2 Kings 8

The Shunammite’s Land Restored

1 Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, “Arise, you and your household; go and live as a foreigner wherever you can. For the LORD has decreed that a seven-year famine will come to the land.”

2 So the woman had proceeded to do as the man of God had instructed. And she and her household lived as foreigners for seven years in the land of the Philistines.

3 At the end of seven years, when the woman returned from the land of the Philistines, she went to the king to appeal for her house and her land.

4 Now the king had been speaking to Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, “Please relate to me all the great things Elisha has done.”

5 And Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha had brought the dead back to life. Just then the woman whose son Elisha had revived came to appeal to the king for her house and her land. So Gehazi said, “My lord the king, this is the woman, and this is the son Elisha restored to life.”

6 When the king asked the woman, she confirmed it. So the king appointed for her an officer, saying, “Restore all that was hers, along with all the proceeds of the field from the day that she left the country until now.”

Hazael Murders Ben-hadad

7 Then Elisha came to Damascus while Ben-hadad king of Aram was sick, and the king was told, “The man of God has come here.”

8 So the king said to Hazael, “Take a gift in your hand, go to meet the man of God, and inquire of the LORD through him, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’”

9 So Hazael went to meet Elisha, taking with him a gift of forty camel loads of every good thing from Damascus. And he went in and stood before him and said, “Your son Ben-hadad king of Aram has sent me to ask, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’”

10 Elisha answered, “Go and tell him, ‘You will surely recover.’ But the LORD ^[a] has shown me that in fact he will die.”

11 Elisha fixed his gaze steadily on him until Hazael became uncomfortable. Then the man of God began to weep.

12 “Why is my lord weeping?” asked Hazael. “Because I know the evil you will do to the Israelites,” Elisha replied. “You will set fire to their fortresses, kill their young men with the sword, dash their little ones to pieces, and rip open their pregnant women.”

13 “But how could your servant, a mere dog, do such a monstrous thing?” said Hazael. And Elisha answered, “The LORD has shown me that you will be king over Aram.”

14 So Hazael left Elisha and went to his master, who asked him, “What did Elisha say to you?” And he replied, “He told me that you would surely recover.”

15 But the next day Hazael took a thick cloth, dipped it in water, and spread it over the king’s face. So Ben-hadad died, and Hazael reigned in his place.

Jehoram Reigns in Judah

16 In the fifth year of the reign of Joram son of Ahab over Israel, Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat succeeded his father as king of Judah. ¹

17 Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years.

18 And Jehoram walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done. For he married a daughter of Ahab and did evil in the sight of the LORD.

19 Yet for the sake of His servant David, the LORD was unwilling to destroy Judah, since He had promised to maintain a lamp for David and his descendants forever.

Edom and Libnah Rebel

20 In the days of Jehoram, ^[b] Edom rebelled against the hand of Judah and appointed their own king. ²

21 So Jehoram ^[c] crossed over to Zair with all his chariots. When the Edomites surrounded him and his chariot commanders, he rose up and attacked by night. His troops, however, fled to their homes.

22 So to this day Edom has been in rebellion against the hand of Judah. Likewise, Libnah rebelled at the same time.

23 As for the rest of the acts of Jehoram, along with all his accomplishments, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

24 And Jehoram rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the City of David. And his son Ahaziah reigned in his place.

Ahaziah Reigns in Judah

25 In the twelfth year of the reign of Joram son of Ahab over Israel, Ahaziah son of Jehoram became king of Judah. ³

26 Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem one year. His mother’s name was Athaliah, the granddaughter of Omri king of Israel.

27 And Ahaziah walked in the ways of the house of Ahab and did evil in the sight of the LORD like the house of Ahab, for he was a son-in-law of the house of Ahab.

28 Then Ahaziah went with Joram son of Ahab to fight against Hazael king of Aram at Ramoth-gilead, and the Arameans wounded Joram.

29 So King Joram returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds that the Arameans had inflicted on him at Ramah ^[d] when he fought against Hazael king of Aram. Then Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to Jezreel to visit Joram son of Ahab, because Joram had been wounded.

2 Kings 8 Commentary

Chapter 8

A famine in Israel, The Shunammite obtains her land. (1-6) Elisha consulted by Hazael, Death of Benhadad. (7-15) Jehoram's wicked reign in Judah. (16-24) Ahaziah's wicked reign in Judah. (25-29)

Verses 1-6 The kindness of the good Shunammite to Elisha, was rewarded by the care taken of her in famine. It is well to foresee an evil, and wisdom, when we foresee it, to hide ourselves if we lawfully may do so. When the famine was over, she returned out of the land of the Philistines; that was no proper place for an Israelite, any longer than there was necessity for it. Time was when she dwelt so securely among her own people, that she had no occasion to be spoken for to the king; but there is much uncertainty in this life, so that things or persons may fail us which we most depend upon, and those befriend us which we think we shall never need. Sometimes events, small in themselves, prove of consequence, as here; for they made the king ready to believe Gehazi's narrative, when thus confirmed. It made him ready to grant her request, and to support a life which was given once and again by miracle.

Verses 7-15 Among other changes of men's minds by affliction, it often gives other thoughts of God's ministers, and teaches to value the counsels and prayers of those whom they have hated and despised. It was not in Hazael's countenance that Elisha read what he would do, but God revealed it to him, and it fetched tears from his eyes: the more foresight men have, the more grief they are liable to. It is possible for a man, under the convictions and restraints of natural conscience, to express great abhorrence of a sin, yet afterwards to be reconciled to it. Those that are little and low in the world, cannot imagine how strong the temptations of power and prosperity are, which, if ever they arrive at, they will find how deceitful their hearts are, how much worse than they suspected. The devil ruins men, by saying they shall certainly recover and do well, so rocking them asleep in security. Hazael's false account was an injury to the king, who lost the benefit of the prophet's warning to prepare for death, and an injury to Elisha, who would be counted a false prophet. It is not certain that Hazael murdered his master, or if he caused his death it may have been without any design. But he was a dissembler, and afterwards proved a persecutor to Israel.

Verses 16-24 A general idea is given of Jehoram's badness. His father, no doubt, had him taught the true knowledge of the Lord, but did ill to marry him to the daughter of Ahab; no good could come of union with an idolatrous family.

Verses 25-29 Names do not make natures, but it was bad for Jehoshaphat's family to borrow names from Ahab's. Ahaziah's relation to Ahab's family was the occasion of his wickedness and of his fall. When men choose wives for themselves, let them remember they are choosing mothers for their children. Providence so ordered it, that Ahaziah might be cut off with the house of Ahab, when the measure of their iniquity was full. Those who partake with sinners in their sin, must expect to partake with them in their plagues. May all the changes, troubles, and wickedness of the world, make us more earnest to obtain an interest in the salvation of Christ.

Cross References

• 1. (2 Chronicles 21:1–7)
• 2. (2 Chronicles 21:8–11)
• 3. (2 Chronicles 22:1–7)

Footnotes

• [a]. Or “Go and say, ‘You will surely not recover.’ And the LORD
• [b]. Literally In his days
• [c]. Hebrew Joram, a variant of Jehoram (the son of Jehoshaphat), as in verse 16; also in verses 23 and 24
• [d]. Ramah is a variant of Ramoth; see verse 28.

Chapter Summary

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.