Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
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2 Kings
Book: 2 Kings
Chapter: 8
Overview:
A
Famine in
Israel, The
Shunammite obtains her land.
(1-6)
Elisha consulted
By Hazael,
Death of Benhadad.
(7-15) Jehoram's
wicked reign in
Judah.
(16-24) Ahaziah's wicked reign in
Judah.
(25-29)
1-6 The kindness of the good
Shunammite to
Elisha, was rewarded
By the care taken of her in
Famine. It is
Well to foresee an
evil, and
Wisdom, when we foresee it, to hide ourselves if we
lawfully may do
So. When the
Famine was over, she returned out
of the land of the
Philistines; that was
No proper place for an
Israelite, any longer than there was necessity for it. Time was
when she dwelt
So securely among her own people, that she had
No
occasion to be spoken for to the
King; but there is much
uncertainty in this
Life,
So that things or persons may fail us
which we most depend upon, and those befriend us which we think
we shall never need. Sometimes events, small in themselves,
prove of consequence, as here; for they made the
King ready to
believe
Gehazi's narrative, when thus confirmed. It made him
ready to grant her request, and to support a
Life which was
given once and again
By Miracle.
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.
Hazael's false account was an
injury to the
King, who lost the benefit of the
Prophet's
warning to prepare for
Death, and an injury to
Elisha, who would
be counted a false
Prophet. It is not certain that
Hazael
murdered his master, or if he caused his
Death it may have been
without any design. But he was a dissembler, and afterwards
proved a persecutor to
Israel.
16-24 A general idea is given of
Jehoram's badness. His
Father,
No doubt, had him taught the true knowledge of the
Lord, but did
ill to marry him to the
Daughter of
Ahab;
No good could come of
union with an idolatrous family.
25-29 Names do not make natures, but it was bad for
Jehoshaphat's family to
Borrow names from
Ahab's.
Ahaziah's
relation to
Ahab's family was the occasion of his wickedness and
of his fall. When men choose wives for themselves, let them
remember they are choosing mothers for their children.
Providence So ordered it, that
Ahaziah might be cut off with the
House of
Ahab, when the
Measure of their iniquity was full.
Those who partake with sinners in their
Sin, must expect to
partake with them in their plagues. May all the changes,
troubles, and wickedness of the world, make us more
Earnest to
obtain an interest in the
Salvation of
Christ.