2 Kings 8:1-9

1 Then spake Elisha unto the woman, whose son he had restored to life , saying , Arise , and go thou and thine household, and sojourn wheresoever thou canst sojourn : for the LORD hath called for a famine; and it shall also come upon the land seven years.

2 And the woman arose , and did after the saying of the man of God: and she went with her household, and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years.

3 And it came to pass at the seven years' end, that the woman returned out of the land of the Philistines: and she went forth to cry unto the king for her house and for her land.

4 And the king talked with Gehazi the servant of the man of God, saying , Tell me, I pray thee, all the great things that Elisha hath done .

5 And it came to pass, as he was telling the king how he had restored a dead body to life , that, behold, the woman, whose son he had restored to life , cried to the king for her house and for her land. And Gehazi said , My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life .

6 And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed unto 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 until now.

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

8 And the king said unto Hazael, Take a present in thine 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 hath sent me to thee, saying , Shall I recover of this disease?

2 Kings 8:1-9 Meaning and Commentary

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.

Footnotes

• [a]. officer: or, eunuch