The Second Book of the Kings, commonly called the Fourth Book of the Kings
2 Kings 8
Chapter VIII · Vol. II, pp. 777–778
1 The Shunammite, having left her country seven years, to avoid the forewarned famine, for Elisha's miracle sake hath her land restored by the king. 7 Hazael, being sent with a present by Benhadad to Elisha at Damascus, after he had heard the prophecy, killeth his master, and succeedeth him. 16 Jehoram's wicked reign in Judah. 20 Edom and Libnah revolt. 23 Ahaziah succeedeth Jehoram. 25 Ahaziah's wicked reign. 28 He visiteth Jehoram wounded, at Jezreel.
1 Then spake Elisha unto the woman, awhose son he had restored to life, saying, Arise, and go thou and thine household, and bsojourn wheresoever thou canst sojourn: for cthe LORD hath called for a famine; and it shall also come upon the land seven years.
a ch.4.35.
c Ps.105.16. Je.25.29. Hag.1.11. Ge.41.27. 2 Sa.24.13. 1 Ki.18.2. Le.26.19,20,26. De.28.22-24.
2 And the woman arose, and did after the saying of the man of God: and she went with her dhousehold, and sojourned in the eland of the Philistines seven years.1
e 1 Sa.27.1. Ge.26.1. Ju.11.3.
1 It appears strange to many that there could be a famine in Israel and plenty in Philistia, countries between which there was no difference of soil or climate, and that lay so contiguous to each other. Those who either wonder or object show little knowledge or observation in agriculture. Such occurrences are common in all countries, and arise from various causes, such as (1) Diversity of agricultural skill. (2) Variety in the staple crop, which people are not easily induced to change to suit seasons. (3) From the local nature of drought and rain, which, though generally equalized, are sometimes very unequal. (4) From the destructive powers of insects, generated at particular degrees of temperature and moisture. (5) From facilities of import—which last was altogether in favour of the Philistines, who dwelt along the borders of the Mediterranean.—C.
3 And it came to pass at the seven years'2 end, that the woman returned out of the land of the Philistines: and fshe went forth to cry unto the king for her house and for her land.
4 And the gking talked with hGehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, Tell me, I pray thee, all the great things that Elisha hath done.
5 And it came to pass, as he was telling the king how he had restored a dead body to life, that, behold, the woman, whose son he had restored to life, cried to the king for her house and for her land. And Gehazi said, My lord, O king, this is ithe woman, and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life.
i ch.4.8-37.
6 And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed unto her a certain officer,3 saying, kRestore all that was her's, and all the fruits4 of the field since the day that she left the land, even until now.
7 And Elisha came5 to lDamascus;6 and Ben-hadadm the king of Syria was sick: and it was told him, saying, The nman of God is come hither.
5 About 885.
l Ge.14.15. 1 Ki.11.24. Is.7.8.
6 Not as a curious traveller, but in his wonted vocation as itinerant instructor and superintendent of the schools of the prophets—and, not unlikely, to visit Naaman.—C.
m 1 Ki.15.18; 20.1; 22.31. ch.6.24.
n ch.2.15; 6.12; 7.18.
8 And the king said unto Hazael, oTake a present in thine hand, and go, meet the man of God,7 and inquire pof the LORD by him, saying, Shall I recover of this disease?
o 1 Sa.9.7. 1 Ki.13.7; 14.3. ch.5.5,15.
7 He calls him 'the man of God,' because he never doubted the deity of Jehovah as the topical God of Judea, but associated in sovereignty with him his own tutelary god Rimmon. Judaism and scriptural Christianity reject this amalgamation, and refuse to acknowledge any God but Jehovah; and hence the antipathy which heathenism has always, when in power, shown to both.—C.
p With ch.1.2; 5.15; 3.11.
9 So qHazael went to meet him, and took ra present with him,8 even of every good thing of Damascus, forty camels' burden,9 and came and stood before him, and said, Thy sson Ben-hadad king of Syria hath sent me to thee, saying, Shall I recover of this disease?
A.M. 3119. B.C. 885.
q 1 Ki.19.15.
r ch.5.5,16.
8 Heb. in his hand.
9 Probably not the full load, but partially laden for display. Remembering that camels differ in size and strength, like horses, the average burden may be stated from 500 to 800 cwts., and some carry so high as 1500 cwts.; but when the journey is long the burden is diminished, sometimes to about 250 cwts.—C.
s ch.6.21; 13.14.
10 And Elisha said unto him, Go, say unto him, Thou mayest certainly recover:1 howbeit the LORD hath showed me that he shall tsurely die.
1 i.e. the disease is not mortal.
t By Hazael's means, ver.15.
12 And Hazael said, Why weepeth my lord? And he answered, Because I know xthe evil that thou wilt do unto the children of Israel: their strong holds wilt thou set on fire, and their young men wilt thou slay with the sword, and wilt ydash their children, and rip up their women with child.
13 And Hazael said, But what! is thy servant za dog, that he should do this great 4thing? And Elisha answered, The LORD ahath showed me that thou shalt be king over Syria.
z Ps.22.16,20. Je.17.9. 2 Sa.3.8; 9.8. Mat.7.6.
4 'How can you suppose me so brutal?' is the sense of Henry, Poole, and Scott. 'What is thy servant? a dog! (one so mean), that he should attain this great power?' according to Gill and Patrick; and this interpretation seems most congenial to Hazael's character and eastern phraseology.—C.
a 1 Ki.19.15. And so thou wilt be powerful and wicked enough.
14 So he departed from Elisha, and came to his master; who said to him, What said Elisha to thee? And he answered, He told me that thou shouldest surely recover.5
5 This was untrue, being a total perversion of the words of the prophet.—C.
15 And it came to pass bon the morrow, that he took a thick cloth, and dipped it in water, and cspread it on his face,6 so that he died: and dHazael reigned in his stead.
b ver.13. Ec.8.16. Pr.4.16; 1.16. Ps.36.4.
c Ju.4.19-21. Je.41.1,2. Mat.26.16.
6 There is a difficulty in deciding whether Benhadad took the cloth or Hazael. But had Benhadad taken the wet cloth as a means of cure, he would scarcely have waited till next day; it seems much more probable that Hazael took that time to prepare for the succession by the murder.—C.
d ver.13. 1 Ki.19.15.
16 And in the ffifth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel, Jehoshaphat being then king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of gJudah began to reign.
f 2 Ch.21.1,4,5,20. ch.1.17.
17 Thirty and two years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.7
7 He began to reign in that year, in conjunction with his father, as lord-lieutenant in some of the tribes, or as it might be called in modern language, 'lord of the marches;' but he reigned after his father's death eight years as sole monarch in Jerusalem.—C.
18 And he walked hin the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab; for ithe daughter of Ahab was his wife: and he did evil in the sight of the LORD.
h 1 Ki.22.52,53. ch.3.2,3. 2 Ch.21.6.
i ver.26. 2 Ch.21.6; 22.3. 1 Ki.21.25.
19 Yetk the LORD would not destroy Judah for David his servant's sake, as he promised him to give him alway a light,8 and to his children.
k 2 Sa.7.12. 1 Ki.11.36; 15.4. 2 Ch.21.7. Lu.1.32,33. Is.7.14. Tit.1.2.
8 Heb. candle or lamp.
21 So Joram went over to Zair,9 and all the chariots with him; and he rose mby night, and smote the Edomites which compassed him about, and the captains of the chariots: and the people fled into their tents.
9 Most probably the same as Mount Seir.—C.
m Jos.10.9. 1 Sa.11.11. 1 Ki.20.29.
22 Yet Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah unto this day. Then nLibnah revolted at the same time.1
A.M. 3113. B.C. 891.
n Jos.21.13. 2 Ch.21.10.
1 Libnah was an ancient royal city of the Canaanites Jos.12.15, situated in the plain of Philistia, between Makkedah and Lachish. It was taken by Joshua after the defeat of the confederate kings at Gibeon. The reason of its revolt at this particular period was its connection with the Edomites, who were extending their conquests over the southern border of Philistia, and were anxious to stir up revolt against Israel wherever it was possible. The site of the city is unknown, and the name has perished.—P.
23 And the orest of the acts of Joram, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Judah?
o 1 Ki.11.41; 14.29; 15.7,23; 22.45.
24 And pJoram slept with his fathers,2 and was buried with his fathers in the city of David: and Ahaziah his son reigned in his stead.
p 1 Ki.11.43; 14.31; 15.24; 22.50. 2 Ch.21.19.
2 B.C. 884.
25 In the qtwelfth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel did rAhaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah begin to reign.
q ver.16-18. 2 Ch.22.1-3.
r Azariah or Jehoahaz, 2 Ch.22.2; 21.17. 1 Ch.2.11. ch.9.29.
26 Two and twenty years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign;3 and he reigned one year in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Athaliah, the sdaughter of Omri king of Israel.
3 Ahaziah, 2 Ch. 22. 2, begins to reign at forty-two, and as Jehoram appears from ver. 17 to have lived but forty years, this would seem to make the son two years older than his father. MSS. and translations are adduced accordingly to pronounce the forty-two incorrect. But may not the discrepancy be reconciled thus:—(1) Jehoram was thirty-two when he began to reign as co-regent with Jehoshaphat, who reigned twenty-five years. If co-regent during twenty years, and then sole monarch for eight, he died not at forty, but sixty. (2) Suppose Ahaziah admitted to the co-regency at twenty-two, 2 Ki.8.26, and to continue in that office twenty years, he comes to the sole monarchy at forty-two, 2 Ch. 22. 2, in which he reigns one year. The co-regency was early adopted by David to secure the succession to Solomon, and one emperor and two Cæsars were sometimes judged necessary to secure the tranquillity of Rome.—C.
s Grand-daughter, ver.18.
27 And he twalked in the way of the house of Ahab, and did evil in the sight of the LORD, as did the house of Ahab: for he was the son-in-law of the house of Ahab.
t ver.18. 2 Ch.22.3,4. 1 Ki.11.4. 2 Co.6.14. Ec.7.26. Pr.23.27.
28 And he uwent with Joram the son of Ahab, to the war against xHazael king of Syria in yRamoth-gilead; and the Syrians wounded Joram.
29 And king Joram went back to be healed in zJezreel of the wounds awhich the Syrians had given him at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was bsick.
z Ju.6.33. 1 Sa.25.43; 29.1. 2 Sa.2.9. 1 Ki.18.45,46; 21.1,23.
a Heb. wherewith the Syrians had wounded, 2 Ch.22.6.
b Heb. wounded, 1 Ki.22.34.
Notes
[Ver. 10. Thou mayest certainly recover. These words in the Hebrew may be rendered either of two ways, according as they are pointed. If pointed as in the Masoretic text their literal translation is—'Go, say to him, Thou shalt surely live.' But if pointed as the letters seem naturally to require, then they must be translated—'Go, say, Thou shalt not surely live;' and the prophet explains this to Hazael by the statement made to himself:—'For Jehovah hath shown me that he shall surely die.' P.]
Ver. 15. [Crafty though Hazael was, Elisha, by divine inspiration, read his wicked designs; and his searching look brought a blush to the traitor's face. The whole circumstances of this tragic episode in sacred history are thoroughly oriental; the forty camels' burden of every good thing of Damascus; the accomplished duplicity and cruelty of the confidential servant; the ease with which the murderer mounted the throne of his victim; and the subsequent barbarity of the usurper. A dozen illustrations of the acts and character of Hazael might be deduced from the modern history of Syria. P.]
Reflections.—How severely God corrects apostate professors. His providences make us sometimes glad to leave the most commodious settlement on earth. And how ready are most to take advantage against, and to seize on, the property of the absent or distressed! But it is a mercy if we have magistrates to whom we may safely appeal from the injustice of friends or neighbours. God in his providence remarkably connects things for the welfare of those who fear him and have shown kindness to his servants. He can raise up friends in our difficulties where we least expected them. And it is the glory of a government to administer justice impartially to the oppressed. Diseases and death, without ceremony, attack the most great and powerful: and affliction often changes men's minds, and makes them to regard ministers and prayers which they had formerly contemned and hated. But, ah! the bloody and barbarous rage of war! Enraged pride sticks at nothing. In high stations men will, without remorse, perpetrate what would have shocked them when in low conditions: and nothing is too horrid for the human heart left to itself and violently tempted. Few courtiers report the naked truth to their sovereigns: and flatterers are most to be suspected for enemies. They who flatter us with hopes of life hinder our serious preparation for death. The inordinate desire of power will prompt men to villany and murder. And the sinful indulgence of children, or too early trusting them with power, and especially their unequal marriages with wicked women, entail upon families and nations the most certain misery. But death and hell infallibly meet with tyrants at last. And, alas! in their way to it, how often are the wounds of their body taken care of while those of their soul are neglected!