2 Kings 8:1--10:36
son <01121> [A.M. 3113. B.C. 891. whose son.]
live somewhere <01481> [sojourn.]
Lord <03068> [the Lord.]
famine <07458 07121> [called for a famine.]
seven years <07651 08141> [seven years.]
family <01004> [with.]
land <0776> [land.]
[A.M. 3119. B.C. 885.]
king <04428> [the king.]
As it appears not likely that the king would hold conversation with a leprous man; or, that, knowing Gehazi had been dismissed with the highest disgrace from the prophet's service, he would talk with him concerning his late master; some have supposed that this happened before the cleansing of Naaman. But it agrees better with the chronology to consider it as having taken place after that event; the king, probably, having an insatiable curiosity to know the private history of a man who had done such astonishing things. As to the circumstances of Gehazi's disease, he might overlook that, and converse with him, keeping at a reasonable distance, as nothing but actual contact could defile.
Gehazi <01522> [Gehazi.]
Tell <05608> [Tell.]
great <01419> [all the great.]
Elisha ........ life ........................................... life <02421> [he had restored.]
woman .............................. woman <0802> [behold, the woman.]
master <0113> [My lord.]
eunuch <05631> [officer. or, eunuch.]
back ........... crops <07725 08393> [Restore all.]
Damascus <01834> [Damascus.]
Ben Hadad <01130> [Ben-hadad.]
prophet <0376 0430> [The man of God.]
[See on]
traveled <0935> [is come.]
Hazael <02371> [Hazael.]
Take <03947> [Take.]
oracle <01875> [enquire.]
Hazael <02371> [Hazael.]
<03027> [with him. Heb. in his hand.]
son ... Ben Hadad <01121 01130> [Thy son Ben-hadad.]
surely recover <02421> [Thou mayest.]
Lord <03068> [the Lord.]
surely die <04191> [he shall surely die.]
Hazael <07760> [stedfastly. Heb. and set it. wept.]
master <0113> [my Lord.]
trouble <07451> [the evil.]
bits <07376> [dash.]
dog <03611> [a dog.]
accomplish <06213> [he should do.]
Lord <03068> [The Lord.]
asked ...... tell .... replied ... told .... would surely recover <0559 02421> [He told me.]
next day <04283> [And it came.]
next day <04283> [on the morrow.]
took ... piece of cloth <03947 04346> [that he took a thick cloth.]
There is a considerable degree of ambiguity in this passage. The pronoun he is generally referred to Hazael; but Dr. Geddes and others are decidedly of the opinion, that we should understand by it Ben-hadad; who, encouraged by the favourable answer of Elisha, as reported by Hazael, adopted a violent remedy to allay the heat of his fever, and put over his face the {keever,} or fly-net, (See Note on 1 Sa 19:13,) dipped in water, which suddenly checked the perspiration, and occasioned his death.
died <04191> [so that he died.]
Hazael <02371> [Hazael.]
Jehoram <03088> [A.M. 3112. B.C. 892. Jehoram.]
became king over <04427> [began to reign. Heb. reigned.]
"Began to reign in concert with his father."
[A.M. 3112-3119. B.C. 892-885.]
footsteps <01870> [in the way.]
dynasty <01004> [the house.]
daughter <01323> [the daughter.]
married <0802> [his wife.]
David <01732> [for David.]
dynasty <05216> [light. Heb. candle, or lamp.]
Edom <0123> [Edom.]
set up .... king <04428 04427> [made a king.]
Zair <06811> [Zair.]
Zair is supposed by Calmet and others to be the same as Se‹r, the country of Seir the Horite, inhabited by the Edomites or Idumeans. Probably the former was a dialectical pronunciation of the latter.
Edom <0123> [Yet.]
"And so fulfilled. Ge 27:40."
Libnah <03841> [Libnah.]
passed away <07901> [slept.]
Ahaziah <0274> [Ahaziah.]
[Jehoahaz.]
[Azariah.]
[A.M. 3119-3120. B.C. 885-884.]
twenty-two <08147 06242> [Two and twenty.]
In the parallel passage of Chronicles, it is said, "forty and two years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign;" but this is evidently a mistake, as it makes the son two years older than his own father! For his father began to reign when he was thirty-two years old, and reigned eight years, and so died, being forty years old. See ver. 17, and the Note on 2 Ch 22:2.
years ........... one year <0259 08141> [one year.]
Athaliah <06271> [Athaliah.]
granddaughter <01323> [daughter. or, grand-daughter.]
<03212> [he walked.]
related <02860> [the son in law.]
<03212> [A.M. 3120. B.C. 884. he went.]
Hazael <02371> [Hazael.]
Ramoth <07433> [Ramoth-gilead.]
Joram .................................... Joram <03141> [Joram.]
received .... Syrians <0761 05221> [which the Syrians had given. Heb. wherewith the Syrians had wounded. Ramah.]
"Called Ramoth, ver. 28."
Ahaziah <0274> [Ahaziah.]
ill <02470> [sick. Heb. wounded.]
member <0259> [one.]
The Jews say that this was Jonah, the prophet, the son of Amittai.
member <01121> [the children.]
[See on]
Tuck ...... belt <04975 02296> [Gird up thy loins.]
As the upper garments of the Orientals were long and flowing, it was indispensably necessary to tuck up the skirts with a girdle about their loins, in order to use any expedition in their work or on a journey.
container ... olive oil <08081 06378> [box of oil.]
Ramoth <07433> [Ramoth-gilead.]
Jehu <03058> [Jehu.]
Jehoram having retired from the army, Jehu seems to have been left first in command, having been long employed by Ahab's family.
aside <08432> [among his brethern.]
inner room <02315> [inner chamber. Heb. chamber in a chamber.]
pour ..... head <03332 07218> [pour it.]
designated <04886> [I have anointed.]
run <05127> [and flee.]
young <05288> [the young man.]
{Hann„ƒr hannavee,} not as some would render, "the servant of the prophet," but, as correctly rendered by our venerable translators, "the young man, the prophet;" for [hn`r,] hann„ƒr, "the young man," is not in {regimine,} but in {appositione,} with [hnby',] {hannavee,} "the prophet."
message <01697> [I have an errand.]
got <06965> [he arose.]
designated <04886> [I have anointed.]
people <05971> [over the people.]
revenge <05358> [I may avenge.]
<03027> [at the hand.]
cut off <03772> [I will cut off.]
male <08366> [him that pisseth.]
weak <06113> [him that is shut up.]
dynasty <01004> [like the house.]
dynasty <01004> [and like the house.]
Dogs <03611> [the dogs.]
opened <06605> [he opened.]
everything <07965> [Is all well.]
asked .......... madman ..... replied <07696 0559> [this mad fellow.]
It is probable there was something peculiar in the young prophet's manner and address, similar to the vehement actions sometimes used by the prophets when under the Divine influence, which caused the bystanders to use this contemptuous language.
said ....................... said <0559> [Thus and thus.]
Each ..... took <03947 0376> [and took every.]
The spreading of garments in the street, before persons to whom it was intended to shew particular honour, was an ancient and very general custom; the garments in these cases being used for carpets. In the Agamemnon of ’schylus, the hypocritical Clytemnestra commands the maids to spread carpets before her returning husband, that on his descending from his chariot he may place his foot on "a purple-covered path." We also find this custom among the Romans. Plutarch relates, that when Cato of Utica left the Macedonian army, where he had become legionary tribune, the soldiers spread their clothes in the way.
feet <01634> [on the top.]
The ancient fortified cities were generally strengthened with a citadel, (Jud 9:46, 51,) commonly built on an eminence, to which they ascended by a flight of stairs, (Ne 3:15.) It is extremely probable, therefore, that Ramoth-gilead, being a frontier town of Israel and Syria, had a tower of this nature; and that Jehu was proclaimed king on the top of the stairs by which they ascended the hill on which the tower stood, i.e., in the area before the door of the tower, and consequently the most public place in the city.
trumpet ... blown <07782 08628> [blew with trumpets.]
king <04427> [is king. Heb. reigneth.]
conspired <07194> [conspired.]
Ramoth ........ guarding <07433 08104> [kept Ramoth-gilead.]
Joram <03088> [Joram. Heb. Jehoram. returned.]
received <05221> [had given. Heb. smote. none go forth. Heb. no escaper go forth.]
Ahaziah <0274> [And Ahaziah.]
watchman <06822> [a watchman.]
rider <03947 07395> [Take an horseman.]
everything <07965> [Is it peace.]
all right .... None of your business <07965> [What hast thou to do.]
drives ..... drives <04491> [driving. or, marching.]
drives <05090> [for he driveth.]
recklessly <07697> [furiously. Heb. in madness.]
Hitch up ......... hitched up <0631> [Make ready. Heb. bind.]
Jehoram ............... Jehoram <03088> [Joram.]
met up <04672> [met. Heb. found.]
plot of land ....... Naboth <05022 02513> [the portion of Naboth.]
all right ......... all right <07965> [Is it peace.]
all right ......... all right <07965> [What peace.]
idolatry <02183> [the whoredoms.]
trap <04820> [There is treachery.]
aimed ... bow <07198 04390 03027> [drew a bow with his full strength. Heb. filled his hand with a bow. smote.]
knees <03766> [sunk. Heb. bowed.]
<03068> [the Lord.]
shed blood ... Naboth <05022 01818> [blood of Naboth. Heb. bloods of Naboth. of his sons.]
I will give ... what ... deserve <07999> [I will requite.]
plot ................. plot <02513> [plat. or, portion.]
Ahaziah <0274> [Ahaziah.]
Beth Haggan <01004 01588> [garden house.]
Ibleam <02991> [Ibleam.]
Megiddo <04023> [Megiddo.]
"In the kingdom of Samaria."
<0259> [in the eleventh.]
Ahaziah <0274> [began Ahaziah.]
"Then he began to reign as viceroy to his father in his sickness."
"But in Joram's twelfth year, he began to reign alone. ch. 8:25."
Jezebel <0348> [Jezebel.]
put .... eye <05869 07760> [painted her face. Heb. put her eyes in painting.]
fixed up <03190> [tired.]
Zimri <02174> [Zimri.]
all right <07965> [peace.]
looked <08259> [Who is on my side?]
eunuchs <05631> [eunuchs. or, chamberlains.]
Throw ... down .... threw ... down <08058> [Throw her down.]
horses <05483> [and on the horses.]
This terrible mode of punishment appears to have been but rarely used, though we occasionally meet with it during this and subsequent periods. The same punishment, it is well known, obtained among the Romans, who used to throw certain malefactors from the Tarpeian rock. This practice obtains among the Moors at Constantia, a town of Barbary; and is also of frequent occurrence in Persia.
when ..... ground <07429> [and he trode.]
had a meal <0398> [he did eat.]
accursed .... Bury <0779 06912> [this cursed woman.]
king's <04428> [she is a king's.]
found <04672> [but they found.]
word <01697> [This is.]
through ... servant <03027 05650> [by his. Heb. by the hand of his.]
corpse <05038> [the carcase.]
seventy sons <01121 07657> [seventy sons.]
Samaria .......... Samaria <08111> [in Samaria.]
officials <08269> [the rulers.]
guardians <0539> [them. Heb. nourishers.]
letter <05612> [as soon.]
pick <07200> [Look even.]
master's .......... defend ... master's <03898 0113> [fight for.]
two <08147> [Behold.]
stop .... can <05975> [how then shall.]
subjects <05650> [We are thy servants.]
obey <08085> [If ye be mine. Heb. If ye be for me.]
take ... heads <03947 07218> [take ye.]
[See on]
master's sons ................. sons <0113 01121> [your master's sons.]
raising <01431> [which brought them up.]
"The rich," says Mr. Morier, "hire a {dedeh,} or wet nurse for their children. If a boy, the father appoints a steady man from the age of two years to be his {laleh,} who, I conjecture, must stand in the same capacity as the bringers up of children mentioned in the catastrophe of Ahab's sons. But if it be a daughter, she has a {gees sefeed,} or white head, attached to her for the same purpose as the {laleh.}"
executed ... seventy ... them They <07657 07819> [slew seventy.]
came ....... brought <0935> [there came.]
Stack .... two <07760 08147> [Lay ye them.]
Such barbarities are by no means uncommon in the East. "It has been know to occur," says Mr. Morier, "after the combat was over, that prisoners have been put to death in cold blood, in order that the heads, which are immediately despatched to the king, and deposited in heaps at the place gates, might make a more considerable show."
morning <01242> [until the morning.]
innocent <06662> [Ye be righteous.]
conspired <07194> [I conspired.]
<0776 05307> [fall unto the earth.]
Lord ........... Lord ... done <06213 03068> [the Lord hath done.]
through <03027> [by. Heb. by the hand of.]
nobles ... friends ... priests <01419 03045 03548> [and.]
friends <03045> [kinsfolks. or, acquaintance. his priests.]
left ................ left <07604> [he left.]
Beth Eked .... Shepherds <01004 07462> [shearing house. Heb. house of shepherds binding sheep.]
[met with. Heb. found. the brethren.]
<07965> [salute. Heb. the peace of, etc.]
Capture ... alive .... captured ... alive <08610 02416> [Take them alive.]
left <07604> [neither left.]
[lighted on. Heb. found.]
Jehonadab ........................... Jehonadab <03082> [Jehonadab.]
[Jonadab. Rechab.]
<01288> [saluted. Heb. blessed.]
as committed .... as ............ If <03824 03477 03426> [Is thine heart right.]
give .... hand .... offered ... hand <05414 03027> [give me.]
pulled ... up <05927> [he took him.]
Jehu asked for the hand of Jehonadab not merely for the purpose of assisting him into the chariot, but that he might give him an assurance that he would assist him in the prosecution of his desires; for giving the hand is considered as a pledge of friendship and fidelity, or a form of entering into a contract, among all nations. Mr. Bruce relates, that when he entreated the protection of a {sheikh,} the great people who were assembled came, "and after joining hands, repeated a kind of prayer, of about two minutes long; by which they declared themselves and their children accursed, if ever they lifted their hands against me in the {tell,} (or field) in the desert, or on the river; or, in case that I, or mine, should fly to them for refuge, if they did not protect us at the risk of their lives, their families, and their fortunes, or, as they emphatically expressed it, to the death of the last male child among them." Another striking instance occurs in Ockley's History of the Saracens. Telha, just before he died, asked one of Ali's men if he belonged to the emperor of the faithful; and being informed that he did, "Give me then," said he, "your hand, that I may put mine in it, and by this action renew the oath of fidelity which I have already made to Ali."
see <03212 07200> [Come with me.]
exterminated <05221> [he slew.]
just <01697> [according.]
Ahab worshiped Baal ...... worship <05647 01168 0256> [Ahab served Baal.]
Jehu ............... Jehu <03058> [Jehu.]
prophets <05030> [all the prophets.]
servants ........................................ servants <05647> [all his servants.]
priests <03548> [all his priests.]
Jehu <03058> [But Jehu.]
arrangements <06942> [Proclaim. Heb. Sanctify.]
invitations .......... came ....... arrived <0935> [And they came.]
Baal ........... temple ... Baal <01168 01004> [the house of Baal.]
filled <06310 04390> [full from one end to another. or, so full that they stood mouth to mouth.]
robes ............ robes <03830 04403> [vestments.]
Jehonadab <03082> [Jehonadab.]
servants .................... servants <05647> [the worshippers.]
men ... He ......... men <0376 0582> [If any of the men.]
Come <0935> [Go in.]
<0376> [let.]
<06310> [edge. Heb. mouth.]
sacred pillar <04676> [images. Heb. statues.]
burned <08313> [and burned them.]
demolished ... sacred pillar <04676 05422> [brake down the image.]
used as ... latrine <04163 07760> [made it a draught house.]
This was an ancient mode of degradation, which still continues in the East; and we are informed, that Abbas the Great, king of Persia, having conquered Bagdad, treated the tomb of Hanifah, one of the fathers of the church among the Turks, in a similar manner.
sins <02399> [A.M. 3120-3148. B.C. 884-856. the sins.]
Israel <03478> [made Israel.]
golden calves <05695 02091> [the golden calves.]
Bethel <01008> [in Beth-el.]
well <02895> [Because thou hast.]
regard <03824> [according to all that.]
descendants <01121> [thy children.]
carefully <08104> [took no heed. Heb. observed not.]
<03212> [walk.]
repudiate <05493> [he departed.]
reduce <07096> [cut. Heb. cut off the ends of. Hazael.]
<04217> [eastward. Heb. toward the rising of the sun. the land of]
Gilead.
Gilead ...................... Gilead <01568> [even. or, even to.]
[See on]
Jehu passed away <07901 03058> [A.M. 3148. B.C. 856. Jehu slept.]
Jehoahaz <03059> [Jehoahaz.]
<03117> [the time. Heb. the days were.]
