2 Kings 8:1-10

1 Forsooth Elisha spake to the woman, whose son he made to live, and said, Rise thou, and go, both thou and thine house, and go in pilgrimage/and make pilgrimage, wherever thou shalt find it best; for the Lord shall call hunger, and it shall come upon the land seven years. (For Elisha spoke to the woman, whose son he had made to live again, and said, Rise thou up, and go away, both thou and thy household, or thy family, and go in pilgrimage, wherever thou shalt find it best; for the Lord shall call for a famine, and it shall come upon the land for seven years.)
2 And she rose (up), and did after the word of the man of God; and she went with her house, and was in pilgrimage in the land of Philistines many days (and she went away with her family, and was in pilgrimage in the land of the Philistines for seven years).
3 And when (the) seven years were ended, the woman turned again from the land of Philistines (the woman returned from the land of the Philistines); and she went out, to ask the king for her house, and [for] her fields.
4 And (it happened that) the king spake (then) with Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, and said, Tell thou to me all the great deeds that Elisha did.
5 And when he told to the king (And as he told the king), how Elisha had raised (up) a dead man, the woman appeared, whose son he had made to live (again), and she cried to the king for her house, and for her fields. And Gehazi said, My lord the king, this is the (very) woman, and this is her son, whom Elisha raised (back to life).
6 And the king asked the woman, and she told to him, that the things were sooth. And the king gave, or assigned, to her a chamberlain, and said, Restore thou to her all things that be hers, and all [the] fruits of the fields, from the day in which she left the land unto this present time.
7 Also Elisha came to Damascus (And Elisha came to Damascus), and Benhadad, king of Syria, was sick; and they told to him, and said, The man of God came hither.
8 And the king said to Hazael, Take with thee gifts, and go thou into the meeting of the man of God, and ask thou counsel by him of the Lord, and say thou, Whether I may escape from this my sickness? (And the king said to Hazael, Take gifts with thee, and go to meet the man of God, and ask thou for counsel with the Lord by him, and ask thou, Shall I recover from this sickness of mine?)
9 Therefore Hazael went in to the meeting of him, and had with him gifts, and all the goods of Damascus, the burdens of forty camels. And when he had stood before Elisha, he said, Thy son, Benhadad, king of Syria, sent me to thee, and said, Whether I may be healed of this my sickness? (And so Hazael went to meet him, and had gifts with him, and all the good things of Damascus, yea, the loads of forty camels. And when he had stood before Elisha, he said, Thy son, Benhadad, the king of Syria, sent me to thee, and said, Shall I be healed of my sickness?)
10 And Elisha said, Go thou, and say to him, Thou shalt be healed; forsooth the Lord [hath] showed to me that he shall die by death (but the Lord hath shown me that he shall die).

2 Kings 8:1-10 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.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.