2 Kings 8:8

8 Then the king said to Hazael, "Take a gift with you. Go and see the man of God. Ask him for the LORD's advice. Ask him whether I will get well again."

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 ) .

---

FOOTNOTES:

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

2 Kings 8:8 In-Context

6 The king asked the woman about her house and land. And she told him. Then he appointed an official to look into her case. The king told him, "Give her back everything that belonged to her. That includes all of the money that was earned from her land. It was earned from the day she left the country until now."

7 Elisha went to Damascus. Ben-Hadad was sick. He was king of Aram. The king was told, "The man of God has come all the way up here."

8 Then the king said to Hazael, "Take a gift with you. Go and see the man of God. Ask him for the LORD's advice. Ask him whether I will get well again."

9 Hazael went to see Elisha. He took 40 camels with him as a gift. The camels were loaded with all of the finest goods of Damascus. Hazael went into Elisha's house and stood in front of him. He said, "Ben-Hadad has sent me. He is the king of Aram. He asks, 'Will I get well again?' "

10 Elisha answered, "Go and speak to him. Tell him, 'Yes. You will get well again.' But the LORD has shown me that he will in fact die."