2 Kings 13:12-24

12 And the rest of the acts of Jehoash and all that he did, and his might wherewith he fought against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

13 And Jehoash slept with his fathers, and Jeroboam sat upon his throne. And Jehoash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

14 Now Elisha had fallen sick with his sickness whereof he died. And Jehoash the king of Israel came down unto him, and wept over his face, and said, "O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof!"

15 And Elisha said unto him, "Take bow and arrows." And he took unto him a bow and arrows.

16 And he said to the king of Israel, "Put thine hand upon the bow." And he put his hand upon it, and Elisha put his hands upon the king's hands.

17 And he said, "Open the window eastward." And he opened it. Then Elisha said, "Shoot." And he shot. And he said, "The arrow of the LORD'S deliverance and the arrow of deliverance from Syria, for thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek till thou have consumed them."

18 And he said, "Take the arrows." And he took them. And he said unto the king of Israel, "Smite upon the ground." And he smote thrice, and ceased.

19 And the man of God was wroth with him and said, "Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times. Then had thou smitten Syria till thou had consumed it, whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice."

20 And Elisha died, and they buried him. And the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year.

21 And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulcher of Elisha. And when the man was let down and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood up on his feet.

22 But Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz.

23 And the LORD was gracious unto them and had compassion on them and had respect unto them, because of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, neither cast He them from His presence as yet.

24 So Hazael king of Syria died; and Benhadad his son reigned in his stead.

2 Kings 13:12-24 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO 2 KINGS 13

This chapter gives an account of the wicked reign of Jehoahaz son of Jehu king of Israel, and of the low estate he was brought into by the Syrians, 2Ki 13:1-9, and of the reign of his son Joash, 2Ki 13:10-13, and of the sickness and death of Elisha; of the visit Joash made him in his sickness; and of his prediction of the king's success against the Syrians; and of the reviving of a dead man cast into the prophet's sepulchre, 2Ki 13:14-21 and of the success of Joash against the Syrians, according to the prediction of the prophet, 2Ki 13:22-25.

\\of Judah\\ The same year he was so zealous and busy in repairing the temple, 2Ki 12:6,

\\Jehoahaz the son of Jehu began to reign over Israel in Samaria\\; whereas Joash began to reign in the seventh year of Jehu, and Jehu reigned but twenty eight years, 2Ki 10:36, and 2Ki 12:1, this could be but the twenty first of Joash; to reconcile which it must be observed, that it was at the beginning of the seventh year of Jehu that Joash began to reign, and at the beginning of the twenty third of Joash that Jehoahaz began to reign, as the Jewish commentators observe:

\\and reigned seventeen years\\; the two last of which were in common with his son, as Junius, see 2Ki 13:10 17831-941219-2104-2Ki13.2