This chapter gives an account of some advice Elisha had formerly given to the Shunammite woman, and of the success of it, 2 Kings 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,…

Then spoke Elisha unto the woman (whose son he had restored to life) His hostess at Shunem, the following he said to her, not after the famine in Samaria, but before it, as some circumstances show: saying, arise, and go thou and thine household, and sojourn wheresoever thou canst sojourn; with the…

And the woman arose, and did after the saying of the man of God Whose words she had reason to believe; she having a son given to her according to his word, and this restored to life, when dead, through his intercession: and she went with her household, and sojourned in the land of the Philistines;…

And it came to pass, at the seven years end, that the woman returned out of the land of the Philistines Either hearing that the famine was over, or believing that it was, the time being expired the prophet fixed for it: and she went forth to cry unto the king for her house, and for her land; which…

And the king talked with Gehazi the servant of the man of God, &c.] Elisha’s servant, just at the same time the woman made her application to him; so that this was before he was dismissed from the service of the prophet, and consequently before the affair of Naaman’s cure, and so before the siege…

And it came to pass, as he was telling the king how he had restored a dead body to life Which was the Shunammite’s son: that, behold, the woman whose son he had restored to life cried to the king for her house, and for her land; came and presented her petition to the king at that very instant: and…

And when the king asked the woman, she told him The whole affair; how that she had a son according to the word of Elisha, when she had been barren, and her husband old; that this child was struck with sickness, and died; and that the prophet, through his prayers, restored it to life: so the king…

And Elisha came to Damascus On what account, and when, is not certain, whether to convert Gehazi, as say the Jews [[3]]; 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…

And the king said to Hazael The captain general of his army: take a present in thine hand, and go and meet the man of God, who, perhaps, was not as yet come into the city, only into the region of Damascus: or rather “with thee”; so the Vulgate Latin and Arabic versions; and which Noldius [[5]]…

So Hazael went to meet him, and took a present with him As was usual when a prophet or seer was consulted, see even of every good thing of Damascus; which was a very fruitful place, and had abundance of gardens and orchards in it, which yielded excellent fruit, and of such it is probable the…

And Elisha said unto him, go, say unto him, thou mayest certainly recover That is, of the disease; and there was not only a probability that he might recover of it, it not being a mortal one, but a certainty that he should not die of it, as he did not, but die a violent death, which the prophet…

And he settled his countenance steadfastly Refrained himself as much as possible, that he might not weep, as some Jewish writers interpret it; or, as others, he turned his face on one side, and covered it with his hands, that Hazael might not see him weep; or rather he set his face on Hazael, and…

And Hazael said, Why weepeth my lord? &c.] Imagining it was for the death of Benhadad he had predicted, for which he could see no reason; of the title, “my lord”, see and he answered, because I know the evil that thou wilt do unto the children of Israel; which he foresaw by a spirit of prophecy;…

And Hazael said, but what, is thy servant a dog, that he should do this great thing? &c.] What dost thou take me to be, a vile, impudent, fierce, and cruel creature, as a dog, to be guilty of so great inhumanity and barbarity as this? or what is thy servant? a dog, a mean abject creature, of no…

So he departed from Elisha, and came to his master Benhadad king of Syria: who said to him, what said Elisha to thee? concerning his recovery, which was the thing uppermost in his mind, and he was eagerly desirous to know how it would be: and he answered, he told me that thou shouldest surely…

And it came to pass on the morrow In such haste was Hazael to be king, as the prophet said he would be: that he took a thick cloth, and dipped it in water, and spread it on his face, so that he died; not that Benhadad took or ordered such a cloth to be dipped and laid on his own face, to allay the…

And in the fifth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel, &c.] Who began his reign in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat, . Jehoshaphat being then king of Judah; as he continued to be two years more; for this must be in the twenty third year of his reign, and he reigned twenty five years, .

Thirty and two years old was he when he began to reign The second time, in the lifetime of his father: and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem; which ended in the twelfth year of Joram king of Israel, .

And he walked in the way of the king’s of Israel, as did the house of Ahab Imitated them in idolatry: for the daughter of Ahab was his wife; whose name was Athaliah, , and by her he was drawn into idolatrous practices; of such bad consequence are marriages with idolaters; it is very much that so…

Yet the Lord would not destroy Judah for David his servant’s sake Not for his merits, but for the mercy he assured him of: as he promised him to give to him always a light, and to his children; or a kingdom, as the Targum; therefore he would not utterly destroy the tribe, nor suffer the sceptre or…

In his days Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah Who had been tributary to Judah ever since the times of David, for the space of one hundred and fifty years: and made a king over themselves; for though they are said to have kings, those were only deputy kings, as in and now the prediction of…

So Joram went over to Zair A city in Edom, the same with the Zaara of Ptolemy [[8]]; some take it to be the same with Seir, the mountain or country of that name: and all the chariots with him; all the chariots of war he had: and he rose by night, and smote the Edomites which compassed him about;…

Yet Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah unto this day, &c.] Joram not pursuing the enemy, and taking the advantage of the victory, but returning to his own land, the reason of which follows: then Libnah revolted at the same time; a considerable city in his own kingdom, a Levitical one; this…

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? ] Not in the canonical book of Chronicles, though some of his acts are recorded there, see but in the annals of the kings of Judah, written by persons appointed for that…

And Joram slept with his fathers Died as they did: and was buried with his fathers in the city of David; but not in the sepulchres of the kings, and without any funeral pomp, and without any mourning and lamentation for him, he being not beloved, and his life not at all desirable, (2 Chron.

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. ] He is called Jehoahaz, and said to be the youngest son of Jehoram, .

Two and twenty years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign, &c.] In he is said to be forty two years of age; for the solution of that difficulty (See Gill on 2 Chron.

And he walked in the way of the house of Ahab, and did evil in the sight of the Lord, as did the house of Ahab Worshipping the calves, and Baal also: for he was the son in law of the house of Ahab; he was the son of Jehoram, who was son-in-law to Ahab, having married his daughter, which accounts…

And he went with Joram the son of Ahab His mother’s brother, and so his uncle: to the war against Hazael king of Syria in Ramothgilead; which he went to recover out of the hands of the king of Syria, as his father Ahab had attempted in his time; in which he was assisted by Jehoshaphat, as now Joram…

And King Joram went back From Ramoth, having taken it, and left his army there: to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him at Ramah; the same with Ramothgilead: when he fought against Hazael king of Syria; for Benhadad being dead, he was now king in his room, and Ahaziah…