2 Kings 8:8

8 The king said to Haza'el, "Take with you a gift, go meet the man of God and consult ADONAI through him; ask if I will recover from this illness."

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 On being asked by the king, the woman verified it. At this, the king appointed a special officer and charged him, "Restore everything that belongs to her, including the income her fields have produced from the day she left them until now."

7 Elisha went to Dammesek. Ben-Hadad the king of Aram was ill; and he was told, "The man of God has come here."

8 The king said to Haza'el, "Take with you a gift, go meet the man of God and consult ADONAI through him; ask if I will recover from this illness."

9 Haza'el went to meet him, taking with him a gift that included everything good Dammesek had, forty camel-loads. He came, stood before him and said, "Your son Ben-Hadad king of Aram has sent me to you; he asks, 'Will I recover from this illness?'"

10 Elisha answered, "Go and say to him, 'You will surely recover'- even though ADONAI has shown me that he will surely die."