2 Kings 8:8

8 And the king said to Hazael, Take a present in thy hand, and go, meet the man of God, and inquire of the LORD by him, saying, Shall I recover of this disease?

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 to her a certain officer, saying, Restore all that [was] hers, and all the fruits of the field since the day that she left the land even till now.

7 And Elisha came to Damascus; and Ben-hadad the king of Syria was sick; and it was told to him, saying, The man of God hath come hither.

8 And the king said to Hazael, Take a present in thy hand, and go, meet the man of God, and inquire of the LORD by him, saying, Shall I recover of this disease?

9 So Hazael went to meet him, and took a present with him, even of every good thing of Damascus, forty camels burden, and came and stood before him, and said, Thy son Ben-hadad king of Syria hath sent me to thee, saying, Shall I recover of this disease?

10 And Elisha said to him, Go, say to him, Thou mayest certainly recover: but the LORD hath showed me, that he shall surely die.