2 Kings 8:7-10

Hazael Murders Ben-Hadad

7 Elisha went to Damascus, and Ben-Hadad king of Aram was ill. When the king was told, “The man of God has come all the way up here,”

8 he said to Hazael, “Take a gift with you and go to meet the man of God. Consult the LORD through him; ask him, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’ ”

9 Hazael went to meet Elisha, taking with him as a gift forty camel-loads of all the finest wares of Damascus. He went in and stood before him, and said, “Your son Ben-Hadad king of Aram has sent me to ask, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’ ”

10 Elisha answered, “Go and say to him, ‘You will certainly recover.’ Nevertheless,^[a] the LORD has revealed to me that he will in fact die.”

2 Kings 8:7-10 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO 2 KINGS 8

This chapter gives an account of some advice Elisha had formerly given to the Shunammite woman, and of the success of it, 2Ki 8:1-6 and of the sickness of the king of Syria, who sent to Elisha, then being at Damascus, by Hazael, to know whether he should recover; by whom a message was returned, and Hazael was told by the prophet he should be king of Syria, and exercise great cruelty in Israel, 2Ki 8:7-15 and of the bad reign of Jehoram, son of Jehoshaphat, over Judah, 2Ki 8:16-24 and of the reign of his son Ahaziah, 2Ki 8:25-29.

Cross References

• 1. S 2 Samuel 8:5; 1 Kings 11:24
• 2. S 2 Kings 6:24
• 3. 1 Kings 19:15
• 4. S Genesis 32:20; S 1 Samuel 9:7; 2 Kings 1:2
• 5. S Judges 18:5
• 6. Isaiah 38:1

Footnotes

• [a]. The Hebrew may also be read "Go and say, ‘You will certainly not recover,’ for."