2 Kings · chapter 8 of 25
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2 Kings 8 tells how the woman of Shunem, after seven years of famine, regains her land through the king. Elisha travels to Damascus, weeps before Hazael and tells him he will be king of Aram, and Hazael kills Ben-hadad. The chapter then introduces Jehoram and Ahaziah, kings of Judah, who follow the ways of the house of Ahab, and mentions the revolt of Edom.
The earlier chapters showed Elisha helping ordinary people and delivering Samaria. 2 Kings 8 links several stories: God's faithfulness to the woman of Shunem, the prophet's glimpse of Aram's future and the start of a dynasty in Judah marked by the influence of Ahab. It prepares for Jehu's coup in chapter 9, which will end the house of Ahab.
Elisha had warned the woman of Shunem to leave with her household, because the Lord would bring seven years of famine. She went to the land of the Philistines. When she returns, she appeals to the king for her house and fields. At that very moment Gehazi is telling the king about Elisha's miracles, including how he raised the woman's son, and she walks in. The king orders an official to restore everything, with the produce of the fields since she left.
Elisha travels to Damascus, where Ben-hadad, king of Aram, is ill. The king sends Hazael with a large gift to ask whether he will recover. Elisha answers that he will recover, but that the Lord has shown him he will die. He fixes his gaze on Hazael until Hazael is ashamed, and weeps, because he knows the evil Hazael will do to Israel: burning fortresses, killing young men and dashing children. Hazael wonders how he could do such a thing, and Elisha tells him the Lord has shown him that he will be king of Aram. The next day Hazael smothers Ben-hadad with a blanket and reigns in his place.
Jehoram, son of Jehoshaphat, reigns in Judah. He married a daughter of Ahab and walked in the way of the kings of Israel. For David's sake the Lord does not destroy Judah. Edom revolts against Judah, and so does Libnah. Jehoram dies and his son Ahaziah, aged twenty-two, reigns. Ahaziah, a grandson of Omri and related to the house of Ahab, does evil. With Joram of Israel he fights Hazael at Ramoth-gilead, and Joram of Israel is wounded and goes back to Jezreel to recover. Ahaziah of Judah goes down to visit him.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
While Gehazi tells the king how Elisha raised a child, the mother arrives to ask for justice. The moment is providential: God arranges the coincidence that restores to the Shunammite what she had lost.
Elisha fixes his gaze on Hazael and weeps, because he knows the harm Hazael will do to Israel. The prophet takes no pleasure in judgment: his tears show that the one who announces God's word suffers for his people.
Jehoram of Judah walks like the kings of Israel, because his wife is a daughter of Ahab. Marriages and alliances with those who do not follow the Lord can lead an entire people astray.
Despite Jehoram's wickedness, the Lord is unwilling to destroy Judah for the sake of David his servant, according to the promise to give him a lamp always. God's faithfulness sustains the line of David.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: To leave with her household because the Lord would bring seven years of famine on the land. — 2 Kings 8:1
Answer: That everything of hers be restored, with the produce of her fields since she left. — 2 Kings 8:6
Answer: Hazael, with a large gift. — 2 Kings 8:8-9
Answer: Because he knew the harm Hazael would do to the people of Israel. — 2 Kings 8:11-12
Answer: He took a cloth, soaked it, spread it over Ben-hadad's face and killed him; then he reigned. — 2 Kings 8:15
Answer: For the sake of his servant David, according to the promise he had made. — 2 Kings 8:19
The Shunammite's story shows that God cares for those who have been faithful to him, sometimes with a moment of providence so precise that it seems like chance. In a small group you can recall an occasion when God's hand was seen in a coincidence and thank him.
Elisha's weeping reminds us that announcing God's judgment is no cause for satisfaction. And the example of Jehoram of Judah warns us that our closest alliances and relationships shape our path. It is worth asking what influences we are allowing into our home and our decisions.
2 Kings 8 ends with Ahaziah of Judah visiting Joram of Israel, wounded at Jezreel, two kings united by kinship with Ahab. In chapter 9, a young prophet will anoint Jehu, and judgment on the house of Ahab will arrive with force.
Elisha says Ben-hadad will recover but also that the Lord has shown him he will die. It is a way of saying the illness is not fatal in itself, but his death will come another way, as happens by Hazael's hand. The text does not present the answer as deceit.
Because he saw in advance the suffering Hazael would bring on Israel. His weeping is not sympathy for Hazael but grief for his people. It shows that a prophet of God takes no pleasure in punishment.
A daughter of Ahab, king of Israel. That political union had serious consequences: it brought the influence of the house of Ahab into Judah, and from it came kings and a queen who turned away from the Lord.