Several of the place names in this verse were discussed under 2 Kgs 17.24 and are also mentioned elsewhere in the Old Testament. There is considerable discussion among scholars whether all of the six places mentioned in this verse are indeed places.

Hamath and Arpad: The royal city of the Hittites, Hamath, is discussed under 1 Kgs 8.65 and 2 Kgs 17.24. Arpad was a Syrian city-state located about 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of Aleppo. The two names are mentioned together in Isa 36.19 and Jer 49.23.

Sepharvaim: See the comments at 2 Kgs 17.24. This place is also mentioned in 2 Kgs 17.31; 19.13; Isa 36.19 and 37.13.

Hena, which is mentioned also in 2 Kgs 19.13 and Isa 37.13, is apparently the name of another Syrian city.

Ivvah is sometimes identified as the city called “Avva” in 2 Kgs 17.24, but as the discussion there indicates, such an identification is far from certain. Ivvah is mentioned also in 2 Kgs 19.13 and Isa 37.13.

For several reasons many scholars question whether the Hebrew words translated Hena and Ivvah are in fact place names:

• (1) Neither of these places is included in the Septuagint translation of this verse nor in the Masoretic Text in the parallel text in Isa 36.19.

• (2) Neither name occurs in the similar list in 2 Kgs 17.24, unless “Avva” is a different name for Ivvah.

• (3) Neither name is known elsewhere in the Old Testament nor in non-biblical texts apart from the parallels in 2 Kgs 19.3 and Isa 37.13.

• (4) The Aramaic Targums understood these two words not as place names but as verbs, meaning “He sent them wandering and caused them to stray.”

• (5) Symmachus, who translated the Old Testament into Greek around the end of the second century A.D. or the beginning of the third century, translated these two words also as verbs, meaning “He displaced and humiliated them.”

• (6) The Old Latin version and one part of the Septuagint tradition omit these two words, but include the words “Where are the gods of the land of Samaria?”

Several modern translations follow the Old Latin and the part of the Septuagint tradition just mentioned. American Bible, for example, reads “Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Where are the gods of Samaria? Did they save Samaria from me?” (similarly Gray). Some other translations combine the readings of the Masoretic Text (keeping Hena and Ivvah) and the Old Latin and Septuagint (adding “Where are the gods of the land of Samaria?”). Revised English Bible, for example, reads “Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Where are the gods of Samaria? Did they save Samaria from me?” (similarly New Jerusalem Bible, La Bible Pléiade). New American Bible is similar to Revised English Bible, but it omits the final question in the verse.

The above discussion shows how complicated the translation of the second part of this verse is. The Masoretic Text has one major difficulty: while one might expect the local gods of the places mentioned here to deliver their own towns from the king of Assyria, there is no reason that those gods should have delivered Samaria from the power of Assyria. So the question Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? makes little sense. For this reason translators are encouraged to follow the solution of Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, and La Bible Pléiade; that is, Hena and Ivvah should be translated as place names, and then the words “Where are the gods of Samaria?” should be inserted. It should be noted that Hebrew Old Testament Text Project gives a {C} rating to the Masoretic Text, but Hebrew Old Testament Text Project acknowledges that the Greek text makes explicit what is implicit in the Masoretic Text.

All the questions in this verse are rhetorical. The sense is that the gods of the places mentioned seem to have disappeared and are nowhere to be found since they proved to have no power when faced with the power of the Assyrian Empire. The expected answer to the last question is, of course, a resounding “No.” If the questions risk being understood in any other way, then the last one could be changed to an affirmative statement based on something like the following model:

• Where are the gods of the cities of Hamath and Arpad now? And where are the gods of the cities of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? And where are the gods of Samaria? They did not save Samaria from me!

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .