2 Kings 8:9

_SO HAZAEL WENT TO MEET HIM, AND TOOK A PRESENT WITH HIM, EVEN OF EVERY GOOD THING OF DAMASCUS, FORTY CAMELS' BURDEN, AND CAME AND STOOD BEFORE HIM, AND SAID, THY SON BEN-HA'DAD KING OF SYRIA HATH SENT ME TO THEE, SAYING, SHALL I RECOVER OF THIS DISEASE?_ Forty camels' burden. The present, consisting of the rarest and and most valuable produce of the land, would be liberal and magnificent. But it must not be supposed it was actually so large as to require 40 camels to carry it. The Orientals are fond of display, and would ostentatiously lay upon 40 beasts what might very easily have been borne by four. THY SON BEN-HADAD. So called from the established usage of designating the prophet 'father.' This was the same Syrian monarch who had formerly persecuted him (see the notes at 2 Kings 6:13)....

7-15 Among other changes of men's minds by affliction, it often gives other thoughts of God's ministers, and teaches to value the counsels and prayers of those whom they have hated and despised. It was not in Hazael's countenance that Elisha read what he would do, but God revealed it to him, and it fetched tears from his eyes: the more foresight men have, the more grief they are liable to. It is possible for a man, under the convictions and restraints of natural conscience, to express great abhorrence of a sin, yet afterwards to be reconciled to it. Those that are little and low in the world, cannot imagine how strong the temptations of power and prosperity are, which, if ever they arrive at, they will find how deceitful their hearts are, how much worse than they suspected. The devil ruins men, by saying they shall certainly recover and do well, so rocking them asleep in security. Hazae...

EVERY GOOD THING OF DAMASCUS - Probably, besides rich robes and precious metals, the luscious wine of Helbon, which was the drink of the Persian kings, the soft white wool of the anti-Libanus Ezekiel 27:18, damask coverings of couches Amos 3:12, and numerous manufactured articles of luxury, which the Syrian capital imported from Tyre, Egypt, Nineveh, and Babylon. Forty camels were laden with it, and this goodly caravan paraded the streets of the town, conveying to the prophet the splendid gift designed for him. Eastern ostentation induces donors to make the greatest possible show of their gifts, and each camel would probably bear only one or two articles. THY SON BEN-HADAD - A phrase indicative of the greatest respect, no doubt used at the

EXPOSITION 2 KINGS 8:1 THE SEQUEL OF THE STORY OF THE SHUNAMMITE. THE KILLING OF BENHADAD BY HAZAEL; AND THE WICKED REIGNS OF JEHORAM AND AHAZIAH IN JUDAH. 2 KINGS 8:1 Elisha is still the _protagonistes_ of the historical drama. The writer brings together in the present section two more occasions of a public character in which he was c

SO HAZAEL WENT TO MEET HIM, AND TOOK A PRESENT WITH HIM,.... As was usual when a prophet or seer was consulted, see 1 Samuel 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

ELISHA AND THE SHUNAMMITE. HAZAEL, KING OF SYRIA. This chapter is somewhat varied as to composition. It opens with a short story about Elisha (2 Kings 8:1), of which we may presuppose (_a_) that it is earlier than 5, because Gehazi (2 Kings 8:4) is not a leper; (b) that the king of Israel is an admirer of the prophet, By Elisha's advice the Shunammite lady, whose husband is apparently dead, leaves her home to avoid a famine (_cf_. Ruth 1:1), and her lands were restored when the king ascertained who she was. 2 Kings 8:6 is a second narrative of the prophet. Jehoram must have been king of Israel at the time, as Hazael was contemporary with Jehu. Th

EVERY GOOD. every kind of. Figure of speech _Synecdoche_ (of Genus). App-6....

_even_of _every good thing of Damascus_ Cf. the present which Jacob sent by his sons when they were going down into Egypt to buy food (Genesis 43:11), -Take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present &c." _forty camels" burden_ The number of camels was for display. We are not to suppose that each was fully laden. Nor need we think that Elisha who had refused Naaman's present would be more ready to accept Benhadad's. _stood before him_ It must have been well known where Elisha was to be found. There was no concealment in his visit. An array of forty camels would only be brought to a definite spot. _Thy son Ben-hadad_ The term indicates the humility of the petitioner. So Ahaz (2 Kings 16:7) when he sent for help to Tiglath-pileser,

D. PREDICTION CONCERNING THE CAREER OF HAZAEL 8:7-15 TRANSLATION (7) Now Elisha went to Damascus when Benhadad the king of Aram was sick. And it was told him, saying, The man of God has come here. (8) And the king said unto Hazael, Take in your hand a present, and go to meet the man of God, that you may inquire of the LORD from him, saying, Shall I recover from this disease? (9) And Hazael went to meet him, and took a present in his hand, even every good thing of Damascus, forty camel burdens, and he came and stood before him, and said, Your son Benhadad, the king of Aram, has sent me unto you, saying, Shall I recover from this sickness? (10) And Elisha said unto him, Go, say to him,[548] You shall surely recover; but the LORD has shown me that he will surely die. (11) And he stood before him, and settled his countenance, and set it until he was ashamed, and the man of God wept. (12) An...

ELISHA AND THE SHUNAMMITE. ELISHA AND HAZAEL. REIGNS OF JEHORAM AND AHAZIAH OF JUDAH 1. Then spake Elisha] The occasion is not indicated, all the stories related of Elisha in this and the three preceding Chapter s being disconnected. A FAMINE] Perhaps the same as that referred to in 2 Kings 4:38....