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Texts -- 2 Kings 8:1-21 (NET)

Context
Elisha Again Helps the Shunammite Woman
8:1 Now Elisha advised the woman whose son he had brought back to life , “You and your family should go and live somewhere else for a while, for the Lord has decreed that a famine will overtake the land for seven years .” 8:2 So the woman did as the prophet said . She and her family went and lived in the land of the Philistines for seven years . 8:3 After seven years the woman returned from the land of the Philistines and went to ask the king to give her back her house and field . 8:4 Now the king was talking to Gehazi , the prophet’s servant , and said , “Tell me all the great things which Elisha has done .” 8:5 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 master , O king , this is the very woman and this is her son whom Elisha brought back to life !” 8:6 The king asked the woman about it, and she gave him the details . The king assigned a eunuch to take care of her request and ordered him, “Give her back everything she owns, as well as the amount of crops her field produced from the day she left the land until now .”
Elisha Meets with Hazael
8:7 Elisha traveled to Damascus while King Ben Hadad of Syria was sick . The king was told , “The prophet has come here .” 8:8 So the king told Hazael , “Take a gift and go visit the prophet . Request from him an oracle from the Lord . Ask him, ‘Will I recover from this sickness ?’” 8:9 So Hazael went to visit Elisha. He took along a gift , as well as forty camel loads of all the fine things of Damascus . When he arrived , he stood before him and said , “Your son , King Ben Hadad of Syria , has sent me to you with this question , ‘Will I recover from this sickness ?’” 8:10 Elisha said to him, “Go and tell him, ‘You will surely recover ,’ but the Lord has revealed to me that he will surely die .” 8:11 Elisha just stared at him until Hazael became uncomfortable . Then the prophet started crying . 8:12 Hazael asked , “Why are you crying , my master ?” He replied , “Because I know the trouble you will cause the Israelites . You will set fire to their fortresses , kill their young men with the sword , smash their children to bits , and rip open their pregnant women .” 8:13 Hazael said , “How could your servant , who is as insignificant as a dog , accomplish this great military victory ?” Elisha answered , “The Lord has revealed to me that you will be the king of Syria .” 8:14 He left Elisha and went to his master . Ben Hadad asked him, “What did Elisha tell you?” Hazael replied , “He told me you would surely recover .” 8:15 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 replaced him as king .
Jehoram’s Reign over Judah
8:16 In the fifth year of the reign of Israel’s King Joram , son of Ahab , Jehoshaphat’s son Jehoram became king over Judah . 8:17 He was thirty-two years old when he became king and he reigned for eight years in Jerusalem . 8:18 He followed in the footsteps of the kings of Israel , just as Ahab’s dynasty had done , for he married Ahab’s daughter . He did evil in the sight of the Lord . 8:19 But the Lord was unwilling to destroy Judah . He preserved Judah for the sake of his servant David to whom he had promised a perpetual dynasty . 8:20 During his reign Edom freed themselves from Judah’s control and set up their own king . 8:21 Joram crossed over to Zair with all his chariots . The Edomites , who had surrounded him, attacked at night and defeated him and his chariot officers . The Israelite army retreated to their homeland .

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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • Saul's concern for his father's peace of mind was commendable. It shows a sensitivity that would have been an asset in a king (v. 5). Likewise his desire to give Samuel a present for his help was praiseworthy (v. 7; cf. 1 Kin...
  • The writer introduced the history of Saul's reign by referring to the king's age and possibly the length of his reign. Verse one contains a textual corruption in the Hebrew text.132There the verse reads, "Saul was . . . years...
  • Hadad hated Solomon because of Joab's severe treatment of the Edomites. He may have been a relation of Solomon's by marriage. Pharaoh Siamun apparently gave his daughter to Solomon in marriage and his sister-in-law to Hadad (...
  • Elijah's zeal for God's covenant, altars, and prophets was admirable, but he became too discouraged because he underestimated the extent of commitment to Yahweh that existed in Israel.208He was not alone in his stand for Yahw...
  • (Continued from notes on 1 Kings)3. Ahaziah's evil reign in Israel -1 Kings 22:51-2 Kings 1:184. Jehoram's evil reign in Israel 2:1-8:155. Jehoram's evil reign in Judah 8:16-246. Ahaziah's evil reign in Judah 8:25-9:29C. The ...
  • The Gilgal in view may have been the one between Jericho and the Jordan, or it may have been one about seven miles north of Bethel since Elijah and Elisha went down to Bethel (v. 2).10This account presupposes previous revelat...
  • Several details in this incident hinge on timing that God supernaturally controlled to bring blessing on the woman as God had promised. God directed her away from the famine before it came on Israel for the nation's apostasy ...
  • Hazael was the governor of Damascus.50The Gentile King of Aram had more interest in inquiring of Yahweh than Jehoram's predecessor did (v. 8; cf. 1:2). It was customary in the Near East to make a great show of giving gifts. I...
  • Jehoshaphat appointed his son Jehoram coregent the year Jehoshaphat went off to do battle with Ahab at Ramoth-gilead (853 B.C.). For the next five years Jehoram served with his father. In 848 B.C. he began ruling alone and di...
  • Jehoash (Joash) had respect and affection for Elisha. He anticipated the loss that the death of God's spiritual warrior would be to Israel (v. 14). He recognized that Israel's real defense lay in Yahweh's angelic army and in ...
  • Jeremiah's symbolic act of wearing a yoke led to another symbolic act, the breaking of that yoke. Jeremiah's act brought a false prophet into direct confrontation with the true prophet.28:1 The following event took place in t...
  • 20:1 Certain elders of the Jewish exiles came to Ezekiel to inquire of the Lord (cf. 14:1-11). Inquiring of the Lord meant securing a divine revelation concerning a particular event (cf. 1 Kings 14:5-18; 22:7-28; 2 Kings 8:8-...
  • What follows in this chapter is another oracle against a foreign nation (cf. chs. 25-32). What is it doing here? Evidently the writer included this oracle here because it promises to desolate an enemy of Israel that wanted to...
  • The date of Joel is its largest introductory problem. There are four most likely possibilities. First, some scholars advocate an early pre-exilic dateduring the reign of King Jehoshaphat (872-848 B.C.) or possibly his grandso...
  • 1:3 The expression "for three transgressions [Heb. pesha'im, rebellions, i.e., against the universal Sovereign; cf. Gen. 9:5-17] and for four"is one of Amos' trademarks (cf. vv. 6, 9, 11, 13; 2:1, 4, 6). It means for numerous...
  • 7:10 Amaziah, who was one of the apostate priests who served at the Bethel sanctuary (cf. 1 Kings 12:26-33), felt that Amos was being unpatriotic in what he was prophesying. So Amaziah sent a message to King Jeroboam II charg...
  • Since we do not know who the writer was, other than that his name was Obadiah, it is very difficult to date this book and to determine where it came from."This shortest book in the Old Testament, consisting of only twenty-one...
  • v. 11 God cited one specific instance of Edom's violence against her brother, but as I explained in the introduction, which instance is unclear. Edom's treachery against Judah had taken place on a particular "day"in the past....
  • This material occurs in no other Gospel. The destruction of Jerusalem that Jesus predicted here was an important event for Luke. It showed God's judgment on Israel for rejecting His Son and provided evidence that God had turn...
  • 22:12 Jesus Christ repeated His promise to return soon (v. 7, cf. 1:3; 22:20)."Nowhere is a date set, nor was there any definite promise that the consummation would occur within the lifetime of the first century Christians. N...
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