2 Kings 8:8

8 the king said to Haz'ael, "Take a present with you and go to meet the man of God, and inquire of the LORD through him, saying, 'Shall I recover from this sickness?'"

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 And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed an official for her, saying, "Restore all that was hers, together with all the produce of the fields from the day that she left the land until now."

7 Now Eli'sha came to Damascus. Ben-ha'dad the king of Syria was sick; and when it was told him, "The man of God has come here,"

8 the king said to Haz'ael, "Take a present with you and go to meet the man of God, and inquire of the LORD through him, saying, 'Shall I recover from this sickness?'"

9 So Haz'ael went to meet him, and took a present with him, all kinds of goods of Damascus, forty camel loads. When he came and stood before him, he said, "Your son Ben-ha'dad king of Syria has sent me to you, saying, 'Shall I recover from this sickness?'"

10 And Eli'sha said to him, "Go, say to him, 'You shall certainly recover'; but the LORD has shown me that he shall certainly die."