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2 KINGS 8

PARAGRAPH DIVISIONS OF MODERN TRANSLATIONS

READING CYCLE THREE (see "Bible Interpretation Seminar")

FOLLOWING THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR'S INTENT AT THE PARAGRAPH LEVEL

This is a study guide commentary, which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

Read the chapter in one sitting. Identify the subjects. Compare your subject divisions with the five translations above. Paragraphing is not inspired, but it is the key to following the original author's intent, which is the heart of interpretation. Every paragraph has one and only one subject.

1. First paragraph
2. Second paragraph
3. Etc.

CONTEXTUAL INSIGHTS

1. This chapter covers several things.
   1. Elisha's continuing care for the woman who provided for him a place to stay (2 Kings 4), vv. 1-6
   2. The illness of Ben-hadad and the rise of Hazael (who Elijah was predicted to anoint but Elisha did) vv. 7-15
   3. The reign of Jehoram of Judah, vv. 16-19,23-24
   4. The rebellion of Edom, vv. 20-22
   5. The reign of Ahaziah in Judah and the introduction to his wicked mother, who will reign in Judah, vv. 25-29
   
   
2. The chapter's dates of the kings' reigns are in conflict with other biblical texts. The book that has helped me work through these issues is Edwin R. Thiele, The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings.

WORD AND PHRASE STUDY

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 8:1-6
  ¹Now Elisha spoke to the woman whose son he had restored to life, saying, "Arise and go with your household, and sojourn wherever you can sojourn; for the Lord has called for a famine, and it will even come on the land for seven years." ²So 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. ³At the end of seven years, the woman returned from the land of the Philistines; and she went out to appeal to the king for her house and for her field. ⁴Now the king was talking with Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, "Please relate to me all the great things that Elisha has done." ⁵As he was relating to the king how he had restored to life the one who was dead, behold, the woman whose son he had restored to life appealed to the king for her house and for her field. And Gehazi said, "My lord, O king, this is the woman and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life." ⁶When the king asked the woman, she related it to him. So the king appointed for her a certain officer, saying, "Restore all that was hers and all the produce of the field from the day that she left the land even until now."

8:1-6 Elisha continues to care for the woman who provided a place for him to stay (2 Kings 4).

She is warned about a coming famine which will last seven years but will be limited to Israel. YHWH sent this famine as a way to cause Israel to repent and turn back to Him. This was one of the curses of Lev. 26:23-26; Deut. 28:17,23-24; Ps. 105:16; Jer. 14:26; Hag. 1:11.

It is possible that the seven year famine is related to the siege of Samaria that is why the prophet's message in v. 1 has an urgency and immediacy to it.

SPECIAL TOPIC: REPENTANCE (OT)

8:1 "seven years" Seven is a symbolic number.

SPECIAL TOPIC: SYMBOLIC NUMBERS IN SCRIPTURE, #4

8:2 "did according to the word of the man of God" He had helped her before and she trusted him to truly speak the word of YHWH. Obedience is crucial.

SPECIAL TOPIC: KEEP

8:3 After being gone for seven years, apparently someone had occupied her house and field. She appealed to the king, which was the right of every Israelite.

8:4 "Gehazi" This is the first we hear of him since 2 Kgs. 5:20-27, where he is given Naaman's leprosy. It is uncertain from 2 Kings 6 if he was the attendant whose eyes are opened.

It is obvious Gehazi had a status in the kingdom. He was able to visit face to face with the king (i.e., his leprosy must have been minor or this account happened before 2 Kings 5).

Gehazi retelling the life of Elisha may have been one way oral traditions were preserved. See John H. Walton and D. Brent Sandy, The Lost World of Scripture.

8:6 In honor of Elisha the woman's house and field were restored to her.

The MT has the NOUN (BDB 710; NIDOTTE, vol. 3, pp. 288-294) "eunuch," which literally refers to a castrated servant. However, very early it became a title. Joseph's master is called by this term and had a wife (cf. Gen. 37:36; 39:1).

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 8:7-15
  ⁷Then Elisha came to Damascus. Now Ben-hadad king of Aram was sick, and it was told him, saying, "The man of God has come here." ⁸The king said to Hazael, "Take a gift in your hand and go to meet the man of God, and inquire of the Lord by him, saying, 'Will I recover from this sickness?'" ⁹So Hazael went to meet him and took a gift in his hand, even every kind of good thing of Damascus, forty camels' loads; and he came and stood before him and said, "Your son Ben-hadad king of Aram has sent me to you, saying, 'Will I recover from this sickness?'" ¹⁰Then Elisha said to him, "Go, say to him, 'You will surely recover,' but the Lord has shown me that he will certainly die." ¹¹He fixed his gaze steadily on him until he was ashamed, and the man of God wept. ¹²Hazael said, "Why does my lord weep?" Then he answered, "Because I know the evil that you will do to the sons of Israel: their strongholds you will set on fire, and their young men you will kill with the sword, and their little ones you will dash in pieces, and their women with child you will rip up." ¹³Then Hazael said, "But what is your servant, who is but a dog, that he should do this great thing?" And Elisha answered, "The Lord has shown me that you will be king over Aram." ¹⁴So he departed from Elisha and returned to his master, who said to him, "What did Elisha say to you?" And he answered, "He told me that you would surely recover." ¹⁵On the following day, he took the cover and dipped it in water and spread it on his face, so that he died. And Hazael became king in his place.

8:7 "Ben-hadad" There were several kings of Aram/Syria by this title. Hadad was the storm god of their fertility pantheon. The honorific title means "son of Hadad."

8:8 "take a gift" This was the expected cultural way to approach and inquire of a prophet (cf. 1 Sam. 9:7,8; 25:27; 1 Kgs. 13:7; 14:3; 2 Kgs. 4:42; 5:15).

The gift here was very big (v. 9). Apparently the king was trying to secure a positive response, as was the use of the title "your son" (v. 9).

Elisha may have used these large gifts to support "the sons of the prophets."

8:10 This is a confusing text. It seems Elisha is plotting to overthrow Ben-hadad. This fulfills the earlier divine assignment to Elijah (cf. 1 Kgs. 19:15).

There are two contrasting INFINITIVE ABSOLUTES with an IMPERFECT of the same root.

1. surely recover ‒ BDB 310, KB 309, also note same form in v. 14
2. surely die ‒ BDB 559, KB 562, by Hazael's hand (v. 15)

8:11-13 The initial PRONOUN "he" may refer to Elisha or Hazael.

1. It seems to refer to Elisha and that he is ashamed because he knew how Hazael would defeat Israel in the near future.
   1. set on fire their large cities
   2. kill Israel's young soldiers
   3. kill their children
   4. kill their pregnant women
2. It may refer to an evil plan of assassination already in Hazael's heart and Elisha's stare caused Hazael to blush.

This terrible treatment of defeated nations was not uncommon in the ANE (cf. 2 Kgs. 15:16; Ps. 137:9; Isa. 13:16; Hos. 13:16; Amos 1:13; Nahum 3:10; it is also mentioned in inscriptions of Tiglath-Pileser, and a neo-Babylonian lament). What was uncommon was that

1. it was YHWH's covenant people (i.e., Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 28)
2. YHWH's prophet was part of Hazael's rise to power in Syria

8:13 "a dog" Dogs (NIDOTTE, vol. 2, pp. 640-641) were not pets at this period and locality but street scavengers. This was a very derogatory term (cf. 1 Sam. 24:14; 2 Sam. 9:8; 16:9; the LXX has "dead dog"). Hazael is, in effect, saying, "I would never do that," but he did (cf. 2 Kgs. 10:32-33; 12:17; 13:3,7).

It is possible because of the use of "dog" in the Lachish Letters, that this was a gesture of "humility."

Josephus, Antiq. 9.4.6, says it means Hazael thinks he will never have that much power and military to do these things.

8:14 This was the first response of Elisha (v. 10).

8:15 Hazael smothers Ben-hadad and takes his place as king. Hazael is mentioned in inscriptions of the Assyrian king, Shalmaneser III.

The MT has a MASCULINE NOUN (BDB 460), found only here, but the root means something "netted" or "quilted" (cf. 1 Sam. 19:13,16). The root is used for a sieve in Amos 9:9.

The question remains, was this

1. an act of kindness (i.e., dipped in water)
2. an act of concealment of his death (Tyndale OT Commentary, p. 215)
3. an assassination (i.e., over his face)?

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 8:16-19
  ¹⁶Now in the fifth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel, Jehoshaphat being then the king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah became king. ¹⁷He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. ¹⁸He walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done, for the daughter of Ahab became his wife; and he did evil in the sight of the Lord. ¹⁹However, the Lord was not willing to destroy Judah, for the sake of David His servant, since He had promised him to give a lamp to him through his sons always.

8:16-19 The new king of Judah, the son of Jehoshaphat, Joram becomes king.

He was a follower of Ba'al, like the Omri family. Ahab and Jezebel's daughter became his wife.

Even though Joram sinned greatly, YHWH honored His promise to David (cf. 2 Samuel 7; 1 Chronicles 17).

There is some confusion between 2 Kings 2:1 and this verse. It is best explained by

1. a co-regency
2. a northern ascension calendar brought into Judah by Ahab's family's influence

For a good brief article on scribal issues, see Gleason Archer, Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties, pp. 206-207.

8:19 "a lamp" See full note at 1 Kgs. 11:36 online. This is imagery for a Davidic descendant who should have brought light/truth from Moses, but he did not (cf. 2 Chr. 21:7; NIDOTTE, vol. 3, pp. 159-160).

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 8:20-23
  ²⁰In his days Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah, and made a king over themselves. ²¹Then Joram crossed over to Zair, and all his chariots with him. And he arose by night and struck the Edomites who had surrounded him and the captains of the chariots; but his army fled to their tents. ²²So Edom revolted against Judah to this day. Then Libnah revolted at the same time. ²³The 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?

8:20-24 This paragraph deals with Edom's revolt. Edom's territory controlled the trade routes between Egypt and Syria.

SPECIAL TOPIC: EDOM AND ISRAEL

The Hebrew text is difficult. The textual question is, "who surrounded whom?" The TEV, NJB, REB translations assume Edom surrounded the Judean force, but that a small chariot force escaped and the soldiers scattered to their homes (lit., "tents").

See full textual note at 2 Chr. 21:9 online.

8:22 This fits an Edomite victory in v. 21.

▣ "to this day" This is a textual marker of a later scribe/editor. Moderns do not know who, when, or how of the writing and organizing of the final form found in the MT.

▣ "Libnah revolted at the same time" Why this little historical tidbit is included is uncertain (cf. 2 Chr. 21:10). Libnah was a levitical city. This kind of historical detail is confirmation of the historicity of OT historical narrative.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 8:24
  ²⁴So Joram slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David; and Ahaziah his son became king in his place.

8:24 This is imagery of Joram being buried in his family tomb.

"Sleep" is an OT euphemism for death! Be careful of western literalism!

It is difficult to keep these kings separate when the name of the king of Judah is Joram and the name of the king of Israel is Joram.

SPECIAL TOPIC: KINGS OF THE DIVIDED MONARCHY

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 8:25-27
  ²⁵In the twelfth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel, Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah began to reign. ²⁶Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Athaliah the granddaughter of Omri king of Israel. ²⁷He walked in the way of the house of Ahab and did evil in the sight of the Lord, like the house of Ahab had done, because he was a son-in-law of the house of Ahab.

8:26 "Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king" 2 Chronicles 22:2 has "forty-two." See full note online at 2 Chr. 22:2.

▣ "his mother's name was Athaliah" She became the only reigning queen in Judah. She was a wicked, idolatrous woman, as we will see in the next chapters. She was the grandcaughter of Omri and daughter of Jezebel. Evil runs in families! See NIDOTTE, vol. 4, p. 420.

8:27 The "house of" referred to the dynasty. This was a dynasty of idolatrous leaders committed to Ba'al and Asherah worship. Ahab and Jezebel polluted the whole family!

SPECIAL TOPIC: FERTILITY WORSHIP OF THE ANE

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 8:28-29
  ²⁸Then he went with Joram the son of Ahab to war against Hazael king of Aram at Ramoth-gilead, and the Arameans wounded Joram. ²⁹So King Joram returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Arameans had inflicted on him at Ramah when he fought against Hazael king of Aram. Then Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel because he was sick.

8:28-29 These verses are a duplicate of 2 Kgs. 9:14-15a,16b. One wonders if they have been accidently repeated by a scribe.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

This is a study guide commentary which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought-provoking, not definitive.

1. Why does Elisha continue to help the lady who gave him a room?
2. Is Gehazi the attendant of Elisha in chapter 6?
3. Why would a pagan king consult Elisha?
4. Did Hazael assassinate Ben-hadad or try to help him?
5. What does "a lamp" refer to in v. 19?
6. In verse 21, who won the battle, Israel or Edom?

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