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2 Kings 8

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The Shunammite Woman's Land Restored 1–6

1
Now Elisha had spoken unto the woman, whose son he had restored to life, saying, Arise, and go thou and thy household, and sojourn wheresoever thou canst sojourn: for Jehovah hath called for a famine; and it shall also come upon the land seven years. ​
2
And the woman arose, and did according to the word 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
Now the king was talking 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 to life him that was dead, 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. ​

Elisha Prophesies Hazael's Reign 7–15

7
And Elisha came to Damascus; and Ben-hadad 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 thy hand, and go, meet the man of God, and inquire of Jehovah by him, saying, Shall I recover of this sickness?
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 Ben-hadad king of Syria hath sent me to thee, saying, Shall I recover of this sickness? ​
10
And Elisha said unto him, Go, say unto him, Thou shalt surely recover; howbeit Jehovah hath showed me that he shall surely die. ​
11
And he settled his countenance stedfastly upon him, until he was ashamed: and the man of God wept. ​
12
And Hazael said, Why weepeth my lord? And he answered, Because I know the evil that thou wilt do unto the children of Israel: their strongholds wilt thou set on fire, and their young men wilt thou slay with the sword, and wilt dash in pieces their little ones, and rip up their women with child. ​
13
And Hazael said, But what is thy servant, who is but a dog, that he should do this great thing? And Elisha answered, Jehovah hath showed me that thou shalt be king over Syria. ​
14
Then he departed from Elisha, and came to his master; who said to him, What said Elisha to thee? And he answered, He told me that thou wouldest surely recover.
15
And it came to pass on the morrow, that he took the coverlet, and dipped it in water, and spread it on his face, so that he died: and Hazael reigned in his stead. ​

Jehoram Reigns in Judah 16–24

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And in the fifth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel, Jehoshaphat being then king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah began to reign. ​
17
Thirty and two years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.
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And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab: for he had the daughter of Ahab to wife; and he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah. ​
19
Howbeit Jehovah would not destroy Judah, for David his servant’s sake, as he promised him to give unto him a lamp for his children alway. ​
20
In his days Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah, and made a king over themselves. ​
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Then Joram passed over to Zair, and all his chariots with him: and he rose up by night, and smote the Edomites that compassed him about, and the captains of the chariots; and the people fled to their tents.
22
So Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah unto this day. Then did Libnah revolt at the same time. ​
23
And the rest of the acts of Joram, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
24
And Joram slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David; and Ahaziah his son reigned in his stead.

Ahaziah Reigns in Judah 25–29

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In the twelfth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel did Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah begin to reign.
26
Two and twenty years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign; and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Athaliah the daughter of Omri king of Israel. ​
27
And he walked in the way of the house of Ahab, and did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, as did the house of Ahab; for he was the son-in-law of the house of Ahab.
28
And he went with Joram the son of Ahab to war against Hazael king of Syria at Ramoth-gilead: and the Syrians wounded Joram. ​
29
And king Joram returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for 2 Kings 8

Verse 1

the LORD hath called for a famine — 'Called for' is qara, the verb of Ps 105:16, 'he called for a famine upon the land'. Elisha speaks to the woman whose son he had raised (2 Kgs 4:35) and sends her away for the seven years. 'Sojourn' (gur) is to live as a guest in another land, as Abram did in a famine (Gen 12:10).

Verse 4

all the great things that Elisha hath done — The king asks Gehazi to 'tell' (saphar, to recount) them. Gehazi is still named as 'the servant of the man of God', though the leprosy of Naaman had been laid on him and his seed 'for ever' (2 Kgs 5:27). The great things include the child raised at Shunem (2 Kgs 4:35).

Verse 5

cried to the king for her house and for her land — 'Cried' is tsa'aq, the cry for help, the verb of the woman who called 'Help, my lord, O king' in 2 Kgs 6:26. She arrives as Gehazi tells how Elisha 'restored a dead body to life', and he names her and her son. 'Restored to life' is chayah, to live, the verb of v.1.

Verse 6

Restore all that was hers — The king gives her an 'officer' (saris, the word translated 'eunuchs' in 2 Kgs 9:32) to see it done. The order covers the land and also 'all the fruits of the field' (tebuah, produce) for the seven years. 'The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD' (Prov 21:1).

Verse 7

Benhadad the king of Syria was sick — He is the king who gathered his host and besieged Samaria (2 Kgs 6:24). Elisha, who had cured the Syrian captain Naaman (2 Kgs 5), now comes to Damascus, and the word 'The man of God is come hither' reaches the king. Elijah had been told to go toward Damascus to anoint Hazael (1 Kgs 19:15).

Verse 9

forty camels' burden — The 'present' (minchah) holds 'every good thing of Damascus', as Naaman once set out with silver, gold and raiment (2 Kgs 5:5). The king enquires 'of the LORD' by Elisha (v.8), while Israel's Ahaziah had sent to Baalzebub of Ekron with the same question, 'whether I shall recover of this disease' (2 Kgs 1:2).

Verse 10

Thou mayest certainly recover — The Hebrew doubles the verb in both halves: 'certainly' recover (chayah) and 'surely' die (muth). The sickness would not end the king's life, and his death follows 'on the morrow' by another hand (v.15). 'Hath shewed' is the verb of seeing: the LORD made Elisha see it.

Verse 11

the man of God wept — The look 'settled' on Hazael 'until he was ashamed', and then the weeping, which v.12 explains: Elisha knows the evil coming on Israel. The same weeping over the ruin of God's people is in 'Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law' (Ps 119:136) and in Christ, who 'beheld the city, and wept over it' (Luke 19:41).

Verse 12

their strong holds wilt thou set on fire — Elisha names four acts, and Hazael's reign begins to bear them out: 'the LORD began to cut Israel short: and Hazael smote them in all the coasts of Israel' (2 Kgs 10:32). The last two acts match Hos 13:16, 'their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up.'

Verse 13

is thy servant a dog — 'Dog' (keleb) is a word of self-lowering, as in Mephibosheth's 'such a dead dog as I am' (2 Sam 9:8). Hazael asks how such a man could do 'this great thing', and Elisha does not argue the point: the LORD has shown him king over Syria, the office Elijah had been told to anoint him to (1 Kgs 19:15).

Verse 15

a thick cloth — The word (makber) occurs only here in the Bible: a woven cloth, dipped in water and spread on the king's face. Elisha's 'surely die' (v.10) is met 'on the morrow', and 'Hazael reigned in his stead', the man Elijah had been told to anoint, and whose sword was to fall on Israel (1 Kgs 19:15, 17).

Verse 16

Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat — One name in two spellings: Joram (Yoram), son of Ahab, reigns over Israel, and Jehoram (Yehoram), son of Jehoshaphat, over Judah. The KJV prints 'Jehoram' for both elsewhere (2 Kgs 1:17; 3:1), so the fathers' names tell them apart. The Judean Jehoram has married into Ahab's house (v.18).

Verse 18

the daughter of Ahab was his wife — Jehoshaphat had 'joined affinity with Ahab' (2 Chr 18:1), and the marriage brought Ahab's house into Judah. Jehoram 'walked in the way' (derek) 'of the kings of Israel', the reason 2 Chr 21:6 gives in almost the same words. The wife is Athaliah, named in v.26 as mother of Jehoram's son Ahaziah.

Verse 19

a light — Ner is a lamp, the word of 1 Kgs 11:36, 'that David my servant may have a light alway before me in Jerusalem', and of Ps 132:17, 'I have ordained a lamp for mine anointed.' Judah stands on the promise to David (2 Sam 7:12–13), 'the covenant that he had made with David' (2 Chr 21:7), which Gabriel names as fulfilled in Christ (Luke 1:32).

Verse 20

Edom revolted — Under Jehoshaphat 'there was then no king in Edom: a deputy was king' (1 Kgs 22:47). Now Edom 'made a king over themselves'. Edom is Esau's line (Gen 36:1), and Isaac had said that when Esau should have the dominion, he would 'break his yoke from off thy neck' (Gen 27:40).

Verse 22

Libnah revolted — Libnah had been given to the priests, 'the children of Aaron' (Josh 21:13), so a priestly city turned from Judah. 2 Chr 21:10 gives the cause of both revolts: 'because he had forsaken the LORD God of his fathers.' 'Unto this day' marks Edom's independence as lasting.

Verse 26

the daughter of Omri — Here Athaliah is a daughter of Omri, and v.18 calls Jehoram's wife a daughter of Ahab. Ahab was Omri's son (1 Kgs 16:28), and 'daughter' is commonly read as descent: Ahab's daughter, Omri's granddaughter. She appears again as the queen mother who 'destroyed all the seed royal' when her son died (2 Kgs 11:1).

Verse 28

Ramothgilead — The battle where Ahab was struck down (1 Kgs 22:34). Judah again goes up with Israel's king, as Jehoshaphat had told Ahab, 'I am as thou art, my people as thy people' (1 Kgs 22:4). The enemy is now Hazael, the king Elisha foretold in v.13, and it is Joram who is 'wounded'.

Verse 29

Ramah — The wounds of v.28 are the ones 'at Ramah' here, and 2 Chr 22:6 tells it in the same terms. Joram returns to Jezreel to be healed, and Ahaziah 'went down to see' him. 'The destruction of Ahaziah was of God by coming to Joram' (2 Chr 22:7), for Jehu came to Jezreel while Joram lay there (2 Kgs 9:16).