2 Kings 8:2-20

2 And she rose (up), and did after the word of the man of God; and she went with her house, and was in pilgrimage in the land of Philistines many days (and she went away with her family, and was in pilgrimage in the land of the Philistines for seven years).
3 And when (the) seven years were ended, the woman turned again from the land of Philistines (the woman returned from the land of the Philistines); and she went out, to ask the king for her house, and [for] her fields.
4 And (it happened that) the king spake (then) with Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, and said, Tell thou to me all the great deeds that Elisha did.
5 And when he told to the king (And as he told the king), how Elisha had raised (up) a dead man, the woman appeared, whose son he had made to live (again), and she cried to the king for her house, and for her fields. And Gehazi said, My lord the king, this is the (very) woman, and this is her son, whom Elisha raised (back to life).
6 And the king asked the woman, and she told to him, that the things were sooth. And the king gave, or assigned, to her a chamberlain, and said, Restore thou to her all things that be hers, and all [the] fruits of the fields, from the day in which she left the land unto this present time.
7 Also Elisha came to Damascus (And Elisha came to Damascus), and Benhadad, king of Syria, was sick; and they told to him, and said, The man of God came hither.
8 And the king said to Hazael, Take with thee gifts, and go thou into the meeting of the man of God, and ask thou counsel by him of the Lord, and say thou, Whether I may escape from this my sickness? (And the king said to Hazael, Take gifts with thee, and go to meet the man of God, and ask thou for counsel with the Lord by him, and ask thou, Shall I recover from this sickness of mine?)
9 Therefore Hazael went in to the meeting of him, and had with him gifts, and all the goods of Damascus, the burdens of forty camels. And when he had stood before Elisha, he said, Thy son, Benhadad, king of Syria, sent me to thee, and said, Whether I may be healed of this my sickness? (And so Hazael went to meet him, and had gifts with him, and all the good things of Damascus, yea, the loads of forty camels. And when he had stood before Elisha, he said, Thy son, Benhadad, the king of Syria, sent me to thee, and said, Shall I be healed of my sickness?)
10 And Elisha said, Go thou, and say to him, Thou shalt be healed; forsooth the Lord [hath] showed to me that he shall die by death (but the Lord hath shown me that he shall die).
11 And he stood with him, and he was troubled, unto the casting down of his cheer (and he cast down his face); and the man of God wept.
12 And Hazael said, Why weepeth my lord? And he answered, For I know what evils thou shalt do to the sons of Israel; thou shalt burn [up] by fire the strengthened cities of them, and thou shalt slay by (the) sword the young men of them, and thou shalt hurtle down the little children of them, and thou shalt part the women with child. (And Hazael said, Why weepeth my lord? And he answered, For I know what evils thou shalt do to the Israelites; thou shalt burn down their fortified cities, and thou shalt kill with the sword their young men, and thou shalt hurtle down their little children, and thou shalt carve up their women with child.)
13 And Hazael said, What soothly am I, thy servant, a dog, that I do this great thing? (And Hazael said, Truly what am I, thy servant, nothing but a dog? for how can I do such a great thing?) And Elisha said, The Lord hath showed to me that thou shalt be king of Syria.
14 And when he had departed from Elisha, he came to his lord; which said to Hazael, What said Elisha to thee? And he answered, Elisha said to me, Thou shalt receive health (Thou shalt recover).
15 And when the tother day had come, Hazael took the cloth that lay on the bed of Benhadad, and he beshedded it with water, and he spreaded it abroad upon the face of Benhadad; and when he was dead, Hazael reigned for him.
16 In the fifth year of Joram , son of Ahab, king of Israel, and of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, Jehoram , the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, reigned. (In the fifth year of Joram, the son of Ahab, the king of Israel, Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, began to reign.)
17 He was of two and thirty years when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.
18 And he went in the ways of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had gone; for the daughter of Ahab was his wife; and he did that, that was evil in the sight of the Lord.
19 Forsooth the Lord would not destroy Judah, for David, his servant, as he promised to David, that he should give to him a lantern, and to his sons in all days. (But the Lord did not destroy Judah, for the sake of his servant David, as he had promised David, that he would give him, and his sons, a light, or a flame, to burn forever.)
20 In those days Edom, that is, Idumea, went away, that it should not be under Judah; and made a king to itself (and got themselves a king).

2 Kings 8:2-20 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.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.