Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
Naaman asks Elisha to cure his leprosy. Although Elisha cures him, he eschews his gifts. Elisha’s servant is struck with leprosy when he asks Naaman for the gifts.

II. Photo
Elisha cures Naaman’s leprosy: “So he went down and immersed himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had bidden; and his flesh became like a baby boy’s, and he was clean.” (v. 14)

III. Important Verses
1-3: Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was important to his lord and high in his favor, for through him the LORD had granted victory to Aram. But the man, though a great warrior, was a leper. Once, when the Arameans were out raiding, they carried off a young girl from the land of Israel, and she became an attendant to Naaman’s wife. She said to her mistress, “I wish Master could come before the prophet in Samaria; he would cure him of his leprosy.”
10-14: Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go and bathe seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean.” But Naaman was angered and walked away. “I thought,” he said, “he would surely come out to me, and would stand and invoke the LORD his God by name, and would wave his hand toward the spot, and cure the affected part. Are not the Amanah and the Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? I could bathe in them and be clean!” And he stalked off in a rage. But his servants came forward and spoke to him. “Sir,” they said, “if the prophet told you to do something difficult, would you not do it? How much more when he has only said to you, ‘Bathe and be clean.’” So he went down and immersed himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had bidden; and his flesh became like a little boy’s, and he was clean.
17-19a: And Naaman said, “Then at least let your servant be given two mule-loads of earth; for your servant will never again offer up burnt offering or sacrifice to any god, except the LORD. But may the LORD pardon your servant for this: When my master enters the temple of Rimmon to bow low in worship there, and he is leaning on my arm so that I must bow low in the temple of Rimmon — when I bow low in the temple of Rimmon, may the LORD pardon your servant in this.” And he said to him, “Go in peace.”
25-27: He entered and stood before his master; and Elisha said to him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?” He replied, “Your servant has not gone anywhere.” Then [Elisha] said to him, “Did not my spirit go along when a man got down from his chariot to meet you? Is this a time to take money in order to buy clothing and olive groves and vineyards, sheep and oxen, and male and female slaves? Surely, the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and to your descendants forever.” And as [Gehazi] left his presence, he was snow-white with leprosy.

IV. Outline
1. Naaman, the Aramean general, suffers from a leprosy
2-3. An Israelite girl tells him about Elisha
4-5a. A plan is made to visit Israel
5b-7. Naaman demands that the king of Israel cure him
8. Elisha summons Naaman
9-10. Elisha tells Naaman to bathe in the Jordan
11-13. Naaman’s servants convince him to listen to Elisha
14. Naaman is cured
15-16. Elisha refuses Naaman’s gifts
17-19. Elisha pardons Naaman’s role in the temple of Rimmon
20-24. Gehazi makes a request from Naaman in Elisha’s name
25-27. Elisha transfers Naaman’s leprosy onto Gehazi and his descendants

V. Comment
No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Cogan, Mordechai and Hayim Tadmor. “II Kings” The Anchor Bible v. 11 (USA: Doubleday, 1988).
Collins, John J. “Introduction to the Hebrew Bible,” (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004).
Hobbs, T.R. “2 Kings” Word Biblical Commentary vol. 13 (Waco, Texas: Wordbooks, 1985).
Photo taken from http://www.podiatrytoday.com/files/imagecache/normal/photos/pt08_congenital_pic0.jpg

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
Elisha provides a widow with oil, resurrects a dead boy, feeds a group of hungry prophets, and feeds a hundred people with twenty loaves of bread.

II. Photo
The prophets are served a piquant stew: “While they were still eating of the stew, they began to cry out: ‘O man of God, there is death in the pot!’ And they could not eat it.” (v. 40b)

III. Important Verses
5-7: He went away and shut the door behind her and her children. They kept bringing [vessels] to her and she kept pouring. When the vessels were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” He answered her, “There are no more vessels”; and the oil stopped. She came and told the man of God, and he said, “Go sell the oil and pay your debt, and you and your children can live on the rest.”
8-10: One day Elisha visited Shunem. A wealthy woman lived there, and she urged him to have a meal; and whenever he passed by, he would stop there for a meal. Once she said to her husband, “I am sure it is a holy man of God who comes this way regularly. Let us make a small enclosed upper chamber and place a bed, a table, a chair, and a lampstand there for him, so that he can stop there whenever he comes to us.”
17-21:  The woman conceived and bore a son at the same season the following year, as Elisha had assured her. The child grew up. One day, he went out to his father among the reapers. [Suddenly] he cried to his father, “Oh, my head, my head!” He said to a servant, “Carry him to his mother.” He picked him up and brought him to his mother. And the child sat on her lap until noon; and he died. She took him up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and left him and closed the door.
27-28: But when she came up to the man of God on the mountain, she clasped his feet. Gehazi stepped forward to push her away; but the man of God said, “Let her alone, for she is in bitter distress; and the LORD has hidden it from me and has not told me.” Then she said, “Did I ask my lord for a son? Didn’t I say: ‘Don’t mislead me’?”
34-35: Then he mounted [the bed] and placed himself over the child. He put his mouth on its mouth, his eyes on its eyes, and his hands on its hands, as he bent over it. And the body of the child became warm. He stepped down, walked once up and down the room, then mounted and bent over him. Thereupon, the boy sneezed seven times, and the boy opened his eyes.

IV. Outline

1-7. Elisha performs a miracle for a widow
    1. A widow’s outcry
    2-4. Elisha tells her to gather vessels
    5-6. The vessels are filled with oil
    7. Elisha tells her to sell the oil
8-37. Elisha resurrects a dead boy
    8-10. A couple in Shunem host Elisha
    11-14. Elisha is informed that they have no son
    15-16. Elisha promises the woman a son
    17. The child is born
    18-20. The child dies
    21-23. The woman prepares to see Elisha
    24-28. The woman visits Elisha and pleads her case
    29-30. The woman convinces Elisha to see the boy
    31. Gehazi is unable to help the boy
    32-37. Elisha heals the boy and returns him to his mother
38-41. Elisha feeds the hungry prophets
    38a. Famine
    38b. Elisha sets out a large pot for food
    39-40. The stew is inedible’
    41. Elisha rectifies the situation
42-44. Elisha increases the amount of bread
    42a. Elisha is brought twenty loaves of bread
    42b-44. The bread supports one hundred men, and there is some leftover

V. Comment
No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Cogan, Mordechai and Hayim Tadmor. “II Kings” The Anchor Bible v. 11 (USA: Doubleday, 1988).
Collins, John J. “Introduction to the Hebrew Bible,” (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004).
Hobbs, T.R. “2 Kings” Word Biblical Commentary vol. 13 (Waco, Texas: Wordbooks, 1985).
Photo taken from http://torgestvo.org/foto/katering_menu_25.jpg

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
Moab secedes from Israel. An army consisting of Israelites, Judahites, and Edomites lays waste to the land of Moab. The Moabite king sacrifices his son and pushes the invading armies back.

II. Photo
Elisha seeks inspiration: “‘Now then, get me a musician.’ As the musician played, the hand of the Lord came upon him.” (v. 15)

III. Important Verses
4-5: Now King Mesha of Moab was a sheep breeder; and he used to pay as tribute to the king of Israel a hundred thousand lambs and the wool of a hundred thousand rams. But when Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.
6-7: So King Jehoram promptly set out from Samaria and mustered all Israel. At the same time, he sent this message to King Jehoshaphat of Judah: “The king of Moab has rebelled against me; will you come with me to make war on Moab?” He replied, “I will go. I will do what you do: my troops shall be your troops, my horses shall be your horses.”
9-10: So the king of Israel, the king of Judah, and the king of Edom set out, and they marched for seven days until they rounded [the tip of the Dead Sea]; and there was no water left for the army or for the animals that were with them. “Alas!” cried the king of Israel. “The LORD has brought these three kings together only to deliver them into the hands of Moab.”
15-16: Now then, get me a musician.” As the musician played, the hand of the LORD came upon him, and he said, “Thus said the LORD: This wadi shall be full of pools.
22-25: Next morning, when they rose, the sun was shining over the water, and from the distance the water appeared to the Moabites as red as blood. “That’s blood!” they said. “The kings must have fought among themselves and killed each other. Now to the spoil, Moab!” They entered the Israelite camp, and the Israelites arose and attacked the Moabites, who fled before them. They advanced, constantly attacking the Moabites, and they destroyed the towns. Every man threw a stone into each fertile field, so that it was covered over; and they stopped up every spring and felled every fruit tree. Only the walls of Kir-hareseth were left, and then the slingers surrounded it and attacked it.
26-27: Seeing that the battle was going against him, the king of Moab led an attempt of seven hundred swordsmen to break a way through to the king of Edom; but they failed. So he took his first-born son, who was to succeed him as king, and offered him up on the wall as a burnt offering. A great wrath came upon Israel, so they withdrew from him and went back to [their own] land.

IV. Outline
1. Introductory statement
2-3. Jehoram’s evil ways
4-5. Moab rebels
6-8. Israel and Judah join forces
9-10. The kings of Judah, Israel, and Edom run out of water
11-15. Elisha begrudgingly agrees to help
16-19. Elisha’s prediction of inundated wadis and victory over Moab
20. Water
21-23. The Moabites attack
24-25. The Israelites depredate the land of Moab
26-27. The king of Moab sacrifices his son and pushes Israel back

V. Comment
No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Cogan, Mordechai and Hayim Tadmor. “II Kings” The Anchor Bible v. 11 (USA: Doubleday, 1988).
Collins, John J. “Introduction to the Hebrew Bible,” (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004).
Hobbs, T.R. “2 Kings” Word Biblical Commentary vol. 13 (Waco, Texas: Wordbooks, 1985).
Photo taken from http://www.utsa.edu/today/images/graphics/violin.jpg

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
Elijah splits the Jordan river and rides to heaven on a chariot of fire. Elisha splits the Jordan, purifies the waters of Jericho, and kills forty-two children when they call him “baldy.”

II. Photo
Elisha miraculously purifies the waters of Jericho: “The water has remained wholesome to this day, in accordance with the word spoken by Elisha.” (v. 22)

III. Important Verses
8: Thereupon Elijah took his mantle and, rolling it up, he struck the water; it divided to the right and left, so that the two of them crossed over on dry land.
9-10: As they were crossing, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?” Elisha answered, “Let a double portion of your spirit pass on to me.”  “You have asked a difficult thing,” he said. “If you see me as I am being taken from you, this will be granted to you; if not, it will not.”
11-12: As they kept on walking and talking, a fiery chariot with fiery horses suddenly appeared and separated one from the other; and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. Elisha saw it, and he cried out, “Oh, father, father! Israel’s chariots and horsemen!” When he could no longer see him, he grasped his garments and rent them in two.
14-15: Taking the mantle which had dropped from Elijah, he struck the water and said, “Where is the LORD, the God of Elijah?” As he too struck the water, it parted to the right and to the left, and Elisha crossed over. When the disciples of the prophets at Jericho saw him from a distance, they exclaimed, “The spirit of Elijah has settled on Elisha!” And they went to meet him and bowed low before him to the ground.
23-24: From there he went up to Bethel. As he was going up the road, some little boys came out of the town and jeered at him, saying, “Go away, baldhead! Go away, baldhead!” He turned around and looked at them and cursed them in the name of the LORD. Thereupon, two she-bears came out of the woods and mangled forty-two of the children.

IV. Outline
1-7. Elisha shadows Elijah; The prophets discuss what is about to happen
8. Elijah and Elisha cross the Jordan on dry land
9-10. Elisha asks Elijah for his spirit
11-12. Elijah ascends to heaven in a fiery chariot
13-14. Elisha splits the Jordan
15. The prophets follow Elisha
16-18. A search committee cannot find Elijah
19-22. Elisha purifies the water of Jericho
23-24. Elisha curses the children who mock them; 42 are killed by a bear
25. Elisha returns to Samaria

V. Comment
Chapter 2 is both the end of the Elijah narrative and the beginning of the Elisha narrative. Because the chapter is the coda of the Elijah narrative it is fitting to characterize this prophet’s singular place in ancient literature. Cogan and Tadmor write: “Ancient Near Eastern literature does not know of a figure similar to Elijah; individual motifs from that literature, however, may be compared with certain features in the present narrative. Legendary Etana, king of Kish, for example, ascended to heaven on the back of an eagle in search of he ‘plant of birth’ which would insure him offspring and an heir. Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, however, returned empty-handed from his worldwide quest for eternal life. He learns that only once had a mortal been admitted into the assembly of the gods, a gift granted Utnapishtim, who survived the flood. The ascent of Elijah thus remains unique.” (34-35)

Elisha leads the benei hanevi’im “disciples of the prophets” when Elijah dies: “When the disciples of the prophets at Jericho saw him from a distance, they exclaimed, ‘The spirit of Elijah has settled on Elisha!’ And they went to meet him and bowed low before him to the ground.” (v. 15) Who were the “disciples of the prophets”? Although the Bible does not say much about this enigmatic group, Hobbs makes two important points. First, the group seems to have been well-known because they do not receive an introduction. Second, aside from Amos 7:14 (which may or may not be referencing this group), all of the references to the benei hanevi’im are found in the following verses of the Elisha narrative: 1 Kings 20:35; 2 Kings 2:3, 5, 7, 15; 4:1, 38; 5:22; 6:1; 9:1. Thus, as Hobbs writes, “The fact that the term ‘sons of the prophets’ is only used, with one exception, in connection with the ministry of Elisha and the fact that most of the data used for the reconstruction of the prophetic ‘guilds’ is found in the same collection of material should caution against hasty conclusions regarding the nature of the entire prophetic movement in the mid-ninth century in Israel.” (25)

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Cogan, Mordechai and Hayim Tadmor. “II Kings” The Anchor Bible v. 11 (USA: Doubleday, 1988).
Collins, John J. “Introduction to the Hebrew Bible,” (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004).
Hobbs, T.R. “2 Kings” Word Biblical Commentary vol. 13 (Waco, Texas: Wordbooks, 1985).
Photo taken from http://www.acornadvisors.com/Kitchen%20Newsletters/2007-06-07_Ice_Cold/ISP_Water_Glass.jpg

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
Ahaziah turns to a foreign deity to inquire about his health. Elijah kills one hundred of Ahaziah’s soldiers and tells him that he is about to die. Ahaziah dies shortly after.

II. Photo
Ahaziah is injured: “Ahaziah fell through the lattice in his upper chamber at Samaria and was injured.” (v. 2a)

III. Important Verses
2: Ahaziah fell through the lattice in his upper chamber at Samaria and was injured. So he sent messengers, whom he instructed: “Go inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover from this injury.”
3-4: But an angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Go and confront the messengers of the king of Samaria and say to them, ‘Is there no God in Israel that you go to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Assuredly, thus said the LORD: You shall not rise from the bed you are lying on, but you shall die.’” And Elijah went.
9-10: Then he sent to him a captain of fifty with his fifty men. He climbed up to him, and found him sitting at the top of a hill. “Man of God,” he said to him, “by order of the king, come down!” Elijah replied to the captain of the fifty, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you with your fifty men!” And fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty men.
16-17a: He said to him, “Because you sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron — as if there were no God in Israel whose word you could seek — assuredly, you shall not rise from the bed which you are lying on; but you shall die.” And [Ahaziah] died, according to the word of the LORD that Elijah had spoken.

IV. Outline
1. Moab rebels
2a. Ahaziah is injured in his house
2b. Ahaziah sends messengers to inquire of the god at Ekron
3-4. God sends Elijah to inform the messengers about Ahaziah’s coming death
5-8. The messengers relate Elijah’s message
9a. Ahaziah sends 50 men to Elijah
9b-10. The men are consumed by a heavenly fire
11a. Ahaziah sends another 50 men
11b-12. The men are consumed by a heavenly fire
13a. Ahaziah sends another 50 men
13b-14. The captain pleads for his life
15. An angel tells Elijah to travel to Ahaziah
16. Elijah informs Ahaziah of his impending death
17a. Ahaziah dies
17b. Jehoram becomes king
18. Summary statement

V. Comment
The book of 2 Kings begins with the story of Ahaziah’s death. It is important to ask: why was the book of Kings divided into two parts? McCarter writes (in regards to the book of Samuel): “In classical antiquity books were written on scrolls of more or less fixed length, and because the Book of Samuel, like that of Kings or Chronicles, was twice too long, it was divided into two in early [manuscripts] of the Septuagint (LXX) or Greek Bible… But the two books were originally one in the Jewish canon. The great Samuel scroll from Qumran (4QSamA) includes both, the Talmud regularly refers to a single Book of Samuel, and the marginal notes of the Masoretes assume a one-book arrangement.” (3) The tradition of the Septuagint was taken up by the Venetian printers of the 1500’s and is still accepted today.

In regards to the structure and theology of the book of Kings, Cogan and Tadmor write: “[The books of Kings] narrate the history of the Israelite monarchy from the last days of David, through the division of the United Kingdom into the rival kingdoms of Israel and Judah, down to the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile to Babylonia. From the point of view of structure, Kings is a complex composition which employs a synchronic method of narration, not unlike older Mesopotamian models, which coordinate the histories of Assyria and Babylonia. Following a generally chronological order, the narration alternates between the reigns of the kings of Israel and Judah. The narrative framework consists of chronological formulae: a statement about the length of reign of a particular king and its synchronism with that of his counterpart in the rival kingdom – e.g., ‘Ahaziah son of Ahab became king in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah; he reigned two years over Israel’ (1 Kgs 22:52)…

“For the author of Kings (henceforth, the historian), the historical approach, the choice of events reported, and the manner of presentation are governed by a single idea: the loyalty of the monarch to the God of Israel as worshipped in Jerusalem determines the course of history. In view of the catastrophic end of the northern kingdom and the pending doom foretold against Judah, the historian leveled severe criticism at the conduct of every monarch of Israel and most of those of Judah. In doing so, the historian chose to relate only those events that were pertinent to his message. For his was a didactic presentation addressed to a contemporary audience, if not also to future readers, its purpose to avert a recurrence of the calamities that befell the nation by avoiding a repetition of the misdeeds of the past. All the while, this predominant ideological component did not disturb the synchronic pattern of narration that was faithfully followed.” (3)

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Collins, John J. “Introduction to the Hebrew Bible,” (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004).
Cogan, Mordechai and Hayim Tadmor. “II Kings” The Anchor Bible v. 11 (USA: Doubleday, 1988).
Hobbs, T.R. “2 Kings” Word Biblical Commentary vol. 13 (Waco, Texas: Wordbooks, 1985).
McCarter, P. Kyle, Jr. “1 Samuel,” Anchor Bible vol. 8 (New York: Doubleday, 1980)
Photo taken from http://www.polarspas.ca/images/products/gazebos/lattice%20pavillion/gazebo_8sqd_lg.jpg