2 Kings 8:8

8 he said to Hazael, one of his officials, "Take a gift to the prophet and ask him to consult the Lord to find out whether or not I am going to get well."

2 Kings 8:8 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 8:8

And the king said to Hazael
The captain general of his army:

take a present in thine hand, and go and meet the man of God,
who, perhaps, was not as yet come into the city, only into the region of Damascus: or rather "with thee"; so the Vulgate Latin and Arabic versions; and which Noldius ^F6 approves of, since a burden of forty camels, ( 2 Kings 8:9 ) could not be carried in the hand:

and inquire of the Lord by him, saying, shall I recover of this
disease?
he did not desire him to pray the Lord that he might recover, only was curious to know whether he should or not, see ( 2 Kings 1:2 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F6 Ebr. Concord. Part. p. 189. No. 362.

2 Kings 8:8 In-Context

6 In answer to the king's question, she confirmed Gehazi's story, and so the king called an official and told him to give back to her everything that was hers, including the value of all the crops that her fields had produced during the seven years she had been away.

7 Elisha went to Damascus at a time when King Benhadad of Syria was sick. When the king was told that Elisha was there,

8 he said to Hazael, one of his officials, "Take a gift to the prophet and ask him to consult the Lord to find out whether or not I am going to get well."

9 So Hazael loaded forty camels with all kinds of the finest products of Damascus and went to Elisha. When Hazael met him, he said, "Your servant King Benhadad has sent me to ask you whether or not he will recover from his sickness."

10 Elisha answered, "The Lord has revealed to me that he will die; but go to him and tell him that he will recover."