2 Kings 13

1 In the three and twentieth year of Joash , the son of Ahaziah, king of Judah, Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, reigned upon Israel, in Samaria seventeen years. (In the twenty-third year of Joash, the son of Ahaziah, the king of Judah, Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, began to reign upon Israel, in Samaria, and he reigned for seventeen years.)

2 And he did evil before the Lord, and he followed the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, that made Israel to do sin; and he bowed not away from those sins.

3 And the strong vengeance of the Lord was wroth against Israel, and he betook them into the hand of Hazael, king of Syria, and in(to) the hand of Benhadad, son of Hazael, in all (their) days.

4 Forsooth Jehoahaz besought the face of the Lord, and the Lord heard him; for he saw the anguish of Israel, for the king of Syria had all-broken them.

5 And the Lord gave a saviour to Israel, and he was delivered from the hand of the king of Syria; and the sons of Israel dwelled in their tabernacles, as yesterday and the third day ago. (And the Lord gave a saviour to Israel, and they were rescued from the hands of the king of Syria; and then the Israelites lived in their homes, like yesterday and the third day ago.)

6 Nevertheless they departed not from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, that made Israel to do sin; but they went in those sins; soothly also the [maumet] wood dwelled in Samaria (and also the idol grove/the sacred pole remained in Samaria).

7 And to Jehoahaz were not left of the people, but five hundred knights, and ten chariots, and ten thousand of footmen (And there were left of the people to Jehoahaz, but five hundred horsemen, and ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen); for the king of Syria had slain them, and had driven them [down] as into powder in the threshing of a cornfloor.

8 Forsooth the residue of [the] words of Jehoahaz, and all things that he did, and the strength of him, whether these be not written in the book of [the] words of [the] days of the kings of Israel?

9 And Jehoahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria; and Jehoash , his son, reigned for him.

10 In the seven and thirtieth year of Joash, king of Judah, Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz, reigned upon Israel in Samaria sixteen years. (In the thirty-seventh year of Joash, the king of Judah, Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz, began to reign upon Israel in Samaria, and he reigned for sixteen years.)

11 And he did that, that is evil in the sight of the Lord (And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord); for he bowed not away from all the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, that made Israel to do sin; but he went in those sins.

12 Forsooth the residue of [the] words of Jehoash, and all things that he did, but also his strength, how he fought against Amaziah, king of Judah, whether these be not written in the book of [the] words of [the] days of the kings of Israel?

13 And Jehoash slept with his fathers; forsooth Jeroboam (II) sat upon his throne (and his son, Jeroboam II, sat on his throne). And Jehoash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

14 Forsooth Elisha was sick in a sickness, by which and he was dead (Now Elisha was sick with the sickness from which he would die); and Jehoash, king of Israel, went down to him, and wept before him, and said, My father! my father! the chariot of Israel, and the charioteer thereof!

15 And Elisha said to him, Bring thou a bow and arrows. And when he had brought to Elisha a bow and arrows,

16 he said to the king of Israel, Set thine hand on the bow. And when he had set his hand (on it), Elisha setted his hands on the hands of the king,

17 and (he) said, Open thou the east window. And when he had opened (it), Elisha said, Shoot thou an arrow; and he shot (it). And Elisha said, This is an arrow of [the] health of the Lord, and an arrow of health against Syria; and thou shalt smite Syria in Aphek, till thou waste it (And Elisha said, This is an arrow of the Lord's victory, yea, an arrow of victory over Syria; and thou shalt strike Syria in Aphek, until thou destroy it).

18 And Elisha said, Take away the arrows. And when he had taken (them) away, Elisha said to him, Smite thou the earth with a dart (Strike thou the earth with this arrow). And when he had smitten three times, and had stood,

19 the man of God was wroth against him, and said, If thou haddest smitten five times, either six times, either seven times, thou shouldest have smitten Syria unto the ending (of it); now forsooth thou shalt smite it three times (but now thou shalt strike it only three times).

20 Then Elisha was dead (Then Elisha died), and they buried him. And the thieves of Moab came into the land in that year.

21 Forsooth some men buried a man (And some men were burying a man), and they saw the thieves, and they cast forth the dead body into the sepulchre of Elisha; and when it had touched the bones of Elisha, the man lived again, and stood up on his feet.

22 Then Hazael (But Hazael), king of Syria, tormented Israel in all the days of Jehoahaz.

23 And the Lord had mercy on them, and turned again to them for his covenant, that he had made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and he would not destroy them, neither cast them away utterly, into this present time. (But the Lord had mercy on the Israelites, and returned to them, because of the covenant that he had made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and he would not destroy them, nor throw them utterly away, even into this present time.)

24 And Hazael, king of Syria, died; and Benhadad, his son, reigned for him.

25 Forsooth Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz, took away [the] cities from the hand of Benhadad, the son of Hazael, which he had taken by the right of battle from the hand of Jehoahaz, his father (which he had taken from the hand, or the power, of his father Jehoahaz, by right of battle); Jehoash smote him three times, and he yielded those cities to Israel.

2 Kings 13 Commentary

Chapter 13

Reign of Jehoahaz. (1-9) Jehoash, king of Israel, Elisha dying. (10-19) Elisha's death, The victories of Jehoash. (20-25)

Verses 1-9 It was the ancient honour of Israel that they were a praying people. Jehoahaz, their king, in his distress, besought the Lord; applied himself for help, but not to the calves; what help could they give him? He sought the Lord. See how swift God is to show mercy; how ready to hear prayer; how willing to find a reason to be gracious; else he would not look so far back as the ancient covenant Israel had so often broken, and forfeited. Let this invite and engage us for ever to him; and encourage even those who have forsaken him, to return and repent; for there is forgiveness with him, that he may be feared. And if the Lord answer the mere cry of distress for temporal relief, much more will he regard the prayer of faith for spiritual blessings.

Verses 10-19 Jehoash, the king, came to Elisha, to receive his dying counsel and blessing. It may turn much to our spiritual advantage, to attend the sick-beds and death-beds of good men, that we may be encouraged in religion by the living comforts they have from it in a dying hour. Elisha assured the king of his success; yet he must look up to God for direction and strength; must reckon his own hands not enough, but go on, in dependence upon Divine aid. The trembling hands of the dying prophet, as they signified the power of God, gave this arrow more force than the hands of the king in his full strength. By contemning the sign, the king lost the thing signified, to the grief of the dying prophet. It is a trouble to good men, to see those to whom they wish well, forsake their own mercies, and to see them lose advantages against spiritual enemies.

Verses 20-25 God has many ways to chastise a provoking people. Trouble comes sometimes from that point whence we least feared it. The mention of this invasion on the death of Elisha, shows that the removal of God's faithful prophets is a presage of coming judgments. His dead body was a means of giving life to another dead body. This miracle was a confirmation of his prophecies. And it may have reference to Christ, by whose death and burial, the grave is made a safe and happy passage to life to all believers. Jehoash was successful against the Syrians, just as often as he had struck the ground with the arrows, then a stop was put to his victories. Many have repented, when too late, of distrusts and the straitness of their desires.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO 2 KINGS 13

This chapter gives an account of the wicked reign of Jehoahaz son of Jehu king of Israel, and of the low estate he was brought into by the Syrians, 2Ki 13:1-9, and of the reign of his son Joash, 2Ki 13:10-13, and of the sickness and death of Elisha; of the visit Joash made him in his sickness; and of his prediction of the king's success against the Syrians; and of the reviving of a dead man cast into the prophet's sepulchre, 2Ki 13:14-21 and of the success of Joash against the Syrians, according to the prediction of the prophet, 2Ki 13:22-25.

\\of Judah\\ The same year he was so zealous and busy in repairing the temple, 2Ki 12:6,

\\Jehoahaz the son of Jehu began to reign over Israel in Samaria\\; whereas Joash began to reign in the seventh year of Jehu, and Jehu reigned but twenty eight years, 2Ki 10:36, and 2Ki 12:1, this could be but the twenty first of Joash; to reconcile which it must be observed, that it was at the beginning of the seventh year of Jehu that Joash began to reign, and at the beginning of the twenty third of Joash that Jehoahaz began to reign, as the Jewish commentators observe:

\\and reigned seventeen years\\; the two last of which were in common with his son, as Junius, see 2Ki 13:10 17831-941219-2104-2Ki13.2