Matthew Henry

Now Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him.

“The same spirit of prophecy that enabled Elisha to tell him what was done at a distance authorized him to call the king the son of a murderer, which, unless we could produce such an extraordinary commission, it is not for us to initiate; far…”

Then Elisha said, “Hear the word of the LORD! This is what the LORD says: ‘About this time tomorrow at the gate of Samaria, a seah of fine flour will…

“The consequence of that shall be great plenty. This would, in time, follow of course, but that corn should be thus cheap in so short a time was quite beyond what could be thought of.”

But the officer on whose arm the king leaned answered the man of God, “Look, even if the LORD were to make windows in heaven, could this really happen?”

“The murmuring Israelites saw Canaan, but could not enter in because of unbelief. Such (says bishop Patrick) will be the portion of those that believe not the promise of eternal life; they shall see it at a distance--Abraham afar off, but shall never taste of…”

Thus the Arameans had arisen and fled at twilight, abandoning their tents and horses and donkeys. The camp was intact, and they had run for their lives.

“Those that will not fear God he can make to fear at the shaking of a leaf. How the Syrians' flight was discovered by four leprous men. Samaria was delivered, and did not know it.”

So the king got up in the night and said to his servants, “Let me tell you what the Arameans have done to us.

“He knew no reason the Syrians had to fly, for it does not appear that he or any of this attendants heard the noise of the chariots which the Syrians were frightened at.”

Then the scouts took two chariots with horses, and the king sent them after the Aramean army, saying, “Go and see.”

“Now the Lord repented himself concerning his servants, when he saw that their strength was gone, Deut. xxxii. The plenty that was in Samaria, from the plunder of the camp of the Syrians,”

Then the people went out and plundered the camp of the Arameans.

“God's promise may be safely relied on, for no word of his shall fall to the ground. The death of the unbelieving courtier, that questioned the truth of Elisha's word. Divine threatenings will as surely be accomplished as divine promises.”

Now the king had appointed the officer on whose arm he leaned to be in charge of the gate, but the people trampled him in the gateway, and he died…

“When he was about to fill his belly God cast the fury of his wrath upon him ( Job xx. 23 ) and it came between the cup and the lip.”

It happened just as the man of God had told the king: “About this time tomorrow at the gate of Samaria, two seahs of barley will sell for a shekel…

“When Israel said, Can God furnish a table? the Lord heard it and was wroth. Infinite wisdom will not be limited by our folly. God never promises the end without knowing where to provide the means.”

Then Elisha came to Damascus while Ben-hadad king of Aram was sick, and the king was told, “The man of God has come here.”

“This is the more observable, (1.) Because it was not long since a king of Israel had, in his sickness, sent to enquire of the god of Ekron ( ch. i. 2 ), as if there had been no God in Israel.”

Elisha fixed his gaze steadily on him until Hazael became uncomfortable. Then the man of God began to weep.

“The man of God could outface the man of war. It was not in Hazael's countenance that Elisha read what he would do, but God did, at this time, reveal it to him, and it fetched tears from his eyes.”

“Why is my lord weeping?” asked Hazael. “Because I know the evil you will do to the Israelites,” Elisha replied.

“The sins of Israel provoked God to give them up into the hands of their cruel enemies, yet Elisha wept to think that ever Israelites should be thus abused; for, though he foretold, he did not desire the woeful day.”

“But how could your servant, a mere dog, do such a monstrous thing?” said Hazael. And Elisha answered, “The LORD has shown me that you will be king over Aram.”

“Note, We are apt to think ourselves sufficiently armed against those sins which yet we are afterwards overcome by, as Peter, Matt. xxvi.”

But the next day Hazael took a thick cloth, dipped it in water, and spread it over the king’s face. So Ben-hadad died, and Hazael reigned in his place.

“Hazael, who was Ben-hadad's confidant, was his murderer, and some think, was not suspected, nor did the truth ever come out but by the pen of this inspired historian.”

So King Joram returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds that the Arameans had inflicted on him at Ramah when he fought against Hazael king of Aram.

“Providence so ordered it, that he who had been debauched by the house of Ahab might be cut off with them, when the measure of their iniquity was full, as we shall find in the next chapter.”

and when he arrived, the army commanders were sitting there. “I have a message for you, commander,” he said. “For which of us?” asked Jehu. “For you, commander,” he replied.

“Perhaps Jehu had some intimation of his business; and therefore, that he might not seem too forward to catch at the honour, he asked, To which of all us?”

And you are to strike down the house of your master Ahab, so that I may avenge the blood of My servants the prophets and the blood of all the…

“That they were idolaters was bad enough, and merited all that was brought upon them; yet that is not mentioned here, but the controversy God has with them is for their being persecutors, not so much their throwing down God's altars as their slaying his…”

And on the plot of ground at Jezreel the dogs will devour Jezebel, and there will be no one to bury her.’”

“The whole stock of royal blood was little enough, and too little, to atone for the blood of the prophets, the saints and martyrs, which, in God's account, is of great price.”

“That is a lie!” they said. “Tell us now!” So Jehu answered, “He talked to me about this and that, and he said, ‘This is what the LORD says: I…

“He knew not but some of them either out of loyalty to Joram or envy of him, might oppose him, and go near to crush his interest in its infancy; but he relied on the divine appointment, and was not afraid to own it, knowing…”

Thus Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi, conspired against Joram. (Now Joram and all Israel had been defending Ramoth-gilead against Hazael king of Aram,

“There he was fighting for the king his master, but received orders from a higher king to fight against him.”

And Jehu said to Bidkar his officer, “Pick him up and throw him into the field of Naboth the Jezreelite.

“For this the house of Ahab must be reckoned with; and that very piece of ground which he, with so much pride and pleasure, had made himself master of at the expense of the guilt of innocent blood, now became the theatre on which his…”

“Throw her down!” yelled Jehu. So they threw her down, and her blood splattered on the wall and on the horses as they trampled her underfoot.

“However it was, thus she was most shamefully put to death, dashed against the wall and the pavement, and then trodden on by the horses, which were all besmeared with her blood and brains.”

But they were terrified and reasoned, “If two kings could not stand against him, how can we?”

“Therefore they sent him a surrender of themselves: " We are thy servants, thy subjects, and will do all that thou shalt bid us, right or wrong, and will set up nobody in competition with thee."”

When Jehu came to Samaria, he struck down everyone belonging to Ahab who remained there, until he had destroyed them, according to the word that the LORD had spoken to…

“This was bloody work, and is not now, in any case, to be drawn into a precedent. Let the guilty suffer, but not the guiltless for their sakes.”

Nevertheless, the LORD said to Jehu, “Because you have done well in carrying out what is right in My sight and have done to the house of Ahab all that…

“He departed from the sins of Ahab, but not from the sins of Jeroboam--discarded Baal, but adhered to the calves.”