2 Kings 13

In the twenty-third year that Joash son of Ahaziah was king of Judah, Jehoahaz son of Jehu became king of Israel. He ruled in Samaria for seventeen years.

1In the three and twentieth year of Joash the son of Ahaziah king of Judah Jehoahaz the son of Jehu began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned seventeen years.

NoteSince Solomon's death the Israelites had lived in two rival kingdoms: Israel in the north, with its capital at Samaria, and Judah in the south, with its capital at Jerusalem. Each had its own line of kings, and the writer dates the reigns of one kingdom by counting years into the reign of the king next door. Note also that both kingdoms have a king called Joash at this point in the story; they are two different men.

2He did what the LORD said was evil. He kept doing the same sins as Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had led Israel into sin. Jehoahaz never turned away from them.

2And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel to sin; he departed not therefrom.

Note"The sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat" is a set phrase running through these books. Jeroboam was the first king of the breakaway northern kingdom, and he set up golden calf images at Bethel and Dan so his people would not travel south to worship at the temple in Jerusalem. To say a king "did not turn away from" those sins is shorthand for keeping that rival worship going.

3So the LORD became angry with Israel. He handed them over to Hazael king of Syria and to Ben-hadad son of Hazael, and this went on all through those years.

3And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hand of Hazael king of Syria, and into the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael, all their days.

Note"Syria" here translates Aram, a kingdom centered on Damascus, north-east of Israel. It was Israel's nearest and most persistent military rival, not the modern country of the same name.

4Then Jehoahaz begged the LORD for help, and the LORD listened to him. He saw how badly Israel was being crushed by the king of Syria.

4And Jehoahaz besought the LORD, and the LORD hearkened unto him: for he saw the oppression of Israel, because the king of Syria oppressed them.

5(The LORD gave Israel a rescuer, so the people got out from under Syria's power. The people of Israel lived in their own homes again, as they had before.

5(And the LORD gave Israel a saviour, so that they went out from under the hand of the Syrians: and the children of Israel dwelt in their tents, as beforetime.

NoteThe word translated "rescuer" (older versions have "saviour") means a military deliverer, someone who breaks an enemy's grip. The text never says who he was; commentators have guessed at an Assyrian king whose pressure on Syria gave Israel breathing room, or at one of Jehoahaz's successors. The writer leaves it open.

6Even so, they did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam's family, who had led Israel into sin. They kept right on in them. The wooden pole set up for the goddess Asherah also stayed standing in Samaria.)

6Nevertheless they departed not from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, who made Israel sin, but walked therein: and there remained the grove also in Samaria.)

NoteAsherah was a Canaanite mother goddess. The object named here was a wooden pole or stylised tree set upright beside an altar as her symbol. Leaving it standing in the capital marks the reform as incomplete.

7The king of Syria had left Jehoahaz with nothing but fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand foot soldiers. Syria had wiped out the rest and ground them up like dust at threshing time.

7Neither did he leave of the people to Jehoahaz but fifty horsemen, and ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen; for the king of Syria had destroyed them, and had made them like the dust by threshing.

NoteThreshing was done by dragging a weighted sledge over cut grain on a hard floor, crushing the stalks to chaff that the wind carried off. The image is of an army pulverised to nothing. The figures show how total the collapse was: fifty horsemen and ten chariots is a bodyguard, not an army, chariots were the expensive striking arm of an ancient kingdom, and a strong state fielded hundreds.

8The rest of the things Jehoahaz did, including all he accomplished and how strong he was in war, are written in the book of the record of the kings of Israel.

8Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz, and all that he did, and his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

NoteThis is a royal record kept by the northern kingdom's own court, now lost. It is not the biblical books of Chronicles, which cover the southern kingdom and were written much later.

9Jehoahaz died, and they buried him in Samaria. His son Joash became king after him.

9And Jehoahaz slept with his fathers; and they buried him in Samaria: and Joash his son reigned in his stead.

Note"Slept with his fathers" (here, "died and was buried with his ancestors") is the standard formula for a king who died of natural causes rather than by assassination or in battle. Burial "with" the ancestors also has a literal side: families were laid in a shared tomb.

10In the thirty-seventh year that Joash was king of Judah, Jehoash son of Jehoahaz became king of Israel in Samaria. He ruled for sixteen years.

10In the thirty and seventh year of Joash king of Judah began Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned sixteen years.

NoteJehoash and Joash are two forms of the same name, and the writer uses them interchangeably for this one king of Israel, the son of Jehoahaz. Confusingly, the king of Judah he is dated against is also called Joash. They are different men in different kingdoms.

11He did what the LORD said was evil. He did not turn away from any of the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had led Israel into sin. He kept right on in them.

11And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD; he departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin: but he walked therein.

12The rest of the things Joash did, including all he accomplished and how he fought against Amaziah king of Judah, are written in the book of the record of the kings of Israel.

12And the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did, and his might wherewith he fought against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

13Joash died, and Jeroboam took his throne. Joash was buried in Samaria with the other kings of Israel.

13And Joash slept with his fathers; and Jeroboam sat upon his throne: and Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

NoteThis Jeroboam is Jeroboam II, the son of Joash, and a much later figure than the Jeroboam son of Nebat named in verses 2, 6 and 11. Kings were often named after earlier rulers, and the writer expects readers to keep them apart.

14Now Elisha came down with the illness that would kill him. Joash king of Israel went down to see him, wept over him, and said, "My father, my father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!"

14Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died. And Joash the king of Israel came down unto him, and wept over his face, and said, O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof.

NoteThese are the exact words Elisha himself shouted when Elijah was taken from him (2 Kings 2:12). The phrase treats the prophet as a piece of national defense: chariots and horsemen were a kingdom's decisive weapon, and to call one man "the chariots and horsemen of Israel" is to say his loss leaves the country militarily naked.

15Elisha said to him, "Get a bow and some arrows." So the king got a bow and some arrows.

15And Elisha said unto him, Take bow and arrows. And he took unto him bow and arrows.

16Then Elisha said to the king of Israel, "Put your hand on the bow." The king put his hand on it, and Elisha laid his own hands on the king's hands.

16And he said to the king of Israel, Put thine hand upon the bow. And he put his hand upon it: and Elisha put his hands upon the king’s hands.

17Elisha said, "Open the window that faces east." He opened it. Then Elisha said, "Shoot!" He shot. Elisha said, "That is the LORD's arrow of rescue, the arrow that means rescue from Syria. You will strike the Syrians at Aphek until you have finished them off."

17And he said, Open the window eastward. And he opened it. Then Elisha said, Shoot. And he shot. And he said, The arrow of the LORD’s deliverance, and the arrow of deliverance from Syria: for thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, till thou have consumed them.

NoteProphets often delivered a message as a physical act rather than only in words, the act was understood to set the outcome in motion, not merely to picture it. Shooting an arrow out of a window was a recognized gesture of declaring war. The east window faces the land across the Jordan that Israel had lost to Syria. Aphek, east of the Sea of Galilee, was the site of earlier Israelite victories over Syria (1 Kings 20).

18Then Elisha said, "Pick up the arrows." He picked them up. Elisha said to the king of Israel, "Strike the ground with them." The king struck it three times and then stopped.

18And he said, Take the arrows. And he took them. And he said unto the king of Israel, Smite upon the ground. And he smote thrice, and stayed.

NoteThe second act works the same way as the first: the number of blows fixes the number of victories. Elisha does not tell the king this in advance, which is why the king stops early and why the anger in the next verse lands on him.

19The man of God was angry with him and said, "You should have struck five or six times. Then you would have beaten Syria until you had finished it off. As it is, you will beat Syria only three times."

19And the man of God was wroth with him, and said, Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times; then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it: whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice.

Note"Man of God" is a standard title for a prophet throughout these books; it is not a separate role from Elisha's.

20Then Elisha died, and they buried him. Raiding parties from Moab used to come into the country each spring.

20And Elisha died, and they buried him. And the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year.

NoteThe Hebrew says the raids came "at the coming in of the year", the turn into spring. That was campaigning season: the winter rains were over, the roads passable, and the barley harvest standing in the fields ready to be carried off. Moab lay east of the Dead Sea, across the Jordan from Judah.

21Once, while some Israelites were burying a man, they suddenly saw one of those raiding parties coming. So they threw the dead man into Elisha's tomb. When the body was let down and touched Elisha's bones, the man came back to life and stood up on his feet.

21And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha: and when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet.

NoteA tomb of this kind was a chamber cut into rock, entered from the side, where bodies were laid out on shelves; this is why a corpse could be dropped in quickly and why the bones of an earlier burial were lying exposed. The haste matters for another reason too: contact with a dead body made a person ritually unclean for seven days, so this was not a casual thing to do.

22Hazael king of Syria had crushed Israel the whole time Jehoahaz was king.

22But Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz.

23But the LORD was kind to them and felt sorry for them, and he turned toward them because of the promise he had made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He would not destroy them, and he had not yet sent them away from his presence.

23And the LORD was gracious unto them, and had compassion on them, and had respect unto them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, neither cast he them from his presence as yet.

NoteA covenant was a binding, formally sworn agreement. The one referred to is God's promise to Abraham and his descendants of land and offspring. "Cast them from his presence" means driving them out of the land into exile, which is what eventually happens to the northern kingdom, and the phrase "not yet" points ahead to it.

24Then Hazael king of Syria died, and his son Ben-hadad became king after him.

24So Hazael king of Syria died; and Benhadad his son reigned in his stead.

25Jehoash son of Jehoahaz took back from Ben-hadad son of Hazael the towns that Hazael had captured in war from his father Jehoahaz. Joash defeated him three times and won back the towns of Israel.

25And Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz took again out of the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael the cities, which he had taken out of the hand of Jehoahaz his father by war. Three times did Joash beat him, and recovered the cities of Israel.

NoteThree victories, exactly the number the arrows fixed in verses 18 and 19. The reader is meant to see the tally close.