John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

2 Kings 4:1



INTRODUCTION TO 2 KINGS 4



This chapter treats of the miracles of Elisha, of his multiplying a poor widow's pot of oil for the payment of her husband's debts, 2Ki 4:1 of obtaining a son for a Shunamitish woman, who had been very hospitable to him, 2Ki 4:8, of his raising up her son to life when dead, 2Ki 4:18, of his curing the deadly pottage made of wild gourds, 2Ki 4:38, and of his feeding one hundred men with twenty barley loaves, 2Ki 4:42.



Ver. 1. Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha,.... This, according to the Targum, was the wife of Obadiah, who had hid the prophets by fifty in a cave in the times of Ahab; and so Josephus {q}, and it is the commonly received notion of the Jewish writers; though it does not appear that he was a prophet, or the son of a prophet, but the governor or steward of Ahab's house; she was more likely to be the wife of a meaner person; and from hence it is clear that the prophets and their disciples married:



saying, thy servant my husband is dead; which is the lot of prophets, as well as others, Zec 1:5



and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the Lord; her husband was well known to the prophet, and known to be a good man, one of the 7000 who bowed not the knee to Baal, for the truth of which she appeals to Elisha; and this character she gives of her husband, lest it should be thought that his poverty, and leaving her in debt, were owing to any ill practices of his:



and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen; which it seems were allowed of when men became poor and insolvent, and died so, to which the allusion is in Isa 1:1,

See Gill on "Mt 18:25". Josephus {r} suggests, that the insolvency of this man was owing to his borrowing money to feed the prophets hid in the cave; and it is a common notion of the Jews that this creditor was Jehoram the son of Ahab; and in later times it was a law with the Athenians {s}, that if a father had not paid what he was fined in court, the son was obliged to pay it, and in the mean while to lie in bonds, as was the case of Cimon {t}, and others.



{q} Antiqu. l. 9. c. 4. sect. 2. {r} Ibid. {s} Alex. ab Alex. Genial. Dier. l. 6. c. 10. {t} Cornel. Nep. in Vita Cimon. l. 5. c. 1.





2 Kings 4:2



Ver. 2. And Elisha said unto her, what shall I do for thee?.... Or can I do, being poor himself, and unable to relieve her out of his substance, and not knowing where to get anything for her; and so what could she expect from him? signifying, that he pitied her case, but all that he could do was to give her his best advice, and pray for her:



tell me what thou hast in thy house? that she could part with and dispose of, in order to pay her debt; and satisfy her creditor:



and she said, thine handmaid hath not anything in the house, save a pot of oil; that is, nothing of any value; she might have some things, some sort of household goods, though perhaps she had parted with most of them in her poverty; this was the most valuable thing she had.





2 Kings 4:3



Ver. 3. Then he said, go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours,.... For he perceived that she had none:



even empty vessels; which they might more readily lend her:



borrow not a few; but as many as she could get; the prophet, under a divine impulse, was directed to say this to her, foreseeing, by a spirit of prophecy, that a large quantity of oil would be given her.





2 Kings 4:4



Ver. 4. And when thou art come in,.... Into her house:



thou shall shut the door upon thee, and upon thy sons; that they might be alone in the house while the miracle was working; that they might not be interrupted in what they were to do, by the creditor coming in upon them, or by neighbours, who would be for getting the oil from them in the vessels they had lent them: and that the miracle might appear the plainer, no oil being brought into the house by any:



and shalt pour out into all these vessels; out of the single pot of oil into all they borrowed:



and thou shalt set aside that which is full; by itself, and fill the rest of the empty ones.





2 Kings 4:5



Ver. 5. So she went from him,.... And did as he advised her, borrowed many empty vessels of her neighbours, having faith in what the prophet had said to her:



and shut the door upon her, and upon her sons; and then went to work as she was directed, with her sons:



who brought the vessels to her; the empty ones she had borrowed: and she poured out; the oil out of her pot into them.





2 Kings 4:6



Ver. 6. And it came to pass when the vessels were full,.... For the oil being miraculously increased as it was poured forth, there was enough to fill all the vessels; Ben Gersom and Abarbinel say, that when the pot was emptied, all the air that entered it was turned into oil:



that she said to her son, bring me yet a vessel; as she had two sons, one it is probable was employed in setting aside the full vessels, as she poured into them, and the other in bringing to her the empty vessels, and to whom she thus speaks:



and he said unto her, there is not a vessel more; not an empty one, they were all filled:



and the oil stayed; it ran no longer, it was no more multiplied; there was no necessity of continuing the miracle: this oil may be an emblem of the grace that flows from the fulness of it in Christ, to which it is compared, which will be always flowing, as long as there is a vessel of salvation, or faith in any to receive it; see Mt 25:3 1Jo 2:20.





2 Kings 4:7



Ver. 7. Then she came and told the man of God,.... Elisha the prophet, what had been done, what a quantity of oil she had, and advised with him what was to be done with it:



and he said, go, sell thy oil, and pay thy debt; what was thus miraculously produced was no doubt very good and excellent, and would fetch a good price; and she is therefore bid to turn it into money, and pay her debts with it; she was not to keep it all for her own use, and indulge to luxury with it, but first pay her just debt, as everyone ought to do that is able:



and live thou and thy children of the rest; so that it seems there was enough to pay her debt with it, rid her of her troubles, and somewhat remaining for the support of herself and children.





2 Kings 4:8



Ver. 8. And it fell on a day,.... Or so it was at a certain time:



that Elisha passed to Shunem; a city in the tribe of Issachar; of which see Jos 19:18,



where was a great woman; of great wealth and riches, of great benevolence and hospitality, and of great grace and piety; that feared sin, as the Targum paraphrases it; a woman of great credit and reputation on all accounts. The Jews say {u} she was the sister of Abishag the Shunammite, and the mother of Iddo the prophet:



and she constrained him to eat bread; she had observed him at all times pass that way, and guessed by his habit and deportment that he was a religious man, and therefore took an opportunity to invite him into her house, and take a dinner with her; but he being modest and shy, she was obliged to use some pressing language, and be importunate with him, that he would accept of her invitation, which he did:



and so it was, that, as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread; being made very welcome, and encouraged by the free and kind entertainment he met with, as often as he had occasion to come that way, he called and took a meal with her; and this it seems was pretty often, for Shunem was not far from Carmel, which he frequented, and lay in the way to Samaria, Bethel, and Jericho, places he often visited, the schools of the prophets being there.



{u} T. Bab. Bava Bathra, fol. 57. 2.





2 Kings 4:9



Ver. 9. And she said unto her husband,.... Not being willing to do any thing without his leave and consent:



behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God which passeth by us continually: and calls here frequently: this she perceived by his discourse and conversation; and by his carriage and behaviour he appeared to be a prophet, and one very eminent for holiness and religion.





2 Kings 4:10



Ver. 10. Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall,.... Either of the city, to which their house might join, or of their garden, a little distance from the house; though the Jewish writers commonly understand it of a little edifice built up of walls of stone or bricks, and not one with reeds, or stud and mud:



let us set for him there a bed; that he may stay all night when he pleases:



and a table; not only to eat his food, but to write on, and lay his books on he reads. Of the table of a scholar of the wise men, in later times, we are told {t}, that two thirds of it were covered with a cloth, and the other third was uncovered, on which stood the plates and the herbs:



and a stool; to sit upon at table:



and a candlestick; with a candle in it, to light him in the night to read by, and the like:



and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither; where he would be free from the noise of the house, and be more retired for prayer, reading, meditation, and study, and not be disturbed with the servants of the family, and be mixed with them; all this she contrived, both for his honour, and for his quietness and peace.



{t} Pirke Eliezer, c. 33.





2 Kings 4:11



Ver. 11. And it fell on a day that he came thither,.... As he had been wont to do:



and he turned into the chamber; built for him, and to which he was directed:



and lay there; all night, and which no doubt was frequently repeated by him, he accepting of the kindness of his host.





2 Kings 4:12



Ver. 12. And he said to Gehazi his servant,.... Who attended him wherever he went, and ministered to him, and lay very probably in the same chamber with him; he might be one of the sons of the prophets:



call this Shunammite; tell her I desire to speak with her:



and when he had called her, she stood before him; at the door of the chamber, in great reverence of him, and with much humility, waiting to hear what he had to say to her: this must be understood after what had further passed between Elisha and Gehazi, and between Gehazi and the woman, who returned to his master, and acquainted him with what she had said to him, upon which he was sent to call her, and she came.





2 Kings 4:13



Ver. 13. And he said unto him,...., To Gehazi, before he went to call her:



say now unto her, behold, thou hast been careful for us with all this care; in building a chamber, and furnishing it with proper household goods, and providing food for them from time to time:



what is to be done for thee? can anything be thought of by thee that will be acceptable, and in my masters power to do for thee, or thy husband?



wouldest thou be spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the host? that her husband might be promoted to some post in the court, or in the camp; intimating, that if either of these was agreeable, Elisha would speak on his behalf, having interest in both through his services in Edom:



and she answered, I will dwell among my own people she was content and satisfied with her present state of life, and the situation she was in, and with her friends and neighbours she lived among, and did not care to remove, though it was to a higher rank of life, and to greater dignity and honour; and she had no suit to make to the king or general, nothing to complain of; and she had friends enough to speak for her, should she want any assistance.





2 Kings 4:14



Ver. 14. And he said,.... That is, Elisha to Gehazi, when he returned to him, and told him what the Shunammite said:



what then is to be done for her? something he thought should be done in gratitude, the favours they had received, and advises with his servant what could be thought of, he being one about the house:



and Gehazi answered, verily she hath no child, and her husband is old; and so not likely to have any by him; as children were always very desirable by women, and especially in those days, the servant suggests, that no doubt to have one would be very acceptable to her.





2 Kings 4:15



Ver. 15. And he said, call her,.... Perhaps finding an impulse on his own mind, from the Spirit of God, that this was the thing to be done for her:



and when he had called her, she stood in the door; of his chamber:

See Gill on "2Ki 4:12".





2 Kings 4:16



Ver. 16. And he said, about this season,.... In the next year:



according to the time of life; the usual time women go with child:



thou shalt embrace a son; in thine arms, that shall be born of thee, which she should have in her lap, and in her bosom:



and she said, nay, my lord, do not lie unto thine handmaid; or speak unto her what was not truth; it was so great, and so unaccountable, how it could be in her circumstances, that she could not believe it to be true, though she wished it might; or do not deceive me with vain and false words, or flatter me, jest with me, which would be unbecoming his character as a man of God, and prophet of the Lord; according to the Targum, she wished it might prove true, and she not deceived; see 2Ki 4:28.





2 Kings 4:17



Ver. 17. And the woman conceived, and bare a son at the season that Elisha said unto her,.... Quickly after this she conceived, and became pregnant, and by that time the year came round, she was brought to bed of a son:



according to the time of life: when she had gone her full time to have a son born alive, and live.





2 Kings 4:18



Ver. 18. And when the child was grown,.... Perhaps was six or seven years of age, or more:



it fell on a day that he went out to his father to the reapers; it was harvest time, and the men were reaping the corn in the fields; and his father, though a wealthy man, was with them to direct them, and see they did their business well, as Boaz formerly; and the child went out from the house to the field, to see his father and the reapers, for his recreation and diversion.





2 Kings 4:19



Ver. 19. And he said unto his father, my head, my head,.... After he had been some time with him, he complained of a pain in his head, which might be owing, as Abarbinel thinks, to the sun's beating upon it, being harvest time, and hot weather; and the pain being exceeding great and vehement, he repeated his complaint, see Jer 4:19



and he said to a lad, carry him home to his mother; his father gave orders to a lad that attended the reapers to have him home to his mother, that she might give him something to ease him of his pain.





2 Kings 4:20



Ver. 20. And when he had taken him, and brought him to his mother,.... The lad led him home, and delivered him to his mother:



he sat on her knees till noon, and then died; out of her great affection, she took him on her knees, and laid his head in her bosom to sooth the pain, and in this posture he continued until the middle of the day, and then expired; by which it appears it was in the morning when he went into the field, and when the sun was pretty high, and beat strongly on him; which, it may be, produced a fever, and which issued in his death.





2 Kings 4:21



Ver. 21. And she went up,.... Into the little chamber built for the prophet:



and laid him on the bed of the man of God; not from any imagination of any virtue in it to bring her child to life; though she might think of the prophet, and have faith that he could raise it to life, as Elijah raised the widow of Zarephath's son laid on his bed, of which she might have heard; but this being a private room, and into which none went, she laid it here to conceal its death from her husband and family, and to prevent grief, and that they might not bury it until she returned:



and shut the door upon him; that no creature might enter, and, do any damage to his corpse:



and went out; not out of the chamber, that she did before she shut the door, but out of the house.





2 Kings 4:22



Ver. 22. And she called unto her husband,.... In the field, who might be within call, or by a messenger she sent to him:



and said, send me, I pray thee, one of the young men, and one of the asses, that I may run to the man of God, and come again; intimating that she should not be long gone, but should return again presently; saying not a word of the death of the child, or of the occasion of her going.





2 Kings 4:23



Ver. 23. And he said, wherefore wilt thou go to him today?.... What reason is there for it? what is the meaning of it?



it is neither new moon nor sabbath; neither the first day of the month, nor the seventh day of the week, times which were religiously observed; so with the Heathens the new moon and the seventh of the week, and so the fourth, were sacred {u}; which notions they borrowed from the Jews,

See Gill on "1Sa 20:5" and when, it seems, it was usual to frequent the house of the prophet, to hear the word of God read and explained, and other religious exercises performed, as praying and singing praise, and receiving some good instructions and advice. Joseph Kimchi gives a different sense of these words:



"there is not a month past, no, not a week, since thou sawest him;''



why therefore shouldest thou be in such haste to go to him? so the words for new moon and sabbath may signify:



and she said, it shall be well; it was right for her to go, and it would be well for him and her, and the family; or, "peace" {w}, be easy and quiet, farewell: it is much he had no mistrust of the death of the child, or that it was worse, since it went from him ill.



{u} Hesiod. Opera & Dies, l. 2. {w} Mwlv "pax", Pagninus, Montanus, &c.





2 Kings 4:24



Ver. 24. Then she saddled an ass,.... Her servant did it by her order:



and said to her servant, drive, and go forward; make all the haste he could:



slack not thy riding for me, except I bid thee; do not be afraid of riding too fast for me; if thou dost, I will tell thee; till then, keep on a good pace: Abarbinel says she walked afoot all the way, and ordered the man not to slacken his pace in riding for her, unless she called to him; and the Targum seems to favour this sense,



"do not press me to ride unless I call to thee;''



so that the ass was for Elijah to ride on; but one would think, that, as she was in haste, quicker dispatch would be made by her riding than by walking, see 2Ki 4:22.





2 Kings 4:25



Ver. 25. So she went and came unto the man of God at Mount Carmel,.... Where Elijah used to be, and where, perhaps, was a school of the prophets; this, according to Bunting {x}, was sixteen miles from Shunem:



and it came to pass, when the man of God saw her afar off; as he might from the eminence of the mountain:



that he said to Gehazi his servant, behold, yonder is that Shunammite; that has so often and so hospitably entertained us at her house.



{x} Travels, &c. p. 207.





2 Kings 4:26



Ver. 26. Run now, I pray thee, to meet her,.... In respect to her, and to know the occasion of her coming; something is the cause of it:



and say unto her, is it well with thee? is it well with thy husband? is it well with the child? has any disaster befallen thee, thy husband, or the child? are all in good health? or does any disorder attend any of them?



and she answered, it is well; as in general they were, the greatest part, she and her husband; and though the child was dead, yet, if gone to heaven, as she might hope, it was well too; and it is right to judge and say, that all that the Lord does is well: she gives a short answer to the servant, not being willing to be detained, and being desirous of telling her case to the prophet himself.





2 Kings 4:27



Ver. 27. And when she came to the man of God to the hill,.... To the top of it:



she caught him by the feet; in reverence to him, and as a supplicant, she prostrated herself at his feet, and, out of affection to him, caught hold on them, and held them fast, and determined not to leave him until he had promised to go with her, see Mt 28:9. It was usual with the Jews to lay hold on and kiss the feet or knees of those to whom they did homage, or made supplication, see Mt 28:9.

See Gill on "Lu 7:38", and so with the Greeks, as may be observed in various passages in Homer {y} and others:



but Gehazi came near to thrust her away; as being troublesome and disagreeable to his master, and not for her honour and credit:



and the man of God said, let her alone, for her soul is vexed within her; or "is bitter" {z}, full of trouble and distress, and knows not what to do, nor very well what she does:



and the Lord hath hid it from me, and hath not told me: what is the cause of this her trouble; for prophets did not know things of themselves, nor had they the vision of prophecy at their will and pleasure, but according to the will of God.



{y} Vid. Barthium ad Claudian. de Raptu Proserpin. l. 1. ver. 50. {z} hrm "amara", Pagninus, Montanus, &c.





2 Kings 4:28



Ver. 28. Then she said, did I desire a son of my lord?.... It was not at her request she had one, at least the first motion was not from her; the prophet first told her, and assured her she should have one, without her asking for it; she might be pleased with it, and desire the promise might be fulfilled; but it was not an inordinate, importunate, desire of one, in which she had exceeded, that so the taking it away from her might be a correction of her for it:



did I not say, do not deceive me; by giving hopes of a child, and yet have none; and now it was equally the same, or worse, to have one, and then to have it taken away again as soon as had almost; so the Targum,



"did I not say unto thee, if a child is given me, let it live, if not, do not trouble or grieve me;''



and then, no doubt, she told him plainly the child was dead, and where she had laid it, though not recorded.





2 Kings 4:29



Ver. 29. Then he said to Gehazi, gird up thy loins,.... His loose and long garments about him, that he might make quicker dispatch in travelling:



and take my staff in thine hand, and go thy way; not for the sake of travelling with it, but for an end after mentioned:



if thou meet any man, salute him not; and if any salute thee, answer him not again; that so no time may be lost:



and lay my staff upon the face of the child; he not intending when he said this to go himself, but at the time, as near as he could, when this action was performed, would pray to God to restore life to the child; for he could not imagine that by this bare action it could be done.





2 Kings 4:30



Ver. 30. And the mother of the child said,.... Having no faith in what the servant was to do, or could do:



as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee; signifying she would not go with his servant, but insisted upon it that he himself went with her, or she would not depart:



and he arose, and followed her; influenced by her importunity, and a sense of favours he had received from her, and more especially by the Spirit of God.





2 Kings 4:31



Ver. 31. And Gehazi passed on before them,.... The prophet and the Shunammite:



and laid the staff upon the face of the child; as he was ordered:



but there was neither voice nor hearing: it seems as if he spoke when he laid the staff on the child, but it heard and answered him not, so that there was no sign of life in it:



wherefore he went again to meet him; upon the road between Carmel and Shunem:



and told him, saying, the child is not awaked; by which he expresses its being dead; or, if he knew nothing of its death, he supposed it fast asleep, which was the reason of its not hearing and answering, though the former seems best.





2 Kings 4:32



Ver. 32. And when Elisha was come into the house,.... Of the Shunamite, and into the chamber built for him:



behold, the child was dead, and laid upon the bed; upon his bed, and where he found it really dead.





2 Kings 4:33



Ver. 33. He went in therefore, and shut the door upon them twain,.... Himself and the dead child; that nobody might come in and interrupt him in his prayers for the restoration of it to life, nor see the motions and gestures he used, and the postures he put himself in:



and prayed unto the Lord; that he would restore the child to life.





2 Kings 4:34



Ver. 34. And he went up,.... To the bed, which was on an ascent in the chamber, See Gill on "2Ki 1:4" and lay upon the child; as Elijah did on the widow's son of Zarephath, 1Ki 17:21



and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands, and stretched himself upon the child; that is, he did each of these one after another, since the disproportion of their bodies would not admit of their being done together:



and the flesh of the child waxed warm; not from any virtue imparted to it by these motions and actions of the prophet, but from life being infused into it by the Lord, which caused an heat in the several parts of the body.





2 Kings 4:35



Ver. 35. Then he returned and walked in the house to and fro,.... Left the chamber, and came down to the house where the family chiefly resided, and walked to and fro in deep thought and meditation, and, no doubt, in fervent ejaculations for the wished for blessing to be completed:



and went up; to the chamber again, and up to the bed in it:



and stretched himself upon him; as before:



and the child sneezed seven times; which was a sign of life, and even of health; and hereby his head was cleared, as some observe, of those humours that had caused the pains in it {a}, and had issued in death:



and the child opened his eyes; upon the prophet, another sign of life.



{a} Vid. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 28. c. 6. Aristot. Problem. sect. 33. qu. 9.





2 Kings 4:36



Ver. 36. And he called Gehazi, and said, call this Shunammite,.... To come up to the chamber to him:



so he called her: and when she was come in unto him, he said, take up thy son; from off the bed, alive, safe, and sound.





2 Kings 4:37



Ver. 37. Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground,.... In reverence of him, and with the most profound gratitude and thankfulness for the mercy received:



and took up her son, and went out; of the chamber into her house, with great joy and gladness.





2 Kings 4:38



Ver. 38. And Elisha came again to Gilgal,.... Where he was with Elijah a little before his assumption to heaven, 2Ki 2:1 and whither he went, there being a school of the prophets, as he did to all places where there were any, and where he had been before with Elijah; partly to instruct, encourage, and strengthen them, and partly to confirm his office as a prophet by miracles, which he did in several places he came to:



and there was a dearth in the land; a famine through drought:



and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him: as disciples before their master, see Ac 22:3



and he said unto his servant; very probably Gehazi:



set on the great pot, and seethe pottage for the sons of the prophets; who seemed to have lived together in one house or college, and to be to the number of one hundred, see 2Ki 4:43 and therefore required to have a large pot set on to boil pottage for them all.





2 Kings 4:39



Ver. 39. And one went out into the fields to gather herbs,.... To put into the pottage, the gardens affording none in this time of dearth; or, however, being scarce, were at too great a price for the sons of the prophets to purchase them; and therefore one of them went out into the field to gather what common herbs he could:



and found a wild vine, and gathered thereof wild gourds his lap full; thought to be the same with coloquintida, the leaves of which are very like to a vine, of a very bitter taste, and a very violent purgative, which, if not remedied, will produce ulcerations in the bowels, and issue in death; some think the white brier or white vine is meant, the colour of whose berries is very inviting to look at, but very bitter and ungrateful, and it vehemently purges {b}; the Arabs call a sort of mushroom that is white and soft by this name {c}, but cannot be meant here, because it has no likeness to a wild vine:



and came and shred them into the pot of pottage; cut or chopped them small, and put them into the pot:



for they knew them not; what they were, the nature and virtue of them, being unskilful in botany.



{b} Vid. Scheuchzer. Physic. Sacr. vol. 3. p. 605, 859. {c} Golius, col. 1817.





2 Kings 4:40



Ver. 40. So they poured out for the men to eat,.... When the pottage was boiled, they poured it out into dishes or basins, for the sons of the prophets to eat:



and it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out, and said, O thou man of God, there is death in the pot; poison, the cause of death; the pottage was so exceeding bitter, that they concluded there must be some poisonous herb in it; and coloquintida is so bitter, that it is called "the gall of the earth":



and they could not eat thereof: they stopped eating, it being so very disagreeable, and, as they supposed, dangerous.





2 Kings 4:41



Ver. 41. But he said, then bring meal: and he cast it into the pot,.... And stirred it about in it:



and he said, pour out for the people, that they may eat; as they now might freely, and without any danger, as he intimated:



and there was no harm in the pot; or anything that could do any harm or mischief to the health of men: this was not owing to the natural virtue of meal, but to a miraculous power attending it, whereby the pottage was cured of its malignity, as the bad waters of Jericho were by salt, in a preceding miracle.





2 Kings 4:42



Ver. 42. And there came a man from Baalshalisha,.... Of which place

See Gill on "1Sa 9:4", the Targum is, from the south country:



and brought the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley; so that it was now barley harvest, and this the first fruits of it, which, according to the law, Le 23:10, was to be brought to the priest; but being forbid in the land of Israel going up to Jerusalem, religious men brought their firstfruits to the prophets, and here to Elisha, the father of them; believing it would be dispensed with, and acceptable, since they were not allowed to carry them to the proper person; and in this time of famine was very agreeable to the man of God, supposing it only a present:



and full ears of corn in the husk thereof; these were green ears of corn, which they used to parch; but might not be eaten until the firstfruits were offered, and then they might, Le 23:14, the Targum renders it, "in his garment", in the skirt of his clothes; and to the same purpose are the Syriac and Arabic versions; and so Jarchi interprets it; and Ben Gersom says, it signifies some vessel in which he brought them:



and he said, give unto the people, that they may eat; Elisha did not reserve this offering or present for himself, but, as he had freely received, he freely gave.





2 Kings 4:43



Ver. 43. And his servitor said,.... His servant Gehazi very probably:



what, should I set this before one hundred men? for so many, it seems, the sons of the prophets were in this place; and these loaves being very small, no more, it is thought by some, than one man could eat, and the ears of corn but few, the servant suggests they would be nothing comparatively to such a company of men:



he said again, give the people, that they may eat; he insisted upon it that his orders should be obeyed:



for thus saith the Lord, they shall eat, and shall leave thereof; it was suggested to him by a spirit of prophecy, there would be enough for them, and to spare.





2 Kings 4:44



Ver. 44. So he set it before them,.... The twenty barley loaves, and the full ears of corn:



and they did eat, and left thereof, according to the word of the Lord; as the disciples did at the miracle of the loaves and fishes; though that must be allowed to be a greater miracle than this, Mt 14:17.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

2 Kings 5:1



INTRODUCTION TO 2 KINGS 5



This chapter gives an account of the leprosy of Naaman the Syrian, and of the cure of it by Elisha; how he came to hear of him, and the recommendation he had from the king of Syria to the king of Israel, 2Ki 5:1, who, coming to Elisha's house, was ordered to dip himself seven times in Jordan, which made him depart in wrath; but one of his servants persuaded him to do it, and he did, and was cured, 2Ki 5:9, upon which he returned to Elisha, and offered him a present, which he refused, 2Ki 5:15 but Gehazi, his servant, ran after him with a lie in his mouth, and obtained it, and returned to his master with another, for which he was smitten with the leprosy of Naaman, 2Ki 5:20.



Ver. 1. Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria,.... The general of Benhadad's army; for he was now king of Syria, though some think Hazael his successor was:



was a great man with his master; high in his favour and esteem:



and honourable; not only acceptable to the king, and loaded with honours by him, but greatly respected by all ranks and degrees among the people:



because by him the Lord had given deliverance unto Syria; out of the hands of their enemies, and victory over them, and particularly in the last battle with Israel, in which Ahab was slain, and, as the Jews suppose, by the hands of Naaman, See Gill on "1Ki 22:34" however, when any salvation was wrought, or victory obtained, even by Heathens, and by them over Israel, the people of God, it was of the Lord:



he was also a mighty man in valour; a very courageous valiant man:



but he was a leper; was stricken with the leprosy, which had deformed and disgraced his person, and weakened his strength, and dispirited him; all his grandeur and honour could not protect him from this loathsome disease.





2 Kings 5:2



Ver. 2. And the Syrians had gone out by companies,.... Not regular troops, but a sort of banditti of robbers, which made excursions into the land of Israel, to plunder and carry off what booty they could:



and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; for boys and girls were a part of the booty of such robbers, whom they could sell for money, see Joe 3:1. Jarchi and Kimchi say she was a girl of Naaron, a city so called:



and she waited on Naaman's wife; being either made a present of to the general by those plunderers, or was bought by him of them for his wife's service.





2 Kings 5:3



Ver. 3. And she said unto her mistress,.... As she was waiting upon her at a certain time, and perhaps her mistress was lamenting the case of her husband as desperate and incurable:



would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria; meaning Elisha, who, though sometimes in one place, and sometimes in another, yet often at Samaria, and it seems was there when this girl was taken captive:



for he would recover him of his leprosy; the maid had heard of the miracles wrought by Elisha, and doubted not that at the request of her lord he would be willing, as she believed he was able, to cure him of this disease.





2 Kings 5:4



Ver. 4. And one went in and told his lord,.... What the girl had said to her mistress; one of the servants of the house that overheard it; or rather, Naaman went and told his lord the king of Syria; for as this was said to his wife, no doubt she told it to her husband, and not a servant; and the following words require this sense, and is the sense of most Jewish commentators:



saying, thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel; who for her wit and beauty might be well known at court by the name of the Israelitish girl.





2 Kings 5:5



Ver. 5. And the king of Syria said, go to, go,.... On what Naaman related to him from what the maid had said, he urged him by all means to go directly to Samaria:



and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel; recommending him to use his interest in his behalf; this was Jehoram the son of Ahab:



and he departed; set out on his journey immediately, as soon as he could conveniently:



and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold; partly for the expenses of his journey, and partly to make presents to the king of Israel's servants, and especially to the prophet; a talent of silver, according to Brerewood {d}, was three hundred and seventy five pounds of our money; but, according to Bishop Cumberland's {e} exact calculation, it was three hundred and fifty and three pounds eleven shillings and ten and an half pence the pieces of gold are, by the Targum, called golden pence, and a golden penny, according to the first of the above writers {f}, was of the value of our money fifteen shillings; so that these amounted to 4500 pounds sterling:



and ten changes of raiment; both for his own use, and presents.



{d} De Ponder. & Pret. Vet. Num. c. 4. {e} Scripture Weights and Measures, c. 4. p. 120. {f} Ut supra, (De Ponder. & Pret. Vet. Num.) c. 3.





2 Kings 5:6



Ver. 6. And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying,.... The contents of which were, so far as it concerned Naaman and his case, which are only observed, these:



now when this letter is come unto thee; was received by him:



behold, I have therewith sent Naaman my servant unto thee; the bearer of it:



that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy; meaning not he himself, but that he would recommend him to the care of a proper person, his prophet, and enjoin him to do the best he could for him; but the king of Israel mistook his meaning, as appears by what follows.





2 Kings 5:7



Ver. 7. And it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes,.... As one in great distress, being thrown into perplexity of mind by it, not knowing what to do; or, as some think, at the blasphemy he supposed to be in it, requiring that of him which only God could do:



and said, am I God, to kill and to make alive; or have the power of life and death, which only belongs to the Supreme Being:



that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy; for a leper was reckoned as one dead, his disease incurable, his flesh upon him being mortified by it, see Nu 12:12 and therefore not supposed to be in the power of man, only of God, to cure; and therefore, in Israel, none had anything to do with the leper but the priest, in the name of God:



wherefore consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me; to pick a quarrel with him, in order to go to war with him as he supposed. This seems to have been spoken to his lords and courtiers about him.





2 Kings 5:8



Ver. 8. And it was so, when Elisha the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes,.... And upon what account:



that he sent to the king, saying, wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? and thereby expressed so much concern and distress:



let him come now to me: meaning Naaman the Syrian leper:



and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel; able in the name of the Lord to work miracles, which he should be sensible of and acknowledge, to the glory of the God of Israel, by the cure that should be wrought upon him; and hereby he taxed the king of Israel with ignorance or neglect of him as a prophet.





2 Kings 5:9



Ver. 9. So Naaman came with his horses, and with his chariot,.... In his chariot drawn by horses; or "with horsemen and chariots", a great retinue, both for his own grandeur, and for the honour of the prophet, and to make him the more respectable by him:



and stood at the door of the house of Elisha; who now dwelt at Gilgal, as is probable, see 2Ki 4:38, hither Naaman was directed, and here he stopped; and having sent a messenger to Elisha to acquaint him who he was, and what was his business, he stayed waiting for an answer.





2 Kings 5:10



Ver. 10. And Elisha sent a messenger unto him,.... Or returned an answer by Naaman's messenger; he did not go out to him, choosing to be retired, as he commonly did; and being perhaps employed in prayer for the cure; and it may be also to show his contempt of or little regard he had to worldly grandeur and honour, as well as to mortify the pride of Naaman:



saying, go and wash in Jordan seven times; so, according to the law of the cleansing the leper, he was to be sprinkled seven times, and on the seventh day his flesh was to be bathed or dipped all over in water, which is meant by washing here, Le 14:7



and thy flesh shall come again to thee; which was eaten and consumed by the disease on him:



and thou shalt be clean; freed from this pollution, or filthy disease, with which he was defiled; for a leper was reckoned unclean, Le 13:3.





2 Kings 5:11



Ver. 11. But Naaman was wroth with him,.... On more accounts than one:



and went away; not to Jordan, but from the prophet's house, with an intention to return to his own country:



behold, I thought, he will surely come out to me this he said within himself, making no doubt of it but that he would show him so much respect and civility as to come out of his house to him, and converse with him, or invite him into it and not doing this was one thing made him wroth: and stand; he supposed that he would not only come out, but stand before him, as inferiors before their superiors in reverence, but instead of that he remained sitting within doors:



and call on the name of the Lord his God: he expected, that as he was a prophet of the Lord, that he would have prayed to him for the cure of him:



and strike his hand over the place; wave his hand to and fro, as the word signifies, over the place of the leprosy, as the Targum, over the place affected with it; or towards the place where he worshipped the Lord, as Ben Gersom, toward the temple at Jerusalem; or towards Jordan, the place where he bid him go and wash, as Abarbinel; but the first sense seems best: "and recover the leper"; meaning himself, heal him by the use of such means and rites.





2 Kings 5:12



Ver. 12. Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel?.... Abana is, in the marginal reading, called Amana, and so the Targum; perhaps from the Mount Amana, from whence it sprung, a mountain in Syria {g}, mentioned with Lebanon, So 4:8. This river is thought to be the Chrysorrhoas of Pliny {h}, and other writers; there are no traces of its name, or of the following, to be met with now; the only river by Damascus is called Barrady, which supplies Damascus and its gardens, and makes them so fruitful and pleasant as they be; it pours down from the mountains, as Mr. Maundrell {i} describes it, and is divided into three streams, of which the middlemost and biggest runs directly to Damascus, through a large field, called the field of Damascus; and the other two are drawn round, the one to the right hand, and the other to the left, on the borders of the gardens. Pharpar is thought {k} to be the river Orontes, which runs close to the walls of Antioch, and courses through its large and spacious plain, being numbered among the rivers of Syria; it takes its rise from Lebanon, and, sliding through the said plain, falls into the Syrian sea. Benjamin of Tudela {l} speaks of these rivers under their Scripture names; Abana or Amana as he says, passes through the city and supplies the houses of great men with water through wooden pipes; and Pharpar is without the city and runs among the gardens and orchards, and waters them. Farfar is also the name of a river in Italy {m}:



may I not wash in them, and be clean? as well as in Jordan; or rather, since they are better waters, and so not have been at this trouble and expense to come hither; or have I not washed in them every day? I have, and am I clean? I am not; which is the sense the several Jewish writers give {n}:



so he turned, and went away in a rage; in a great passion, swearing and cursing perhaps, ordering his chariot driver to turn and be gone at once.



{g} Tacit. Annal. l. 2. c. 83. {h} Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 18. {i} Journey from Aleppo, p. 122, 123. {k} Cartwright's Preacher's Travels, p. 7, 8. Hiller. Onomast. Sacr. p. 908. {l} Itinerar. p. 55. {m} Servius in Virgil. Aeneid. l. 7. p. 1243. {n} Ben Gersom in loc. & R. Joseph Kimchi, & R. Jonah in Ben Melech in. loc.





2 Kings 5:13



Ver. 13. And his servant came near, and spake unto him, and said, my father,.... Or my lord, as the Targum; this being not a familiar and affectionate expression, but a term of honour, reverence, and submission:



if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? something that was hard and difficult to done, or painful to bear, to go through some severe operation, or disagreeable course of physic:



how much rather then when he saith to thee, wash, and be clean? which is so easy to be done; though Abarbinel observes it may be interpreted, the prophet has bid thee do a great thing, and which is wonderful; for though he has said, wash and be clean, consider it a great thing, and which is a wonderful mystery, and therefore do not despise his cure.





2 Kings 5:14



Ver. 14. Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God,.... He listened to the reasoning of his servant, and his passion subsided, and did as the prophet ordered him:



and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child; clear and fresh, soft and tender as an infant, quite new flesh:



and he was clean; from the leprosy, and all the filthy symptoms of it.





2 Kings 5:15



Ver. 15. And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company,.... To give him thanks for the advice he had given him, and by him to give thanks to God for the cure he had received; for he was sensible it was from the Lord, his words show:



and came and stood before him; for being admitted into the prophet's house, instead of the prophet standing before him, as he before expected, he now stood before the prophet in veneration of him, and sensible of his obligation to him:



behold, now I know there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel; though he did not before, but his cure fully convinced him of it:



I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant; not a wish of health and happiness, which the prophet would not have refused, but a present; the Targum calls it an offering.





2 Kings 5:16



Ver. 16. But he said, as the Lord liveth, before whom I stand,.... Whose minister and prophet he was, and by whom he swears:



I will receive none: to let him know that this cure was not to be attributed to him, but the Lord only; and that what concern he had in it was not for the sake of money, but for the glory of the God of Israel:



and he urged him to take it, but he refused it; Naaman was very pressing upon him to receive a gift from him, but he could not be prevailed upon to accept it.





2 Kings 5:17



Ver. 17. And Naaman said, shall there not then, I pray thee, be given to thy servant two mules' burden of earth..... Not that he desired of Elisha that he would suffer his servant Gehazi to receive a present as much as two mules could carry; but inasmuch as the prophet refused a present from him, his servant, he asks a favour of him, that he would permit him to take with him, out of the land of Israel, as much earth two mules could carry, that is, to make an altar of earth, as the next words indicate: but as he might have this any where without the prophet's leave, some Jewish writers {o} think he requested it from his own house, and from the place his feet trod on, as conceiving in a superstitious way that there was a sort of holiness in it; or however, that wheresoever he had it, if with the prophet's leave, a blessing would go with it, or that would be a sort of a consecration of it; and having an altar made of the earth of this land, would show that he was in the faith of the same God, and performed the same worship to him Israel did:



for thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice unto other gods, but unto the Lord: hence the Jews say, he became a proselyte of righteousness {p}, embraced the true religion, and the worship of the true God, according to the laws given to Israel; and the following words, rightly understood, confirm the same.



{o} Ben Gersom & Abarbinel in loc. {p} Shalshalet Hakabala, fol. 11. 2.





2 Kings 5:18



Ver. 18. In this thing the Lord pardon thy servant,.... Which he next mentions, and on account of which he desires the prayers of Elisha for him, as the Vulgate Latin version; or it may be, this is a prayer of his own, put up at this time to the true Jehovah, in whom he believed:



that when my master: meaning the king of Syria:



goeth into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leaneth on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon: when I bow down myself in the house of Rimmon; the Lord pardon thy servant in this thing; the house of Rimmon was a temple of an idol of that name; what idol it was is not easy to say; the Septuagint version calls it Remman, thought by some to be the same with Remphan, Ac 7:43, a name of Saturn, said to be given him from a Greek word, which signifies to "wander" {q}, he being placed among the wandering stars in the supreme heavens; which is not likely, for the word is certainly of a Syriac signification, and comes either from Mwr, which signifies "high", and so the same with Elioun, the Phoenician deity, called the most high {r}; or, as "Rimmon" is used for a pomegranate, this is thought to design the Syrian goddess, to whom this sort of fruit was sacred; or Juno, whose statue, in her temple at Mycenas {s}, had a pomegranate in one hand; or rather this Rimmon was Jupiter Cassius, so called from Mount Cassius, which divided Syria from Egypt, who is painted with his hand stretched out, and a pomegranate in it {t}; and may be the same with Caphtor, the father of the Caphtorim, Ge 10:14 who might be deified after his death, their names, Rimmon and Caphtor, being of the same signification {u}. But be this deity as it may, it was worshipped by the Syrians; and when the king of Syria went in to worship, he used to lean upon the hand of one of his officers, either being lame, or for state sake, in which office Naaman was; and his request to the prophet, or to the Lord, is, not for pardon for a sin to be committed; nor to be indulged in his continuance of it; not to worship the idol along with his master; nor to dissemble the worship of it, when he really worshipped it not; nor to be excused any evil in the discharge of his post and office; but for the pardon of the sin of idolatry he had been guilty of, of which he was truly sensible, now sincerely acknowledges, and desires forgiveness of; and so Dr. Lightfoot {w}, and some others {x}, interpret it; and to this sense the words may be rendered,



when my master went in to the house of Rimmon to worship there; which was his usual custom; and he leaned on my hand, which was the common form in which he was introduced into it:



and I worshipped in the house of Rimmon, as his master did, for the same word is used here as before;



in as much, or seeing I have worshipped in the house of Rimmon, have been guilty of such gross idolatry:



the Lord, I pray, forgive thy servant in this thing; the language of a true penitent.



{q} A rembesyai "vagari", Hesychius. {r} Vid. Selden. de Dis Syris Syntagm. 2. c. 10. {s} Pausan. Corinthiac. sive, l. 2. p. 114. {t} Achilles Tatius, l. 3. Vid. Reland. Palestin. Illustrat. tom. 2. p. 934. {u} See Clayton's Origin of Hieroglyphics, p. 113. {w} Works, vol. 1. p. 86. {x} Vid. Quenstedt. Dissert. de. Petit. Naaman. sect. 21, 22.





2 Kings 5:19



Ver. 19. And he said unto him,.... That is, the prophet said to Naaman:



go in peace: in peace of mind; be assured that God has pardoned this and all other transgressions:



so he departed from him a little way; about a mile, as the Targum, and so other Jewish writers; of this phrase, See Gill on "Ge 35:16", some say a land's length, that is, about one hundred and twenty feet; rather it was a thousand cubits, or half a mile.





2 Kings 5:20



Ver. 20. But Gehazi the servant of Elisha the man of God said,.... Within himself, observing what had passed:



behold, my master hath spared Naaman this Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought: he speaks contemptibly of Naaman, as an alien from the commonwealth of Israel, and reproaches his master for letting him go free, without paying for his cure; when he thought he should have taken what he brought and offered, and given it to needy Israelites, and especially to the sons of the prophets, that wanted it; and perhaps it mostly disturbed him, that he had no share of it himself:



but, as the Lord liveth, I will run after him, and take somewhat of him; the word for "somewhat", wanting a letter usually in it, is what is sometimes used for a blot; and Jarchi observes, that Gehazi taking something from Naaman, was a blot unto him, and indeed such an one that he could not wipe off.





2 Kings 5:21



Ver. 21. So Gehazi followed after Naaman,.... As fast as he could:



and when Naaman saw him running after him; which he might observe, looking back, or be informed of by some of his servants:



he lighted down from the chariot to meet him; in honour to the prophet, whose servant he was:



and said, is all well? fearing something ill had befallen Elisha; or he himself had done something wrong, which occasioned the servant to run after him.





2 Kings 5:22



Ver. 22. And he said, all is well,.... He need give himself no uneasiness at the coming and sight of him:



my master hath sent me, saying, behold, even now there be come to me; just then, since he departed from him:



from Mount Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets: where perhaps was a school of them:



give them, I pray thee, a talent of silver, and two changes of garments: which, as it was a downright lie, so highly improbable that Elisha should ask so large a sum of money, with two changes of raiment, for two young scholars, see 2Ki 5:5 and which Naaman, with a little reflection, might have seen through; but his heart was so filled with gratitude for the benefit received, that he was glad of an opportunity, at any rate, of showing respect to the prophet.





2 Kings 5:23



Ver. 23. And Naaman said, be content,.... Or be pleased; do not object to it:



take two talents: a talent for each young man, which amounted to between three hundred and four hundred pounds apiece:



and he urged; pressed him hard, insisted upon his taking them, who might pretend a great deal of modesty, and a strict regard to his master's orders:



and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of garments; for each young man:



and laid them upon two of his servants, the servants of Naaman, not choosing to burden Elisha's servant with them; for such a quantity of money and clothes was pretty heavy:



and they bare [them] before him; both for his ease, and for his honour.





2 Kings 5:24



Ver. 24. And when he came to the tower,.... Of Samaria, or which was near it; a fortified place, and where was a watch, to whom he could safely commit the money and clothes:



he took them from their hand; not willing they should go any further with him, lest the affair should be discovered to his master:



and bestowed [them] in the house; deposited them there in the hands of some person whom he could trust; or laid them out, or ordered them to be laid out, in the purchase of houses, lands, vineyards, &c. see 2Ki 5:26



and he let the men go, and they departed; to their master.





2 Kings 5:25



Ver. 25. But he went in, and stood before his master,.... To know his will, and minister to him, as he had used to do, and as if he had never been from the house:



and Elisha said unto him, whence comest thou, Gehazi? where had he been, and where was he last?



and he said, thy servant went no whither; he pretended he had never been out of doors, which was another impudent lie; one would have thought that he who had lived so long with the prophet, and had seen the miracles wrought by him, and knew with what a spirit of prophecy he was endowed, would never have ventured to tell such an untruth, since he might expect to be detected; but covetousness had blinded his eyes and hardened his heart.





2 Kings 5:26



Ver. 26. And he said unto him, went not mine heart with thee?.... Did my heart or knowledge go from me, that what thou hast done should be hid from me? so Ben Gersom and others; or my heart did not go with thee, it was contrary to my mind and will what thou didst; so Abendana; or rather, as the Targum, by a spirit of prophecy it was shown unto me, &c. I knew full well what thou wentest for, and hast done; and so Maimonides {y}; was not I employed in my thoughts? or, did I not think that so it was as thou hast done? I did:



when the man turned again from chariot to meet thee? meaning Naaman the Syrian:



is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments: as Gehazi had now done:



and oliveyards, and vineyards, and sheep and oxen, and menservants, and maidservants? that is, to purchase those with the two talents of silver he had received, as he thought in his heart, or intended to do, as the Targum; or had given orders to purchase such for him to the persons to whom he had committed the care of them in the tower; this was not a proper time, when the honour of the prophet, and the credit of religion, and the good of this man, as a new proselyte, were in danger thereby.



{y} Moreh Nevochim, par. 1. c. 39.





2 Kings 5:27



Ver. 27. The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever,.... As long as any of his race remained; as through his covetousness he had his money, so for his punishment he should have his disease:



and he went out from his presence; as one ashamed and confounded, and discharged from his master's service:



a leper [as white] as snow; a leprosy of which colour is the worst, and is incurable.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

2 Kings 6:1



INTRODUCTION TO 2 KINGS 6



In this chapter are recorded other wonders of Elisha, as causing iron to swim, 2Ki 6:1 having knowledge of the secret counsels of the king of Syria, which he disclosed to the king of Israel, 2Ki 6:8 smiting the Syrian army with blindness sent to take him, and which he led into the midst of Samaria, 2Ki 6:13, and the chapter is closed with an account of the siege of Samaria, and a sore famine in it, 2Ki 6:24.



Ver. 1. And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha,.... Or the disciples of the prophets, as the Targum:



behold now, the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us: their numbers were so increased, that there was not room enough for them in the house they dwelt in with the prophet; which increase was owing, the Jews {z} say, to the departure of Gehazi last mentioned, who was a bad man, and used the disciples so ill, that they could not stay in the college; but, when he was gone, they flocked in great numbers; but rather it was owing to the very instructive ministry and wonderful miracles of Elisha: the place where the prophet and his disciples now dwelt seems to be Gilgal, 2Ki 4:38.



{z} T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 107. 2.





2 Kings 6:2



Ver. 2. Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan,.... Which, according to Josephus {a}, was fifty furlongs, or upwards of six miles, distant from Gilgal:



and take thence every man a beam; by cutting down the trees that grew there; for Mr. Maundrell says {b}, the banks of Jordan are beset with bushes and trees, which are an harbour for wild beasts; and another traveller {c} observes, that it is shadowed on both sides with poplars, alders, &c. and who speaks of their cutting down boughs from the trees when there:



and let us make us a place there where we may dwell: near the banks of Jordan, which they might choose for the seclusion and pleasantness of the situation, or because Elijah was taken up to heaven near it, as Abarbinel thinks; from whence it appears that these scholars were far from living an idle life; for they were not only trained up in useful learning, but were employed in trades and manufactures, to which they had been brought up, and knew how to fell timber, and build houses:



and he answered, go ye; he gave them leave, without which they did not choose to do anything.



{a} Antiqu. l. 5. c. 1. sect. 4. {b} Journey from Aleppo, &c. p. 82, 83. {c} Sandys's Travels, l. 3. p. 110.





2 Kings 6:3



Ver. 3. And one said, be content, I pray thee, and with thy servants,.... Or be pleased to go with us; he begged it as a favour, that, being awed by his presence, they might preserve peace and order, and have his advice as to the spot of ground to erect their edifice on, and might be protected by him from harm and mischief by men or wild beasts:



and he answered, I will go; he consented to it, knowing perhaps before hand that he should have an opportunity of working a miracle there, as he did.





2 Kings 6:4



Ver. 4. So he went with them. And when they came to Jordan, they cut down wood. Trees which grew upon the banks of it, to build their house with, at least for the rafters and flooring of it, supposing the walls to be built of stone.





2 Kings 6:5



Ver. 5. But as one was felling a beam,.... Cutting down a tree, or a branch of it:



the axe head fell into the water: into the waters of Jordan; or "the iron" {d}, the iron part of it, with which the wood was cut; that flew off from the helve into the water:



and he cried, and said, alas, master! for it was borrowed: it grieved him to lose his axe, because he could do no more work, and the more because it was not his own, but he had borrowed it of his neighbour; and still more, because, as it seems, he was poor, and not able to pay for it, which, being of an honest disposition, gave him distress.



{d} lzrbh "ferrum", Pagninus, Montanus, &c.





2 Kings 6:6



Ver. 6. And the man of God said, where fell it?.... For though endowed with a spirit of prophecy, he did not know all things, and at all times; and if he did know where it fell, he might ask this question to lead on to the performance of the miracle:



and he showed him the place; the exact place in the river into which it fell:



and he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither; he did not take the old helve and throw in, but a new stick he cut off of a tree; some think he made of this another helve or handle, of the same size and measure with the other, and that this being cast in was miraculously directed and fixed in the hole of the iron at the bottom of the water, and brought it up with it; but, as Abarbinel observes, there is no need to suppose this; the wood was cast into the precise place where the iron fell, and was sent as it were to call it up to it:



and the iron did swim; it came up and appeared, and was bore on the surface of the waters; or, "and made the iron to swim" {e}; which some understand of the wood cast in, as if it had some peculiar virtue in it to draw up the iron; but it was not any particular chosen wood, but what first occurred to the prophet {f}; and the meaning is, that Elisha caused it to float, contrary to the nature of iron.



{e} Puy "fecit supernatare", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus; so Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. {f} Vid. Friese, Dissert. de Ferro Natante, sect. 7.





2 Kings 6:7



Ver. 7. Therefore said he, take it up to thee,.... This the prophet said to the man that had lost it:



and he put out his hand, and took it; it being on the top of the water within his reach.





2 Kings 6:8



Ver. 8. Then the king of Syria warred against Israel,.... Proclaimed war against him; on what account, or how long it was after Naaman his general came with a letter of recommendation from him to the king of Israel, and had his cure, is not said:



and took counsel with his servants; his privy counsellors, or the general officers of his army:



saying, in such and such a place shall be my camp; in some covered hidden place, as the Targum; where he would lie encamped waiting in ambush, to fall upon the king of Israel unawares, as he and his forces should pass that way; the place, no doubt, was named by the king of Syria, though not recorded by the historian; or, as the words may be rendered,



the place of such and such a man; for, as Ben Melech observes, "peloni almoni" are used of persons whose names are either unknown or concealed.





2 Kings 6:9



Ver. 9. And the man of God sent unto the king of Israel,.... That is, Elisha sent to him: saying,



beware that thou pass not such a place: not go to it, but avoid it, and pass another way:



for thither the Syrians are come down: are hidden, as the Targum; lie covered at the bottom of the hill, so as not to be seen.





2 Kings 6:10



Ver. 10. And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him, and warned him of,.... Sent spies thither to see whether the Syrians were there or not, and whether it was truth the man of God told him; for he had no hearty respect for the prophet, though he had been so serviceable to him:



and saved himself there, not once, nor twice; escaped the snares the king of Syria laid for him, not once, nor twice only, but many times.





2 Kings 6:11



Ver. 11. Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled for this thing,.... There was as it were a storm in his breast, as the word signifies; he was like a troubled sea, tossed with tempests, exceeding uneasy in his mind, fretting at the disappointment he met with time after time:



and he called his servants, and said unto them, will ye not show me which of us is for the king of Israel? he suspected that some one of his counsellors was in the interest of the king of Israel, and betrayed his secrets to him, which was the cause of his disappointments.





2 Kings 6:12



Ver. 12. And one of his servants said, none, my lord, O king,.... He believed everyone of his counsellors were true and faithful to him:



but Elisha the prophet, that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber; what is said in the most private place, and in the most secret manner: this man had heard much of Elisha, by Naaman, very probably; or perhaps he had attended him in his journey to Israel for a cure, and so might have personal knowledge of Elisha, and be acquainted with the affair of Gehazi; from whence he concluded, that he, who had the thoughts of men revealed to him, had knowledge of their words and counsels, though ever so secret; see Ec 10:20.





2 Kings 6:13



Ver. 13. And he said, go, and spy where he is, that I may send and fetch him,.... But how could he expect to take him, who could give the king of Israel such intelligence of his designs against him, that he might escape his snares?



and it was told him, saying, behold, he is in Dothan; a city in the tribe of Manasseh, not far from Shechem; see Ge 37:17.





2 Kings 6:14



Ver. 14. Therefore sent he thither horses and chariots, and a great host,.... To terrify the inhabitants from attempting to defend the prophet, but deliver him up at once:



and they came by night; that they might come upon them unawares, and their design not be discovered, so as to have timely help from Samaria, which was not far off:



and compassed the city about; that the prophet might not make his escape out of it.





2 Kings 6:15



Ver. 15. And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth,.... Either out of his master's house, or out of the city upon some business to be done early in the morning; this was not Gehazi, but a new servant:



behold, an host compassed the city, both with horses and chariots; which he could see at the door of his master's house, the city being built upon an eminence; or which he perceived, as soon as he came out of the gates of the city, or was about so to do:



and his servant said unto him; Elisha being with him; or else he returned to his master on the sight of such an army, and not being able to go forward:



alas, my master! how shall we do? to get out of the city, and through this host, and proceed on our intended journey; and if he understood that the intention of this formidable host was to take his master, his concern might be the greater; and the more as he was a new servant, and not so well acquainted with his master's being possessed of a power of doing miracles.





2 Kings 6:16



Ver. 16. And he answered, fear not, for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. Meaning the legions of angels that encamped around them.





2 Kings 6:17



Ver. 17. And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see,.... Not the eyes of his body, which were not shut nor blinded, but the eyes of his mind; or, in other words, grant him a vision, represented in so strong a light, as to remove his fears:



and the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw; he had a vision of angels:



and, behold, the mountain; on which the city was built, or one near it:



was full of horses and chariots of fire; angels in this form, as in 2Ki 2:11, and these were



round about Elisha; being round about the city where he was; or rather so in the vision it was represented to the young man, he saw his master surrounded with horses and chariots of fire, in the utmost safety.





2 Kings 6:18



Ver. 18. And when they came down to him,.... The Syrian army, from the hill on which they were first seen, who came down from thence to the bottom of the hill on which the city stood; and whither Elisha came out, in order both to meet them, and proceed on his journey to Samaria:



Elisha prayed unto the Lord, and said, smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness; or "blindnesses" {g}; with great blindness, such as the men of Sodom were smitten with; the same word is here used as of them, Ge 19:11



and he smote them with blindness, according to the word of Elisha; not in such manner that they could discern no object, for then they could not have followed Elisha; but their sight was so altered, that they knew not the objects they saw; they appeared quite otherwise to them than they were; they saw the city, but knew it not to be the same, and Elisha, but knew him not to be the man of God, though they might have some in the host that knew him personally.



{g} Myrwnob "in caecitatibus", Pagninus, Montanus, &c.





2 Kings 6:19



Ver. 19. And Elisha said unto them, this is not the way, neither is this the city,.... Which is an answer to some questions of the Syrians; as, whether this was the way to find the prophet Elisha, and this the city in which he was to be found? and he answers most truly, though ambiguously, that the way they were in, and in which should they proceed, was not the way, nor this the city, in which he was to be found, because he was come out of it, and was going to Samaria:



follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom ye seek; as he did: but he led them to Samaria: whither he was going, they being still under that sort of blindness with which they were smitten; otherwise they would have known the country better than to have been led thither.





2 Kings 6:20



Ver. 20. And it came to pass, when they were come into Samaria, that Elisha said, Lord, open the eyes of these men, that they may see,.... So as to know where they were:



and the Lord opened their eyes, and they saw, and, behold, they were in the midst of Samaria; the gates being thrown open for them, and they led into the very heart of the city; for, no doubt, Elisha sent his servant before, to acquaint the king of Israel with what he was doing; who got a sufficient number of armed men to enclose them, and fall upon them, when put into his hands, as appears by what follows.





2 Kings 6:21



Ver. 21. And the king of Israel said unto Elisha, when he saw them,.... The Syrian army thus in his hands:



my father, shall I smite them? shall I smite them? he speaks with great reverence and respect to the prophet, whom at other times he neglected and despised; and the repetition of his words shows the eagerness of his mind to fall upon his enemy when they where at a disadvantage.





2 Kings 6:22



Ver. 22. And he answered, thou shalt not smite them,.... For they were not his, but the prophet's captives, or rather the Lord's:



wouldest thou smite those whom thou hast taken captive with thy sword and with thy bow? when soldiers are made prisoners of war, it is contrary to humanity, to the laws of nature and nations, to kill them in cold blood, and much more those who were taken not by his sword and bow, but by the power and providence of God:



set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master; the king of Syria, and report the miracles wrought, and the good usage they met with, when in the hand of an enemy, fed and let go; which would be more to the glory of the God of Israel, and more agreeable to the character of a king of Israel, reckoned merciful, and more serviceable to the civil good of the land of Israel, as well as more to the honour of the prophet and true religion, see Ro 12:20.





2 Kings 6:23



Ver. 23. And he prepared great provision for them,.... Or a great feast, as the Targum; so obedient was he to the prophet's orders:



and when they had eaten and drank; and refreshed themselves, which they needed, having marched all night and that morning from place to place:



he sent them away; that is, the king of Israel dismissed them:



and they went to their master; the king of Syria, but without the prophet Elisha they were sent to fetch:



so the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel; not as yet, or for some time; or rather the sense is, that the Syrians came not any more in small bodies, as troops of robbers making excursions, and carrying off booty in a private manner, and by surprise; but afterwards came with a large army in an open hostile manner, as follows.





2 Kings 6:24



Ver. 24. And it came to pass after this, that Benhadad king of Syria gathered all his host,.... Still retaining a grudge and enmity against Israel, and not at all softened by the kind and humane treatment his forces had met with, when in the hands of Israel; and finding he could do nothing in a secret way, by ambush, mustered all his forces together, to try what he could by open war:



and went up, and besieged Samaria; Jehoram king of Israel not being able to stop him till he came to his capital, which he laid close siege to.





2 Kings 6:25



Ver. 25. And there was a great famine in Samaria,.... No care, perhaps, having been taken to lay up stores against a siege:



and, behold, they besieged it until an ass's head was [sold] for fourscore [pieces] of silver; shekels, as the Targum explains the word in the next clause, which amounted to about nine or ten pounds of our money; a great price for the head of such a creature, by law unclean, its flesh disagreeable, and of that but very little, as is on an head:



and the fourth part of a cab of doves' dung for five pieces of silver; some of the Jewish writers say {h}, this was bought for fuel, which was scarce: Josephus says {i}, for salt, and so Procopious Gazaeus, and Theodoret; others, for dunging the lands, which is the use of it in Persia {k} for melons; neither of which are probable; most certainly it was for food; but as doves' dung must be not only disagreeable, but scarce affording any nourishment, something else must be meant; some have thought that the grains found in their crops, or in their excrements, undigested, and picked out, are meant; and others, their crops or craws themselves, or entrails; but Bochart {l} is of opinion, that a sort of pulse is meant, as lentiles or vetches, much the same with the kali or parched corn used in Israel, see 1Sa 17:17 and a recent traveller {m} observes, that the leblebby of the Arabs is very probably the kali, or parched pulse, of the Scriptures, and has been taken for the pigeons' dung mentioned at the siege of Samaria; and indeed as the "cicer" (a sort of peas or pulse) is pointed at one end, and acquires an ash colour by parching, the first of which circumstances answers to the figure, the other to the usual colour of pigeons' dung, the supposition is by no means to be disregarded: a "cab" was a measure with the Jews, which held the quantity of twenty four egg shells; according to Godwin {n}, it answered to our quart, so that a fourth part was half a pint; and half a pint of these lentiles, or vetches, or parched pulse, was sold for eleven or twelve shillings.



{h} R. Jonah in Ben Melech, Kimchi & Abarbinel in loc. {i} Antiqu. l. 9. c. 4. sect. 4. {k} Universal History, vol. 5. p. 90. {l} Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 1. c. 7. col. 44, &c. {m} Shaw's Travels, p. 140. {n} Moses & Aaron, B. 6. c. 9.





2 Kings 6:26



Ver. 26. And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, &c. To spy out the motion and situation of the enemy, and to give orders for the annoyance of them, and to see that his soldiers did their duty:



there cried a woman to him, saying, help, my lord, O king; desired his assistance and help in a cause depending between her and another woman.





2 Kings 6:27



Ver. 27. And he said, if the Lord do not help thee, whence shall I help thee?.... Mistaking her meaning, as if she prayed him to relieve her hunger; the margin of our Bible is, "let not the Lord save thee"; and so some understand it as a wish that she might perish; and so Josephus {o}, that being wroth, he cursed her in the name of God:



out of the barn floor, or out of the winepress? when neither of them afforded anything; no corn was to be had from the one, nor wine from the other, no, not for his own use, and therefore how could he help her out of either?



{o} Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 9. c. 4. sect. 4.)





2 Kings 6:28



Ver. 28. And the king said unto her, what aileth thee?.... His passion subsiding, or pitying her as in distress, and supposing that there might be something particular and pressing in her case:



and she answered,



this woman said unto me; who was now with her, and to whom she pointed:



give thy son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow; and this was agreed to between them, that first one should be eaten, and then the other, and that they should feed upon one as long as it would last, and then on the other; for it is not to be limited precisely to a day and tomorrow.





2 Kings 6:29



Ver. 29. So we boiled my son, and did eat him,.... Thus what was predicted, by way of threatening, began to be accomplished, De 28:53,

See Gill on "De 28:53", and of which there were other instances of a like kind at the siege of Jerusalem, both by Nebuchadnezzar and Vespasian:



and I said unto her on the next day; after her child had been wholly ate up:



give thy son, that we may eat him; according to agreement:



and she hath hid her son; either to save him alive, or to eat him herself alone.





2 Kings 6:30



Ver. 30. And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he rent his clothes,.... At the horror of the fact reported, and through grief that his people were brought into such distress through famine:



and he passed by upon the wall; returning to his palace:



and the people looked, and, behold, he had sackcloth upon his flesh; which, in token of humiliation for averting the calamities he was under, he had put there before, and now was seen through the rending of his clothes.





2 Kings 6:31



Ver. 31. Then he said, God do so and more also to me,.... He swore and made dreadful imprecations:



if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stand on him this day; imputing the sore famine to him, because he had foretold it, and did not pray for the removal of it, as he might; and perhaps had advised and encouraged the king to hold out the siege, which had brought them to this extremity, and therefore was enraged at him.





2 Kings 6:32



Ver. 32. And Elisha sat in his house,.... In Samaria:



and the elders sat with him; not the elders of the city, or the magistrates thereof, but his disciples, as Josephus says {p}, the eldest of them, whom he admitted to greater familiarity and converse with him:



and the king sent a man from before him; to execute what he had sworn should be done that day to the prophet:



but ere the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, see ye how this son of a murderer hath sent to take away mine head? which he knew by a spirit of prophecy, and spoke of it before the executioner came; he calls Joram the son of a murderer, because of his mother Jezebel, who killed Naboth, and the prophets of the Lord, and to which his father Ahab also consented, and therefore might be so called too; and he intimates hereby that he was of the same temper and disposition, and as the above oath, and his orders, showed:



look when the messenger cometh, shut the door, and hold him fast at the door; and not suffer him to come in:



is not the sound of his master's feet behind him? that is, of Joram king of Israel, who followed the messenger, either to listen and hear what the prophet would say unto him; or repenting of his order, as Josephus {q} thinks, he followed him to prevent the execution.



{p} Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 9. c. 4. sect. 4.) {q} Ibid.





2 Kings 6:33



Ver. 33. And while he yet talked with them,.... Elisha with the elders:



behold, the messenger came down unto him; sent by the king:



and he said; either the messenger in the king's name, or rather the king, who was at his heels, and came to the door before the messenger was let in, who was detained; and therefore it is most probable the king went in first; for that was the intention of Elisha in holding the messenger, not to save his own life, but that the king, who was following, might hear what he had to say; and whom he advised to wait for the Lord, and his appearance, for deliverance: in answer to which he said,



behold, this evil is of the Lord, what should I wait for the Lord any longer? this calamity is from him, and he is determined upon the ruin of my people, and there is no hope; this he said as despairing, and so resolving to hold out the siege no longer.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

2 Kings 7:1



INTRODUCTION TO 2 KINGS 7



This chapter begins with a prophecy of great plenty in Samaria on the morrow, and of the death of an unbelieving lord, 2Ki 7:1, relates the case of four lepers, who that night went into the Syrian camp, which was deserted, occasioned by the noise of chariots, horses, and a host, which they fancied they heard, 2Ki 7:3, the report which the lepers made to the king's household of this affair, and the method the king's servants took to know the truth of it, 2Ki 7:10 which, when confirmed, the people went out and spoiled the tents of the Syrians, whereby the prophecy of plenty was fulfilled, 2Ki 7:16, and the unbelieving lord having post at the gate of the city assigned him, was trod to death, and so the prediction concerning him had its accomplishment also, 2Ki 7:17.



Ver. 1. Then Elisha said, hear the word of the Lord,.... This he said to the king and those that were with him:



thus saith the Lord, tomorrow, about this time; which very probably was the forenoon:



shall a measure of fine flour [be sold] for a shekel; "a seah", the measure here spoken of, or "saturn", according to some {r}, was a gallon and an half; but Bishop Cumberland {s} makes it two wine gallons and an half; and a shekel, according to his accurate computation, was two shillings and four pence farthing, and near the eighth part of one {t}:



and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria; where the market was kept; the same sort of measure and of money is here used as before; and we learn from hence that a measure of wheat was equal to two of barley.



{r} Godwin, ut supra. (Moses & Aaron, B. 6. c. 9.) {s} Of Scripture Weights and Measures, c. 3. p. 86. {t} lb. c. 4. p. 104, 105.





2 Kings 7:2



Ver. 2. Then a lord, on whose hand the king leaned,.... Not figuratively, in whom the king confided, but literally, on whose hand he rested, and by whom he was supported, being a form and matter of state, while he and Elisha were talking together, or on whom he leaned as he came to him; this was a principal lord, the third to the king, as his title seems to denote; the word by which the Septuagint renders it is by Suidas {u} interpreted of such that held three spears in the hand together; and this was an honourable post, for a king to lean on him; such state was used by the king of Syria, 2Ki 5:18 and by the kings and queens of Persia; so Gorionides {w} says of Esther, that on the third day; she put on her beautiful garments and glorious ornaments, and took two of her maidens with her, and put her right hand on one of them, and leaned upon her in a royal manner, or as was the manner of kings: the same



answered the man of God; the prophet of the Lord, as the Targum:



and said, behold, if the Lord would make windows in heaven, might this thing be? it is impossible it should be, if he was to open the windows of heaven as at the flood, and let down showers of wheat and barley, in like manner as he rained manna in the wilderness:



and he said; the prophet in reply to him:



behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof; wheat and barley sold at the above price, but should not taste of it, as a punishment of his unbelief.



{u} In voce tristatai. {w} Heb. Hist. l. 2. c. 4.





2 Kings 7:3



Ver. 3. And there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate,.... Of the city of Samaria; lepers, according to the law, being obliged to be without the city and camp, Le 13:46 these might have a dwelling assigned them near the gate; or they might get as near to it as they could, partly to obtain relief from the city, and partly for fear of the Syrians; these, the Jews say {x}, were Gehazi and his three sons, see 2Ki 5:27



and they said one to another, why sit we here until we die? being ready to perish with hunger.



{x} T. Bab. Sotah, fol. 47. 1. & Sanhedrin, fol. 107. 2.





2 Kings 7:4



Ver. 4. If we say we will enter into the city,.... Contrary to the law which forbid them:



then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there; not being able to obtain food to preserve life:



and if we sit here, we die also; having nothing to eat to support nature:



now therefore let us come, and fall unto the host of the Syrians; put ourselves into their hands, and lie at their mercy:



if they save us alive, we shall live; if they do not put us to death, but give us bread to eat, our lives will be preserved:



and if they kill us, we shall but die; which we must inevitably do, whether we stay here, or go into the city.





2 Kings 7:5



Ver. 5. And they rose up in the twilight, to go unto the camp of the Syrians,...., The dusk of the evening, or the evening twilight, as appears from 2Ki 7:9,



and when they were come to the uttermost part of the camp of Syria; not the further part of it, but the edge or border of it nearest to them:



behold, there was no man there; no sentinel or guard, which they expected, and to whom they would have surrendered themselves.





2 Kings 7:6



Ver. 6. For the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host,.... Or of many armies, as the Targum; either in the air by the ministry of angels; or the Lord so wrought upon their imagination, that they fancied they heard such noises; or he caused such noises in their ears:



and they said one to another, lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites; one of the nations of the Canaanites, and may be here put for the whole of those that remained, and who lived upon the borders of the land of Israel; though Josephus {y} has it, the kings of the isles; that is, of Chittim, see Jer 2:10



and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us; Egypt being now divided into petty kingdoms; or else the governors of the several nomes or districts of it are here meant: for the king of Israel to hire these kings was very unlikely in his present circumstances; but those unreasonable things, in their panic, their imaginations suggested to them.



{y} Ut supra, (Antiqu. l. 9. c. 4.) sect. 5.





2 Kings 7:7



Ver. 7. Wherefore they arose and fled in the twilight,.... Or in the dark, as the Targum; when the twilight was going off; so that the lepers came very quickly after they were gone, 2Ki 7:5



and left their tents, and their horses, and their asses; such was their fright, that they could not stay to loose their cattle, with which they might have made greater speed, but ran away on foot: and they left



even the camp as it was; took nothing away with them, either money or provisions:



and fled for their life; which they imagined to be in great danger.





2 Kings 7:8



Ver. 8. And when these lepers came to the uttermost part of the camp, they went into one tent,.... The first they came to:



and did eat and drink; which was the first thing they did, being hungry, and almost starved:



and carried thence silver, and gold, and raiment, and went and hid it; in a place without the camp, where they thought it would be safe, and where they could come at it again:



and came again and entered into another tent, and carried thence also, and went and hid it; this, Josephus says {z}, they did four times.



{z} Ut supra, (Antiqu. l. 9. c. 4.) sect. 5.





2 Kings 7:9



Ver. 9. Then they said one to another, we do not well,.... This is not right, to take this booty to ourselves; it is not doing justice to our brethren, and it may not prove well to ourselves in the issue:



this day is a day of good tidings; to be delivered from the enemy, and have such plenty of provisions thrown into their hands; it would be joyful tidings to the inhabitants of the city, did they know it:



and we hold our peace; and do not publish this good tidings, that others may share the benefit of it:



if we tarry till the morning light; when it will in course be discovered:



some mischief will come upon us; either from the Syrians, who they might fear would return by that time, or some of them lurking about would fall upon them and destroy them; or the king of Israel, when he came to know it, would be so incensed as to inflict some punishment on them; or they might expect some evil from the immediate hand of God:



now therefore come, that we may go and tell the king's household; acquaint some of his servants with what had happened.





2 Kings 7:10



Ver. 10. So they came and called to the porter of the city,.... The chief of those that had the care of the gate of it; for there were more than one, as follows:



and they told them; the porter, and the watchmen with him:



we came to the camp of the Syrians, and, behold, there was no man there, neither voice of man; not one to be seen or heard:



but horses tied, and asses tied; to their mangers; the latter, as well as the former, were used for war, not only to carry burdens, but to fight upon, as Aelianus {a} relates of some people; and especially when there was a want of horses, as Strabo {b}; and both observe that this creature was sacrificed to Mars:



and the tents as they were; none of them struck, nor anything taken out of them.



{a} De Animal. l. 12. c. 34. {b} Geograph. l. 15. p. 500.





2 Kings 7:11



Ver. 11. And he called the porters,.... The porter of the city called to the porters of the king's palace:



and they told it to the king's house within; to some of his domestic servants within the palace, and they reported it to the king.





2 Kings 7:12



Ver. 12. And the king arose in the night,.... Upon the report made to him:



and he said unto his servants, I will now show you what the Syrians have done to us; taking it to be a stratagem of theirs to decoy them:



they know that we be hungry; and would be glad to come out of the city to get some food:



therefore are they gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field; to make us believe that they have broke up the siege, and have deserted the camp, and are gone, when they only lie in ambush:



saying, when they come out of the city; which they supposed they would do through hunger:



we shall catch them alive; take them captive at once:



and get into the city; being open to let them out, and receive them on their return.





2 Kings 7:13



Ver. 13. And one of his servants answered and said, let some take, I pray thee, five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city,.... Not having died through the famine as the rest:



behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel that are left in it; behold, I say, they are even as the multitude of Israel that are consumed; signifying, there was a like consumption among the horses as among the people, and they that remained were starving as they were; so that should those horses, and the men, fall into the hands of the Syrians, and perish, it would be no great matter; the loss would not be much, since they must perish if they continue in the city: according to the Vulgate Latin version, these five horses were all that were left:



and let us send and see; whether the report of the lepers is true or not.





2 Kings 7:14



Ver. 14. They took therefore two chariot horses,.... Not five, but two only, and those the best, that drew in the king's chariot perhaps, and so were better fed, and fitter for this expedition:



and the king sent after the host of the Syrians, saying, go and see; whether they are fled or not.





2 Kings 7:15



Ver. 15. And they went after them unto Jordan,.... Not finding them in the camp, and knowing the rout they would take to their own land, they went as far as Jordan, over which they must pass:



and, lo, all the way was full of garments and vessels which the Syrians had cast away in their haste; in their fright and flight, such of their clothes as hindered them in running; and their armour, as Josephus {c} seems rightly to understand the word used, these they threw away for quicker dispatch:



and the messengers returned and told the king: that it was as the lepers said, and what they themselves had seen.



{c} Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 9. c. 4. sect. 5.)





2 Kings 7:16



Ver. 16. And the people went out and spoiled the tents of the Syrians,.... Of their riches, and of their provisions; of which there was such a plenty, not only for present use, but for sale,



so that a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel, &c.



according to the word of the Lord; by Elisha, 2Ki 7:1.





2 Kings 7:17



Ver. 17. And the king appointed the lord, on whose hand he leaned, to have the charge of the gate,.... Not to keep out the enemy, of which there was no danger; but to prevent disorders and tumults among the people, and that they might go out in an orderly and regular manner:



and the people trod upon him in the gate; being eager to get out for food; and he endeavouring to keep order among them, they pressed upon him, and threw him down, and trampled him under foot; or he was placed here to regulate the market, that everyone might be supplied in course, but through the people's pressing to get provisions, he was overborne, and trod upon:



and died, as the man of God had said, who spake when the king came down to him; so that he saw the plenty, but partook not of it, as he said, see 2Ki 7:2.





2 Kings 7:18



Ver. 18. And it came to pass, as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying,.... As in 2Ki 7:1, and what he said to the king there, and to the lord, in 2Ki 7:2, are repeated in this and the next verse, that it might be observed how exactly the prophecies were fulfilled.





2 Kings 7:19



Ver. 19. And that lord answered the man of God, and said,.... As in 2Ki 7:2



and he said; that is, Elisha, as in the same place.





2 Kings 7:20



Ver. 20. And so it fell out unto him,.... As the prophet predicted:



for the people trod upon him in the gate, and he died;

See Gill on "2Ki 7:17".

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

2 Kings 8:1



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 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 and of the bad reign of Jehoram, son of Jehoshaphat, over Judah, 2Ki 8:16 and of the reign of his son Ahaziah, 2Ki 8:25.



Ver. 1. Then spoke Elisha unto the woman (whose son he had restored to life),.... His hostess at Shunem, 2Ki 4:8 the following he said to her, not after the famine in Samaria, but before it, as some circumstances show:



saying, arise, and go thou and thine household, and sojourn wheresoever thou canst sojourn; with the greatest safety to her person and property, and with the least danger to her moral and religious character:



for the Lord hath called for a famine, and it shall also come upon the land seven years: which Jarchi says was the famine that was in the days of Joel; it was, undoubtedly, on account of the idolatry of Israel, and was double the time of that in the days of Elijah.





2 Kings 8:2



Ver. 2. And the woman arose, and did after the saying of the man of God,.... Whose words she had reason to believe; she having a son given to her according to his word, and this restored to life, when dead, through his intercession:



and she went with her household, and sojourned in the land of the Philistines; which was not far from her native place, and where there was plenty of food, and she could have as free an exercise of her religion as in the idolatrous kingdom of Israel.





2 Kings 8:3



Ver. 3. And it came to pass, at the seven years end, that the woman returned out of the land of the Philistines,.... Either hearing that the famine was over, or believing that it was, the time being expired the prophet fixed for it:



and she went forth to cry unto the king for her house, and for her land; which her nearest relations in her absence had seized upon, as heirs to them; or those in whose hands she had intrusted them refused, upon her return, to deliver them to her; or the king's officers had seized upon them for him, as forfeited to the crown by her going out of the land without leave; and now she needed a friend to speak for her to the king, which, in time past, she had no occasion for, and thought she never should, see 2Ki 4:13.





2 Kings 8:4



Ver. 4. And the king talked with Gehazi the servant of the man of God,.... 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.





2 Kings 8:5



Ver. 5. And it came to pass, as he was telling the king how he had restored a dead body to life,.... Which was the Shunammite'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.





2 Kings 8:6



Ver. 6. And when the king asked the woman, she told him,.... The whole affair; how that she had a son according to the word of Elisha, when she had been barren, and her husband old; that this child was struck with sickness, and died; and that the prophet, through his prayers, restored it to life:



so the king appointed unto her a certain officer; the word signifies an "eunuch": him he ordered to attend upon her, and assist her, and see to it that she was put into the possession of her house and land:



saying, restore all that was her's, and all the fruits of the field, since the day that she left the land, even till now; not only her house and land, but all the rent, profits, and dues arising from thence during the time of her absence: the Jews except the rent of her house.





2 Kings 8:7



Ver. 7. And Elisha came to Damascus,.... On what account, and when, is not certain, whether to convert Gehazi, as say the Jews {d}; or to confirm Naaman in the true religion he professed, for which he might be dismissed from his office, since another man was made general of the Syrian army; or on account of the famine; or rather it may be to anoint, or, however, to declare that Hazael would be king of Syria; see 1Ki 19:15,



and Benhadad the king of Syria was sick; at the time he came thither, where his palace was, and now a Mahometan temple; a very extraordinary building, according to Benjamin the Jew {e}:



and it was told him, saying, the man of God is come hither; the famous prophet in Israel, Elisha, through whom Naaman his general had been cured of his leprosy, of whom he had heard so much.



{d} T. Bab. Sotah, fol. 47. 1. {e} Itinerar. p. 55.





2 Kings 8:8



Ver. 8. And the king said to Hazael,.... The captain general of his army:



take a present in thine hand, and go and meet the man of God, who, perhaps, was not as yet come into the city, only into the region of Damascus: or rather "with thee"; so the Vulgate Latin and Arabic versions; and which Noldius {f} approves of, since a burden of forty camels, 2Ki 8:9 could not be carried in the hand:



and inquire of the Lord by him, saying, shall I recover of this disease? he did not desire him to pray the Lord that he might recover, only was curious to know whether he should or not, see 2Ki 1:2.



{f} Ebr. Concord. Part. p. 189. No. 362.





2 Kings 8:9



Ver. 9. So Hazael went to meet him, and took a present with him,.... As was usual when a prophet or seer was consulted, see 1Sa 9:7



even of every good thing of Damascus; which was a very fruitful place, and had abundance of gardens and orchards in it, which yielded excellent fruit, and of such it is probable the present consisted, and which was large:



even forty camels' burden: which, as they are strong creatures, will bear a great deal. Abarbinel thinks, bread, flesh, and wine, and fowls, were in the present, but not gold, silver, and raiment, which the prophet had refused to take of Naaman; the Jews have a fable, that there was a precious stone in it, worth all the good things of Damascus:



and came and stood before him, and said, thy son Benhadad, king of Syria, hath sent me to thee, saying, shall I recover of this disease? he calls him his son, in veneration of the prophet as a father, as such men were called.





2 Kings 8:10



Ver. 10. And Elisha said unto him, go, say unto him, thou mayest certainly recover,.... That is, of the disease; and there was not only a probability that he might recover of it, it not being a mortal one, but a certainty that he should not die of it, as he did not, but die a violent death, which the prophet predicts in the next clause; though some take these words not as a command, what he should say, but as a prediction of what he would say; that he would go and tell him he should certainly recover, because he would not discourage him, though the prophet assures him in the next clause that he should die: there is a various reading of these words; we follow the marginal reading, but the textual reading is, "say, thou shall not certainly recover", or "in living live"; which agrees with what follows:



howbeit or "for"



the Lord hath showed me, that he shall surely die; though not of that sickness, nor a natural death, but a violent one, and that by the hand of this his servant, though he does not express it.





2 Kings 8:11



Ver. 11. And he settled his countenance steadfastly,.... Refrained himself as much as possible, that he might not weep, as some Jewish writers interpret it; or, as others, he turned his face on one side, and covered it with his hands, that Hazael might not see him weep; or rather he set his face on Hazael, and looked at him so wistly:



until he was ashamed; that is, Hazael; the prophet looked him out of countenance:



and the man of God wept; at the thought of what calamities the man before him, he looked on, would be the cause of in Israel, as the following words show.





2 Kings 8:12



Ver. 12. And Hazael said, Why weepeth my lord?.... Imagining it was for the death of Benhadad he had predicted, for which he could see no reason; of the title, "my lord", see 1Ki 18:7



and he answered, because I know the evil that thou wilt do unto the children of Israel; which he foresaw by a spirit of prophecy; and Israel being his own people, he sympathized in their calamities before they came:



their strong holds wilt thou set on fire; which should be taken by him, see 2Ki 10:32



and their young men wilt thou slay with the sword; in battle:



and wilt dash their children; against rocks and stones, or stone walls, or upon the ground, floor, or pavement, as was usual in war {g}, see

Ps 137:9,



and rip up their women with child: which was the height of barbarity and cruelty. Ben Gersom and Ben Melech interpret this of breaking down the walls of fortified cities, built strong, like hills and mountains; but this is supposed in the first clause.



{g} Vid. Homer. Iliad. 22. ver. 63, 64.





2 Kings 8:13



Ver. 13. And Hazael said, but what, [is] thy servant a dog, that he should do this great thing?.... What dost thou take me to be, a vile, impudent, fierce, and cruel creature, as a dog, to be guilty of so great inhumanity and barbarity as this? or what is thy servant? a dog, a mean abject creature, of no power and authority, incapable of doing such great things spoken of? to which sense not only what is predicted of him, said to be great, inclines, but what follows:



and Elisha answered, the Lord hath showed me that thou shall be king over Syria; and that thou shalt have power enough to do this; this declaration, according to Ben Gersom, was the anointing of him, predicted 1Ki 19:15.





2 Kings 8:14



Ver. 14. So he departed from Elisha, and came to his master,.... Benhadad king of Syria:



who said to him, what said Elisha to thee? concerning his recovery, which was the thing uppermost in his mind, and he was eagerly desirous to know how it would be:



and he answered, he told me that thou shouldest surely recover; which was false; for he only said that he "might", and not that he should; and he concealed what he also declared, that though he might recover of his disease, yet that he should surely die in another way.





2 Kings 8:15



Ver. 15. And it came to pass on the morrow,.... In such haste was Hazael to be king, as the prophet said he would be:



that he took a thick cloth, and dipped it in water, and spread it on his face, so that he died; not that Benhadad took or ordered such a cloth to be dipped and laid on his own face, to allay the violent heat in him; but Hazael did this, and perhaps under such a pretence; but his real design was to strike in the heat, or suffocate him; for such a thick cloth, one of the bedclothes, made of goats' hair, as is supposed, being dipped in water, would suck in a great deal; and being laid on his face, would press hard, and he not able to throw it off, it would let in much water into his mouth and nostrils, and suffocate him, without leaving any marks of violence, which might render his death suspicious:



and Hazael reigned in his stead; having an interest in the army, of which he was general, and perhaps had done some exploits which had recommended him to the regard of the people.





2 Kings 8:16



Ver. 16. And in the fifth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel,.... Who began his reign in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat, 2Ki 3:1.



Jehoshaphat being then king of Judah; as he continued to be two years more; for this must be in the twenty third year of his reign, and he reigned twenty five years, 1Ki 22:42.



Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah began to reign; according to Dr. Lightfoot {h}, there were three beginnings of his reign; "first", when his father went with Ahab to Ramothgilead, when be was left viceroy, and afterwards his father reassumed the kingdom; the "second" time was, when Jehoshaphat went with the kings of Israel and Edom against Moab; and this is the time here respected, which was in the fifth of Joram king of Israel; and the "third" time was, at the death of his father; but knew his father was living.



{h} Works, vol. 1. p. 84.





2 Kings 8:17



Ver. 17. Thirty and two years old was he when he began to reign,.... The second time, in the lifetime of his father:



and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem; which ended in the twelfth year of Joram king of Israel, 2Ki 8:25.





2 Kings 8:18



Ver. 18. And he walked in the way of the king's of Israel, as did the house of Ahab,.... Imitated them in idolatry:



for the daughter of Ahab was his wife; whose name was Athaliah, 2Ki 8:26, and by her he was drawn into idolatrous practices; of such bad consequence are marriages with idolaters; it is very much that so good a king as Jehoshaphat his father was should contract such an affinity; he suffered for it in more instances than one:



and he did evil in the sight of the Lord; was guilty of idolatry, than which nothing was more displeasing to the Lord; for he made high places, and compelled his subjects to commit idolatry, 2Ch 21:11.





2 Kings 8:19



Ver. 19. Yet the Lord would not destroy Judah for David his servant's sake,.... Not for his merits, but for the mercy he assured him of:



as he promised him to give to him always a light, [and] to his children; or a kingdom, as the Targum; therefore he would not utterly destroy the tribe, nor suffer the sceptre or government to depart from it till the Messiah came, see Ps 132:11.





2 Kings 8:20



Ver. 20. In his days Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah,.... Who had been tributary to Judah ever since the times of David, for the space of one hundred and fifty years:



and made a king over themselves; for though they are said to have kings, those were only deputy kings, as in 1Ki 22:47 and now the prediction of Isaac began to be accomplished, Ge 27:40.





2 Kings 8:21



Ver. 21. So Joram went over to Zair,.... A city in Edom, the same with the Zaara of Ptolemy {i}; some take it to be the same with Seir, the mountain or country of that name:



and all the chariots with him; all the chariots of war he had:



and he rose by night, and smote the Edomites which compassed him about; who came out of their cities in great numbers, and surrounded him, he having entered into their country in an hostile way, to subdue them:



and the captains of the chariots: which belonged to the Edomites; those he smote, 2Ch 21:9



and the people fled into their tents; the army being routed.



{i} Geograph. l. 5. c. 17.





2 Kings 8:22



Ver. 22. Yet Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah unto this day,.... Joram not pursuing the enemy, and taking the advantage of the victory, but returning to his own land, the reason of which follows:



then Libnah revolted at the same time; a considerable city in his own kingdom, a Levitical one; this revolt was occasioned, perhaps, by his idolatrous practices, and which he compelled his subjects to; of this city, see Jos 10:29.





2 Kings 8:23



Ver. 23. And the rest of the acts of Joram, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?] Not in the canonical book of Chronicles, though some of his acts are recorded there, see 2Ch 21:1 but in the annals of the kings of Judah, written by persons appointed for that purpose.





2 Kings 8:24



Ver. 24. And Joram slept with his fathers,.... Died as they did:



and was buried with his fathers in the city of David; but not in the sepulchres of the kings, and without any funeral pomp, and without any mourning and lamentation for him, he being not beloved, and his life not at all desirable, 2Ch 21:19,



and Ahaziah his son reigned in his stead; of whom more is said in the following verses.





2 Kings 8:25



Ver. 25. In the twelfth year of Joram the son of Ahab, king of Israel did Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah begin to reign. He is called Jehoahaz, and said to be the youngest son of Jehoram, 2Ch 21:17.





2 Kings 8:26



Ver. 26. Two and twenty years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign,.... In 2Ch 22:2 he is said to be forty two years of age; for the solution of that difficulty See Gill on "2Ch 22:2":



and he reigned one year in Jerusalem; which was the whole of his reign:



and his mother's name was Athaliah the daughter of Omri king of Israel; that is, his granddaughter; for she was the daughter of Ahab the son of Omri, 2Ki 8:18, it was usual for grandchildren to be called children, sons and daughters, and perhaps she might be educated in the family of Omri.





2 Kings 8:27



Ver. 27. And he walked in the way of the house of Ahab, and did evil in the sight of the Lord, as [did] the house of Ahab,.... Worshipping the calves, and Baal also:



for he was the son in law of the house of Ahab; he was the son of Jehoram, who was son-in-law to Ahab, having married his daughter, which accounts for his being guilty of the same idolatrous practices.





2 Kings 8:28



Ver. 28. And he went with Joram the son of Ahab,.... His mother's brother, and so his uncle:



to the war against Hazael king of Syria in Ramothgilead; which he went to recover out of the hands of the king of Syria, as his father Ahab had attempted in his time; in which he was assisted by Jehoshaphat, as now Joram was by a grandson of his:



and the Syrians wounded Joram; as they did his father Ahab at the same place, though his wound was not mortal, as his father's was.





2 Kings 8:29



Ver. 29 And King Joram went back,.... From Ramoth, having taken it, and left his army there:



to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him at Ramah; the same with Ramothgilead:



when he fought against Hazael king of Syria; for Benhadad being dead, he was now king in his room, 2Ki 8:15



and Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick; of the wounds which he had received, which might occasion a feverish disorder; and so it was brought about in Providence that Ahaziah should here meet with the destruction appointed for him, of which in the following chapter. See

2Ch 22:7.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

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