2 Kings 8:8

8 So the king said to Hazael, "Take a gift with you and go meet the man of God. Inquire of the Lord through him, 'Will 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 When the king asked the woman, she told him the story. So the king appointed a court official for her, saying, "Restore all that was hers, along with all the income from the field from the day she left the country until now."

7 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 with you and go meet the man of God. Inquire of the Lord through him, 'Will I recover from this sickness?' "

9 Hazael went to meet Elisha, taking with him a gift: 40 camel-loads of all kinds of goods from Damascus. When he came and stood before him, he said, "Your son, Ben-hadad king of Aram, has sent me to ask you, 'Will I recover from this sickness?' "

10 Elisha told him, "Go say to him, 'You are sure to recover.' But the Lord has shown me that he is sure to die."