2 Kings 8:13-23

13 And Hazael said, What soothly am I, thy servant, a dog, that I do this great thing? (And Hazael said, Truly what am I, thy servant, nothing but a dog? for how can I do such a great thing?) And Elisha said, The Lord hath showed to me that thou shalt be king of Syria.
14 And when he had departed from Elisha, he came to his lord; which said to Hazael, What said Elisha to thee? And he answered, Elisha said to me, Thou shalt receive health (Thou shalt recover).
15 And when the tother day had come, Hazael took the cloth that lay on the bed of Benhadad, and he beshedded it with water, and he spreaded it abroad upon the face of Benhadad; and when he was dead, Hazael reigned for him.
16 In the fifth year of Joram , son of Ahab, king of Israel, and of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, Jehoram , the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, reigned. (In the fifth year of Joram, the son of Ahab, the king of Israel, Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, began to reign.)
17 He was of two and thirty years when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.
18 And he went in the ways of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had gone; for the daughter of Ahab was his wife; and he did that, that was evil in the sight of the Lord.
19 Forsooth the Lord would not destroy Judah, for David, his servant, as he promised to David, that he should give to him a lantern, and to his sons in all days. (But the Lord did not destroy Judah, for the sake of his servant David, as he had promised David, that he would give him, and his sons, a light, or a flame, to burn forever.)
20 In those days Edom, that is, Idumea, went away, that it should not be under Judah; and made a king to itself (and got themselves a king).
21 And Jehoram came to Zair, and all the chariots with him; and he rose by night, and smote Idumeans, that compassed him, and the princes of chariots; soothly the people fled into their tabernacles. (And Jehoram came to Zair, and all the chariots with him; and he rose up by night, and struck the Edomites, who surrounded him, and the leaders of their chariots; and the people fled into their tents.)
22 Therefore Edom went away, that it was not under (the hand of) Judah till to this day; then also Libnah went away in that time. (And so Edom went away, and they were not under the hand of Judah unto this day; and also Libnah went away at that time.)
23 Certainly the residue of the words of Jehoram, and all things which he did, whether these be not written in the book of [the] words of [the] days of the kings of Judah?

2 Kings 8:13-23 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.