2 Reis 8
Bob Utley · You Can Understand the Bible
2 Reis 8
NJB (MT versing) Jehoram Restores the Shumannite's Land The King Restores the Shumannite's Land Elisha Again Helps the Woman Whose Child He had Saved The Woman from Shumen Returns Epilogue to the Story of the Woman of Shunem 8:1-6 8:1-6 8:1-6 8:1-2 8:1-3 8:3-6 8:4-6 Elisha Predicts Evil From Hazael Death of Ben-hadad Elisha Foments Revolution in Syria Elisha and King Ben-hadad of Syria Elisha and Hazael of Damascus 8:7-15 8:7-15 8:7-15 8:7-9 8:7-8 8:9-13 8:10-12a 8:12b 8:13 8:14a 8:14-15 8:14b-15 Another Jehoram Reigns in Judah Jehoram Reigns in Judah The Reign of Jehoram (Joram) in Judah Jehoram of Judah The Reign of Jehoram in Judah (848-841) 8:16-19 8:16-24 8:16-19 8:16-19 8:16-19 8:20-23 8:20-24 8:20-22 8:20-22 Ahaziah Succeeds Jehoram in Judah 8:23-24 8:23-24 8:24 Ahaziah Reigns in Judah The Reign of Ahaziah of Judah King Ahaziah of Judah Reign of Ahaziah in Judah (841) 8:25-27 8:25-27 8:25-27 8:25-27 8:25-27 8:28-29 8:28-29 8:28-29 8:28-29 8:28-29 Etc. CONTEXTUAL INSIGHTS This chapter covers several things. Elisha's continuing care for the woman who provided for him a place to stay (2 Kings 4), vv. 1-6 The illness of Ben-hadad and the rise of Hazael (who Elijah was predicted to anoint but Elisha did) vv. 7-15 The reign of Jehoram of Judah, vv. 16-19,23-24 The rebellion of Edom, vv. 20-22 The reign of Ahaziah in Judah and the introduction to his wicked mother, who will reign in Judah, vv. 25-29 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.
2 Reis 8:1-6
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. ▣ NASB, NKJV, Peshitta "officer" NRSV, TEV, NJB, REB "official" JPSOA, LXX "eunuch" 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).
2 Reis 8:7-15
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. surely recover ‒ BDB 310, KB 309, also note same form in v. 14 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. It seems to refer to Elisha and that he is ashamed because he knew how Hazael would defeat Israel in the near future. set on fire their large cities kill Israel's young soldiers kill their children kill their pregnant women 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 it was YHWH's covenant people (i.e., Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 28) 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 cover" NKJV, Peshitta "a thick cloth" NRSV, LXX, Targums "bed cover" TEV, NJB, REB "a blanket" "a piece of netting" 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 an act of kindness (i.e., dipped in water) an act of concealment of his death (Tyndale OT Commentary, p. 215) an assassination (i.e., over his face)?
2 Reis 8:16-19
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 a co-regency 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).
2 Reis 8:20-23
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 8:21 NASB, LXX, Peshitta "and struck the Edomites" NKJV, NRSV, JPSOA "and attacked the Edomites" 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.
2 Reis 8:24
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
2 Reis 8:25-27
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
2 Reis 8:28-29
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.