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2 Kings Chapter 8

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2 Kings Chapter 8 Verses 1-6: The Lord brought “famine” to punish Israel’s sin. But in His mercy, He spared the Shunammite woman who had been kind to Elisha (4:8-37). Based on the details given (“went forth to cry … for her house and for her land”), she was probably now a widow. King Jehoram administered justice and kindness, unlike King Ahab in a similar situation (1 Kings 21:1-16). 2 Kings 8:1 "Then spake Elisha unto the woman, whose son he had restored to life, saying, Arise, and go thou and thine household, and sojourn wheresoever thou canst sojourn: for the LORD hath called for a famine; and it shall also come upon the land seven years." “A famine … seven years”: Seven-year famines were known in the ancient Near East (Gen. 41:29-32). Since the Shunammite woman would have been only a resident alien in a foreign land, her return within 7 years may have aided her legal claim to her property (Exodus 21:2; 23:10-11; Lev. 25:1-7; Deut. 15:1-6). This Shunammite woman had befriended Elisha on several occasions. He had prayed, and God had brought her son back to life on one occasion. He knew the 7 year famine that would come upon the land. He went to his friend, and told her to take her family out of the land before the famine begins. The famine in Egypt, at the time of Joseph, had been for 7 years as well. It seems, a severe famine lasts 7 years. 2 Kings 8:2 "And the woman arose, and did after the saying of the man of God: and she went with her household, and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years." “Land of the Philistines”: The area located southwest of Israel along the Mediterranean Sea coastal plain between the Jarkon River in the north and the Besor Brook in the south. The fact that the famine was localized in Israel demonstrated that this was a curse, a punishment for apostasy (Deut. 28:38-40), because of Israel’s disobedience of the Mosaic Covenant. This woman does not doubt what the prophet Elisha has told her. She immediately does exactly as the prophet has told her to do. She knows that Elisha spoke as an oracle of God. She chose the land of the Philistines, because they were less subject to famine. Grain was plentiful there, and there was much water there as well. She was a woman of means, so she could move fairly easily. 2 Kings 8:3 "And it came to pass at the seven years' end, that the woman returned out of the land of the Philistines: and she went forth to cry unto the king for her house and for her land." “Cry unto the king”: The Shunammite woman made a legal appeal to the king to support her ownership claim. In Israel, the king was the final arbiter of such disputes (see note on 1 Kings 3:16-27). Providentially, the widow arrived just as Gehazi was describing how Elisha had raised her son from the dead (verse 5). 1 She had not sold her land, but had left it to find safety for her family. When she came back after the seven years, it seems someone had tried to claim her place. She had gone to the king to judge on the matter. Verses 4-6: The Lord had sovereignly arranged the circumstances so that as the king’s curiosity concerning “Elisha’ was being satisfied by “Gehazi,” the needs of the lady from Shunem could be met. How often the Lord weaves together the little threads of the believer’s life for God’s glory and the believer’s good. 2 Kings 8:4 "And the king talked with Gehazi the servant of the man of God, saying, Tell me, I pray thee, all the great things that Elisha hath done." 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 of Samaria. "Saying, tell me, I pray thee, all the great things that Elisha hath done": The miracles he wrought, as the dividing of the waters of Jordan, and healing those near Jericho. The affair of procuring water for the armies of the three kings in Edom he needed not to relate, since Jehoram was an eyewitness thereof. The next was the multiplying the widow's cruse of oil, when he in course came to those that were done for the Shunammite woman. This particular account was while Gehazi was still in good standing with Elisha. Later on, Gehazi becomes a leper because of his greed and lying. The king perhaps, had not heard much of the miracles Elisha had done, and who would be better to tell him of them than his closest servant? 2 Kings 8:5 "And it came to pass, as he was telling the king how he had restored a dead body to life, that, behold, the woman, whose son he had restored to life, cried to the king for her house and for her land. And Gehazi said, My lord, O king, this [is] the woman, and this [is] her son, whom Elisha restored to life." Which was the Shunammites’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 Gehazi said, my lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life": The very person I am speaking of. Of course the greatest miracle that Gehazi had seen Elisha do, was the restoration of life to the young boy. God arranged that at the very moment he is telling of this miracle, the woman, who it happened to, would enter. She will confirm the fact, that this miracle really did take place. 2 2 Kings 8:6 "And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed unto her a certain officer, saying, Restore all that [was] hers, and all the fruits of the field since the day that she left the land, even until now." “Restore all … all the fruits”: The king’s judgment was to return to the woman everything she owned, including the land’s earnings during her absence. Not only did she have the opportunity to tell the king of the miracles of Elisha, but the king believed her about her claim for her land, and she was restored her property as well. Verses 7-15: This illness would not kill “Ben-hadad”, but he also would not escape death for long. That Elisha “settled his countenance steadfastly” suggests a rigid facial expression characteristic of a trance associated with giving a prophetic oracle. Elisha supernaturally discerned the murder plot that was in Hazael’s heart. 2 Kings 8:7 "And Elisha came to Damascus; and Ben-hadad the king of Syria was sick; and it was told him, saying, The man of God is come hither." “Elisha came to Damascus”: It was unusual for a prophet to visit foreign capitals, but not unknown (Jonah 3:3). Elisha went to Damascus, the capital of Syria, to carry out one of the 3 commands God had given to Elijah at Horeb (1 Kings 19:15-16). “Ben-hadad” (see note on 1 Kings 15:18). Ben-hadad died 841 B.C., the same year as Jehoram of Israel (3:1), Jehoram of Judah (8:17), and Ahaziah of Judah (8:25-26). “Man of God” (see note on Deut. 33:1). We are not told why Elisha came to Damascus. We can safely assume the LORD sent him. He might have been having trouble in Samaria at this time, but I would assume, it was to meet Hazael. Ben-hadad, king of Syria, is sick. Everyone in Syria knew of the miracles that Elisha had performed in the past. The king will surely try to get help from Elisha. 2 Kings 8:8 "And the king said unto Hazael, Take a present in thine hand, and go, meet the man of God, and inquire of the LORD by him, saying, Shall I recover of this disease?" “Hazael”: His name means “God sees” or “who God beholds.” Hazael was a servant of Ben- hadad and not a member of the royal family. Assyrian records called Hazael the “son of a nobody” and his lineage was not recorded because he was a commoner. We know that before the ascension of Elijah into heaven, the LORD had told him to anoint Hazael as king of Syria. If he did that, it was long before the opportunity arose for Hazael to be king. It was Hazael that Ben-hadad sent to inquire of Elisha, if he would live over this sickness? 3 2 Kings 8:9 "So Hazael went to meet him, and took a present with him, even of every good thing of Damascus, forty camels' burden, and came and stood before him, and said, Thy son Ben-hadad king of Syria hath sent me to thee, saying, Shall I recover of this disease?" “Every good thing of Damascus”: The city of Damascus was a trade center between Egypt, Asia Minor, and Mesopotamia. It had within it the finest merchandise of the ancient Near East.
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