2 Kings 8:1-6

The Shunammite's Land Restored

1 Now Elisha had said to the woman ¹whose son he had restored to life, "Arise, and depart with your household, and sojourn wherever you can, for the LORD ²has called for a famine, and it will come upon the land for ³seven years."

2 So the woman arose and did according to the word of the man of God. She went with her household and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years.

3 And at the end of the seven years, when the woman returned from the land of the Philistines, she went to appeal to the king for her house and her land.

4 Now the king was talking with ⁴Gehazi the servant of the man of God, saying, "Tell me all the great things that Elisha has done."

5 And while he was telling the king how ⁵Elisha had restored the dead to life, behold, the woman whose son he had restored to life appealed to the king for her house and her land. And Gehazi said, "My lord, O king, here is the woman, and here is her son whom Elisha restored to life."

6 And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed an official for her, saying, "Restore all that was hers, together with all the produce of the fields from the day that she left the land until now."

2 Kings 8:1-6 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO 2 KINGS 8

This chapter gives an account of some advice Elisha had formerly given to the Shunammite woman, and of the success of it, 2Ki 8:1-6 and of the sickness of the king of Syria, who sent to Elisha, then being at Damascus, by Hazael, to know whether he should recover; by whom a message was returned, and Hazael was told by the prophet he should be king of Syria, and exercise great cruelty in Israel, 2Ki 8:7-15 and of the bad reign of Jehoram, son of Jehoshaphat, over Judah, 2Ki 8:16-24 and of the reign of his son Ahaziah, 2Ki 8:25-29.

Cross References

• 1. 2 Kings 4:35
• 2. Psalms 105:16; Haggai 1:11
• 3. [Genesis 41:27]
• 4. See 2 Kings 4:12
• 5. [See ver. 1 above]