2 Kings 8

2 KINGS CHAPTER 8

The Shunammite’s Land Restored

        • ESV Study Bible writes, “After the long narrative about the siege of Samaria, the Shunammite woman of 4:8-37 reappears. The key to understanding this story is in 4:13, where the woman declines Elisha’s offer of help because she has a home among her own people. In 8:1-6, however, she no longer has such a home, for she has followed Elisha’s advice and avoided famine by sojourning in Philistia.”

      • Now Elisha told the woman whose son he had brought back to life, “Get up and go with your household and live as a foreigner wherever you can, because Yahweh has called for a famine in the land that will last for seven years.” So the woman got up and did as the man of God had told her. She and her household went and lived as foreigners in the land of the Philistines for seven years. At the end of seven years she came back from the land of the Philistines and went to ask the king to give her back her house and field. Now the king was talking to Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, and said, “Tell me all the great things Elisha has done.” While Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha had brought the dead back to life, the woman whose son he had brought back to life came to ask the king for her house and field. Gehazi said, “My lord king, this is the very woman, and this is the son whom Elisha brought back to life.” The king asked the woman about it, and she told him. So the king appointed a court official for her and instructed him, “Restore all that was hers as well as the amount of crops her land produced from the day she left the land up until now.”

        • ESV Study Bible notes, “…This general state of famine is to be distinguished from the even more severe famine in the city of Samaria described in 6:24-7:20, which is specifically the result of siege. The land of the Philistines was a natural place for the Shunammite woman to seek refuge during a time of famine in Israel (the patriarch Isaac himself moved into this region in similar circumstances (Gen 26:1), not the least because of its proximity to Egypt, the breadbasket of the ancient world and the common destination throughout the biblical period of people escaping times of hardship (e.g., Gen 12:10; 41:53-42:5; 47:4). Someone has taken the woman’s land in her absence…The king was now the recipient of her appeal, as the person with primary responsibility under God for the establishment and maintenance of order and justice throughout the kingdom…The king goes farther than restoring everything that belonged to the woman; he also provides her with all of the income from her land that she would have received had she stayed in the country.”

        • Guzik remarks, “This was the same servant of Elisha who was cursed with leprosy in 2 Kings 5:20-27. It seems strange that a severely afflicted leper would be a counselor to a king, so it seems that either Gehazi was granted healing from his leprosy or that this actually took place before the events of 2 Kings 5.”

Hazael Murders Ben Hadad

      • Elisha went to Damascus while King Ben Hadad of Syria was sick. When the king was told, “The man of God has come here,” he told Hazael, “Take a gift with you and go visit the man of God. Inquire of Yahweh through him asking, ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’” So Hazael went to meet Elisha, taking with him as a gift 40 camel loads of all kinds of goods from Damascus. When he came and stood before him he said, “Your son, King Ben Hadad of Syria, has sent me to you to ask: ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’” Elisha said, “Go and tell him: ‘You will surely recover,’ but Yahweh has shown me that he will surely die.” Then Elisha stared steadily at him until Hazael was embarrassed. Then the man of God wept. Hazael asked him, “Why is my lord crying?” He answered, “Because I know the evil that you will do to the people of Israel. You will set their fortresses on fire, kill their young men with the sword, smash their children to pieces, and rip open their pregnant women.” Hazael replied, “How could your servant, a mere dog, accomplish such a feat?’ Elisha answered, “Yahweh has shown me that you will be the king of Syria.” Hazael left Elisha and returned to his master who asked him, “What did Elisha say to you?” Hazael answered, “He told me that you would surely recover.” The next day Hazael took a piece of cloth, dipped it in water, and spread it over Ben Hadad’s face until he died. Then Hazael succeeded him as king.

        • Guzik remarks, “God gave Elisha insight into more than the health of the king of Syria. He also saw the inevitable and ultimately God-ordained political machinations that would unfold…Elisha rightly said that the king would certainly recover from his illness, and he did. However, he also saw that the same servant he spoke with at that moment would engineer an assassination and take the throne…This is how Elisha’s statement was true. The king certainly did recover from his illness, and he really did die soon – but not from the illness.”

        • ESV Study Bible writes, “The house of Omri has now held the throne of Israel since 1 Kings 16:23, and in spite of Elijah’s prophecy in1 Kings 21:21-24 about its end, one now reads of Ahab’s second apostate son holding on to his kingdom with the help of Elijah’s successor (e.g., 2 Kgs 3:1-27; 6:9-10). Has Elijah sabotaged God’s plan by failing to anoint Hazael and Jehu (1 Kgs 19:15-18)? It turns out that the answer is no. Hazael is now introduced, to be followed by Jehu…Ben-hadad II consults Israel’s God about his future in much the same way that King Ahaziah of Israel earlier consulted Baal-zebub of Ekron…It appears to have been customary when consulting prophets to offer some payment, in this case an extravagant gift of 40 camels’ loads of goods…The messenger Hazael enters mysteriously. Readers are not told his lineage, nor even his role (servant? Officer?). He comes from nowhere- a mere ‘dog,’ as he puts it in 8:13…”

        • NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible says, “Hazael’s seizure of the throne of Aram from Ben Hadad II, known to the Assyrians as Adad-idri, is recorded not only in these verses but also in a fragmentary Assyrian text on a basalt statue of Shalmaneser III, which refers to Hazael as the ‘son of nobody,’ perhaps reflecting his lowly, nonroyal origins. This dismissive notation is interestingly matched by Hazael’s own self-deprecating speech in v. 13, where he refers to himself as ‘a mere dog’…Hazael came to power at some point between Shalmaneser’s campaign in the west in his 14th year (845 BC), when we know that Adad-idri was still on the throne, and the campaigns of Shalmaneser’s 18th year (841 BC), which records Hazael now as king. He reigned for around 40 years as one of Israel’s most bitter enemies.”

        • On Hazael’s reference to himself as ‘a mere dog,’ NET Bible’s text critical notes explain, “With his reference to a dog, Hazael is not denying that he is a ‘dog’ and protesting that he would never commit such a dastardly ‘dog-like’ deed. Rather, as Elisha’s response indicates, Hazael is suggesting that he, like a dog, is too insignificant to ever be in a position to lead such conquests.”

Jehoram’s Reign Over Judah

      • In the 5th year of the reign of Israel’s King Joram, the son of Ahab, Jehoshaphat’s son Jehoram became king over Judah. He was 32 years old when he became king and he reigned for 8 years in Jerusalem. He followed the ways of the kings of Israel, just as the family of Ahab had done, because Ahab’s daughter was his wife. He did what is evil in Yahweh’s eyes. Yet Yahweh was not willing to destroy Judah for the sake of His servant David, since He had promised to maintain a lamp for David and his descendants forever.

        • There is some discrepancy in the text in v. 16 resulting in some variations among translations. NET Bible’s text critical notes explain, “The Hebrew text reads, ‘and in the fifth year of Joram son of Ahab king of Israel, and [or, “while”?] Jehoshaphat [was?] king of Judah, Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah became king.’ The first reference to ‘Jehoshaphat king of Judah’ is probably due to a scribe accidentally copying the phrase from later in the verse. If the Hebrew text is retained, the verse probably refers to the beginning of a coregency between Jehoshaphat and Jehoram.”

        • Guzik says, “The story of the kings of Judah really paused at 1 Kings 22:50, where Jehoshaphat the son of Asa ended his 25-year reign and his son Jehoram came to the throne. Now we pick up the story of Jehoram again…This King Jehoram of Judah should not be confused with the King Jehoram of Israel mentioned in 2 Kings 3. That Jehoram is called Joram in this passage and following.”

        • NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible explains, “Jehoshaphat is the king of Judah credited in 1,2 Kings with making peace with the king of Israel in the aftermath of the struggles that arose out of the division of the kingdoms under Jeroboam and Rehoboam (1 Ki 22:44), and from his reign forward the fortunes of the Omrides and the Davidides were closely interconnected. The two royal houses fought together (vv. 28-29; ch. 3) and were linked by intermarriage, in that Jehoshaphat’s son Jehoram married Ahab’s daughter Athaliah (vv. 18, 26). Over time they came to share the same religious policy, such that both King Jehoram and his successor, Ahaziah, are portrayed in Kings as idolaters under the influence of the house of Ahab (vv. 18, 27).”

        • HCSB adds to what Guzik mentioned above, “The ‘fifth year’ was 848 BC…’Joram…Jehoram’ are two separate kings, with overlapping reigns. ‘Joram’ is a variant spelling or pronunciation of ‘Jehoram,’ and the text uses both spellings to refer to both men…’Reigned eight years,’ until 841 BC.” The same source mentions that, “This is the first king of Judah to descend to the same level of idolatry as the kings of Israel had done…”

        • NLT Illustrated Study Bible adds, “…While the marriage created temporary harmony between the kingdoms, it brought disastrous spiritual results. Under Athaliah’s influence, Jehoram instituted various false forms of worship (2 Chr 21:11), including worship of Baal (2 Kgs 11:17-18)…Despite Jehoram’s wickedness, God did not destroy Judah but honored his covenant with David (2 Sam 7:11-16). The Lord had promised to preserve David’s descendants on the throne of Judah as a shining…lamp of God’s grace (1 Kgs 11:36). God’s promises to David ultimately find fulfillment in Jesus (Ezek 34:23-31), the light of the world…”

      • During Jehoram’s reign, Edom rebelled against Judah and set up their own king. Jehoram crossed over to Zair with all of his chariots. Then at night he set out to attack the Edomites who had surrounded him and his chariot commanders, but his troops fled back home. So Edom is still in rebellion against Judah’s control to this day. Libnah also rebelled at this same time.

        • ESV Study Bible writes, “The ‘affliction’ on David’s house in this case…comes in Jehoram’s failure to subdue a rebellion by Edom, a country hitherto ruled by a king appointed by Judah (1 Kgs 22:47…) and in unrest even within Judah itself: Libnah was a Judean city to the southwest of Jerusalem and 5 miles to the northeast of Lachish, with which it is associated in 19:8…”

        • HCSB adds, “’Today’ refers to the time of the source document used by the author, not the ‘today’ of the exilic compiler of the books of Kg…”

      • The rest of the events of Jehoram’s reign, including a record of his accomplishments, are recorded in the book, “Annals of the Kings of Judah.” Jehoram rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the city of David. His son Ahaziah succeeded him as king.

        • Guzik notes, “…He died and was buried in Jerusalem, but not in the honored tombs of his ancestors (2 Chronicles 21:20)…According to 2 Chronicles 21:12-15, Elijah wrote Jehoram a letter, condemning him for his sins and predicting that judgment would come upon him and disaster upon the nation. At the age of 40, Jehoram was struck with a fatal intestinal disease and he died in terrible pain (2 Chronicles 21:19).”

Ahaziah Takes the Throne of Judah

      • In the 12th year of the reign of Israel’s King Joram, the son of Ahab, Jehoram’s son Ahaziah became king over Judah. Ahaziah was 22 years old when he became king and he reigned for 1 year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah, who was a granddaughter of King Omri of Israel. He walked in the ways of Ahab’s family and did what was evil in Yahweh’s eyes, just as Ahab’s family had done, because he was related to Ahab’s family.

        • HCSB writes, “The ‘twelfth year’ was 841 BC. This Ahaziah is not to be confused by Ahaziah, king of Israel, who reigned 853-852 BC during the reign of Jehoshaphat of Judah…’One year,’ until 841 BC.”

        • NLT Illustrated Study Bible says, “The year of Ahaziah’s accession to the throne of Judah (841 BC) was pivotal in ancient Near Eastern history. Before the year was out, both Joram and Ahaziah lay dead, Hazael was confirmed as king of Damascus, and Shalmaneser III of Assyria dominated the region.”

        • Some translations call Ahaziah a “son-in-law” of Ahab’s house. NET Bible’s text critical notes add, “For this use of… (khatan), normally ‘son-in-law,’ see HALOT 365 s.v…Ahab was Ahaziah’s grandfather on his mother’s side.”

      • Ahaziah went with Ahab’s son Joram to war against King Hazael of Syria at Ramoth Gilead. The Syrians wounded Joram. King Joram returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds he received from the Syrians at Ramoth in his battle against King Hazael of Syria. Then Judah’s King Ahaziah, Jehoram’s son, went down to Jezreel to visit Joram, Ahab’s son, because he was sick.

        • Guzik remarks, “His close association with the wicked house of Ahab developed into a war alliance with Israel against Syria. His connection with his mother’s family (she was a daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, 2 Kings 8:18) was so strong and sympathetic that he paid a visit to the injured and sick king of Israel (Joram).”

        • NLT Illustrated Study Bible says, “Once again, a king of Judah joined an Israelite king in battle against the Arameans at Ramoth-gilead (see 1 Kgs 22:1-40). Jezreel served as a second capital for Israel during Ahab’s reign (1 Kgs 21:1); he retreated there after witnessing Elijah’s contest with the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel (1 Kgs 18:46).”

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