2 Kings 8:8

8 Then the king said to Hazael, "Take a gift in your hand and go meet the man of God. Inquire of Yahweh from him, saying, 'Shall I recover from this illness?'"

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 So the king asked the woman, and she told him. So the king appointed for her a certain court official, saying, "Restore all that [is] hers and all the yield of the field from [the] day she left the land up to now."

7 Elisha came [to] Damascus. Now Ben-Hadad king of Aram [was] ill, and he was told, "The man of God has come up here."

8 Then the king said to Hazael, "Take a gift in your hand and go meet the man of God. Inquire of Yahweh from him, saying, 'Shall I recover from this illness?'"

9 So Hazael went to meet him and took a gift in his hand of all of the good things of Damascus, a load [on each] of forty camels, and he came and stood before him. Then he said, "Your son Ben-Hadad king of Aram has sent me to you, saying, 'Shall I recover from this illness?'"

10 Elisha said to him, "Go; say to him, 'You shall certainly recover,' but Yahweh has shown me that he certainly will die."