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the prophet) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
12. 2 Kings 9:7 tn Heb “strike down the house of Ahab your master.”
13. 2 Kings 9:7 tn Heb “I will avenge the shed blood of my servants the prophets and the shed blood of all the servants of the Lord from the hand of Jezebel.”
14. 2 Kings 9:8 tc The LXX has the second person, “you.”
15. 2 Kings 9:8 tn Heb “and I will cut off from Ahab those who urinate against a wall, [including both those who are] restrained and let free [or, ‘abandoned’] in Israel.” On the phrase וְעָצוּר וְעָזוּב (v^eʿatsur v^eʿazur, translated here “weak and incapacitated”) see the note at 1 Kgs 14:10.
16. 2 Kings 9:9 tn Heb “house.”
17. 2 Kings 9:10 sn Note how the young prophet greatly expands the message Elisha had given to him. In addition to lengthening the introductory formula (by adding “the God of Israel”) and the official declaration that accompanies the act of anointing (by adding “the Lord’s people”), he goes on to tell how Jehu will become king (by a revolt against Ahab’s dynasty), makes it clear that Jehu will be an instrument of divine vengeance, and predicts the utter annihilation of Ahab’s family and the violent death of Jezebel.
18. 2 Kings 9:11 tn Heb “went out to.”
19. 2 Kings 9:11 tc The MT has the singular, “he said,” but many witnesses correctly read the plural.
20. 2 Kings 9:11 tn Heb “Is there peace?”
21. 2 Kings 9:11 tn Heb “He said, ‘You, you know the man and his thoughts.’” Jehu tries to deflect their question by reminding them that the man is an eccentric individual who says strange things. His reply suggests that the man said nothing of importance. The translation seeks to bring out the tone and intent of Jehu’s reply.
22. 2 Kings 9:12 tn Heb “So he said, ‘Like this and like this he said to me, saying.’” The words “like this and like this” are probably not a direct quote of Jehu’s words to his colleagues. Rather this is the narrator’s way of avoiding repetition and indicating that Jehu repeated, or at least summarized, what the prophet had said to him.
23. 2 Kings 9:13 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Jehu) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
24. 2 Kings 9:13 tn Heb “and they hurried and took, each one his garment, and they placed [them] beneath him on the bone [?] of the steps.” The precise nuance of גֶּרֶם (gerem), “bone,” is unclear. Some suggest the nuance “bare” here; it may be a technical architectural term in this context.
25. 2 Kings 9:13 tn Heb “they blew the trumpet.” This has been translated as a passive to avoid the implication that the same ones who shouted had all blown trumpets.
26. 2 Kings 9:13 tn Or “has become.”