2 Kings 8:7

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.

2 Kings 8:7 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 8:7

And Elisha came to Damascus
On what account, and when, is not certain, whether to convert Gehazi, as say the Jews ^F4; or to confirm Naaman in the true religion he professed, for which he might be dismissed from his office, since another man was made general of the Syrian army; or on account of the famine; or rather it may be to anoint, or, however, to declare that Hazael would be king of Syria; see ( 1 Kings 19:15 ) ,

and Benhadad the king of Syria was sick;
at the time he came thither, where his palace was, and now a Mahometan temple; a very extraordinary building, according to Benjamin the Jew ^F5:

and it was told him, saying, the man of God is come hither;
the famous prophet in Israel, Elisha, through whom Naaman his general had been cured of his leprosy, of whom he had heard so much.

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FOOTNOTES:

F4 T. Bab. Sotah, fol. 47. 1.
F5 Itinerar. p. 55.

2 Kings 8:7 In-Context

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?)