1tn Heb “after these things.” The words “the following episode took place” are added for stylistic reasons. 2sn King Ahab of Samaria. Samaria, as the capital of the northern kingdom, here stands for the nation of Israel.map For location see Map2-B1; Map4-D3; Map5-E2; Map6-A4; Map7-C1. 3tn Heb “if it is good in your eyes.” 4tc The Old Greek translation includes the following words: “And it will be mine as a garden of herbs.” 5tn Heb “Far be it from me, by the Lord, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers to you.” 6tn Heb “on account of the word that Naboth the Jezreelite spoke to him.” 7tn Heb “I will not give to you the inheritance of my fathers.” 8tn Heb “turned away his face.” 9tn Heb “While I was talking…, I said…, he said….” Ahab’s explanation is one lengthy sentence in the Hebrew text, which is divided in the English translation for stylistic reasons. 10tn Heb “You, now, you are exercising kingship over Israel.” 11tn Heb “so your heart [i.e., disposition] might be well.” 12tn Heb “scrolls.” 13tn Heb “in the name of Ahab.” 14tn Heb “scrolls.” 15tn Heb “elders.” 16tn Heb “to the nobles who were in his city, the ones who lived with Naboth.” 17tn Heb “she wrote on the scrolls, saying.” 18tn Heb “his.” 19tn Heb “elders.” 20tn Heb “and the nobles who were living in his city.” 21tn Heb “did as Jezebel sent to them, just as was written in the scrolls which she sent to them.” 22tn Heb “led him.” 23tn Heb “and they stoned him with stones and he died.” 24tn Heb “Naboth was stoned and he died.” So also in v. 15. 25tn Heb “Jezebel”; the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“she”) in the translation for stylistic reasons. 26tc The Old Greek translation includes the following words here: “he tore his garments and put on sackcloth. After these things.” 27tn Heb “the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite.” 28tn Heb “and Ahab said to Elijah.” The narrative is elliptical and streamlined. The words “when Elijah arrived” are supplied in the translation for clarification. 29tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elijah) has been specified in the translation for clarity. 30tn Heb “you have sold yourself.” 31tn Heb “in the eyes of.” 32tn The introductory formula “the Lord says” is omitted in the Hebrew text, but supplied in the translation for clarification. 33sn Disaster. There is a wordplay in the Hebrew text. The word translated “disaster” (רָעָה, ra’ah) is similar to the word translated “evil” (v. 20, הָרַע, hara’). Ahab’s sins would receive an appropriate punishment. 34tn Heb “I will burn after you.” Some take the verb בָּעַר (ba’ar) to mean here “sweep away.” See the discussion of this verb in the notes at 14:10 and 16:3. 35tn 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.” The precise meaning of the idiomatic phrase עָצוּר וְעָזוּב (’atsur v˙’azuv, translated here “weak and incapacitated”) is uncertain. For various options see HALOT 871 s.v. עצר and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 107. The two terms are usually taken as polar opposites (“slaves and freemen” or “minors and adults”), but Cogan and Tadmor, on the basis of contextual considerations (note the usage with אֶפֶס (’efes), “nothing but”) in Deut 32:36 and 2 Kgs 14:26, argue convincingly that the terms are synonyms, meaning “restrained and abandoned,” and refer to incapable or incapacitated individuals. 36tn Heb “house.” 37tn Heb “because of the provocation by which you angered [me], and you caused Israel to sin.” 38tc A few Hebrew mss and some ancient versions agree with 2 Kgs 9:10, 36, which reads, “the plot [of ground] at Jezreel.” The Hebrew words translated “outer wall” (חֵל, khel, defectively written here!) and “plot [of ground]” (חֵלֶק, kheleq) are spelled similarly. 39tn “Dogs will eat the ones who belonging to Ahab who die in the city.” 40tn Heb “who sold himself.” 41tn Heb “in the eyes of.” 42tn Heb “like Ahab…whom his wife Jezebel incited.” 43tn The Hebrew word used here, גִלּוּלִים (gillulim) is always used as a disdainful reference to idols. It is generally thought to have originally referred to “dung pellets” (cf. KBL 183 s.v. גִלּוּלִים). It is only one of several terms used in this way, such as אֱלִילִים (’elilim, “worthless things”) and הֲבָלִים (havalim, “vanities” or “empty winds”). 44tn Heb “He acted very abominably by walking after the disgusting idols, according to all which the Amorites had done.” 45tn Heb “the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite.” 46tn Or “humbles himself.” The expression occurs a second time later in this verse. 47tn Heb “I will not bring the disaster during his days, [but] in the days of his son I will bring the disaster on his house.”
1tn Heb “after these things.” The words “the following episode took place” are added for stylistic reasons.
2sn King Ahab of Samaria. Samaria, as the capital of the northern kingdom, here stands for the nation of Israel.
map For location see Map2-B1; Map4-D3; Map5-E2; Map6-A4; Map7-C1.
3tn Heb “if it is good in your eyes.”
4tc The Old Greek translation includes the following words: “And it will be mine as a garden of herbs.”
5tn Heb “Far be it from me, by the Lord, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers to you.”
6tn Heb “on account of the word that Naboth the Jezreelite spoke to him.”
7tn Heb “I will not give to you the inheritance of my fathers.”
8tn Heb “turned away his face.”
9tn Heb “While I was talking…, I said…, he said….” Ahab’s explanation is one lengthy sentence in the Hebrew text, which is divided in the English translation for stylistic reasons.
10tn Heb “You, now, you are exercising kingship over Israel.”
11tn Heb “so your heart [i.e., disposition] might be well.”
12tn Heb “scrolls.”
13tn Heb “in the name of Ahab.”
14tn Heb “scrolls.”
15tn Heb “elders.”
16tn Heb “to the nobles who were in his city, the ones who lived with Naboth.”
17tn Heb “she wrote on the scrolls, saying.”
18tn Heb “his.”
19tn Heb “elders.”
20tn Heb “and the nobles who were living in his city.”
21tn Heb “did as Jezebel sent to them, just as was written in the scrolls which she sent to them.”
22tn Heb “led him.”
23tn Heb “and they stoned him with stones and he died.”
24tn Heb “Naboth was stoned and he died.” So also in v. 15.
25tn Heb “Jezebel”; the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“she”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
26tc The Old Greek translation includes the following words here: “he tore his garments and put on sackcloth. After these things.”
27tn Heb “the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite.”
28tn Heb “and Ahab said to Elijah.” The narrative is elliptical and streamlined. The words “when Elijah arrived” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
29tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elijah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
30tn Heb “you have sold yourself.”
31tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
32tn The introductory formula “the Lord says” is omitted in the Hebrew text, but supplied in the translation for clarification.
33sn Disaster. There is a wordplay in the Hebrew text. The word translated “disaster” (רָעָה, ra’ah) is similar to the word translated “evil” (v. 20, הָרַע, hara’). Ahab’s sins would receive an appropriate punishment.
34tn Heb “I will burn after you.” Some take the verb בָּעַר (ba’ar) to mean here “sweep away.” See the discussion of this verb in the notes at 14:10 and 16:3.
35tn 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.” The precise meaning of the idiomatic phrase עָצוּר וְעָזוּב (’atsur v˙’azuv, translated here “weak and incapacitated”) is uncertain. For various options see HALOT 871 s.v. עצר and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 107. The two terms are usually taken as polar opposites (“slaves and freemen” or “minors and adults”), but Cogan and Tadmor, on the basis of contextual considerations (note the usage with אֶפֶס (’efes), “nothing but”) in Deut 32:36 and 2 Kgs 14:26, argue convincingly that the terms are synonyms, meaning “restrained and abandoned,” and refer to incapable or incapacitated individuals.
36tn Heb “house.”
37tn Heb “because of the provocation by which you angered [me], and you caused Israel to sin.”
38tc A few Hebrew mss and some ancient versions agree with 2 Kgs 9:10, 36, which reads, “the plot [of ground] at Jezreel.” The Hebrew words translated “outer wall” (חֵל, khel, defectively written here!) and “plot [of ground]” (חֵלֶק, kheleq) are spelled similarly.
39tn “Dogs will eat the ones who belonging to Ahab who die in the city.”
40tn Heb “who sold himself.”
41tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
42tn Heb “like Ahab…whom his wife Jezebel incited.”
43tn The Hebrew word used here, גִלּוּלִים (gillulim) is always used as a disdainful reference to idols. It is generally thought to have originally referred to “dung pellets” (cf. KBL 183 s.v. גִלּוּלִים). It is only one of several terms used in this way, such as אֱלִילִים (’elilim, “worthless things”) and הֲבָלִים (havalim, “vanities” or “empty winds”).
44tn Heb “He acted very abominably by walking after the disgusting idols, according to all which the Amorites had done.”
45tn Heb “the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite.”
46tn Or “humbles himself.” The expression occurs a second time later in this verse.
47tn Heb “I will not bring the disaster during his days, [but] in the days of his son I will bring the disaster on his house.”