2 Kings 8:8

8 And the king said unto Hazael, Take a present in thy hand, and go, meet the man of God and enquire 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 ) .

---

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. Then the king appointed unto her a eunuch, saying, Restore all that was hers and all the fruits of the lands since the day that she left the lands, even until now.

7 Elisha went to Damascus; and Benhadad, the king of Syria, was sick; and it was told him, saying, The man of God is come here.

8 And the king said unto Hazael, Take a present in thy hand, and go, meet the man of God and enquire 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 Benhadad, king of Syria, has sent me to thee, saying, Shall I recover of this disease?

10 And Elisha said unto him, Go, say unto him, Thou may certainly recover. But the LORD has showed me that he shall surely die.