2 Kings 13:1–25

a saviour--This refers neither to some patriotic defender nor some signal victory, but to the deliverance obtained for Israel by the two successors of Jehoahaz, namely, Joash, who regained all the cities which the Syrians had taken from his father (Kg2 13:25); and Jeroboam, who restored the former boundaries of Israel (Kg2 14:25).

there remained the grove--Asherah--the idol set up by Ahab (Kg1 16:33), which ought to have been demolished (Deu 7:5).

made them like the dust in threshing--Threshing in the East is performed in the open air upon a level plot of ground, daubed over with a covering to prevent, as much as possible, the earth, sand, or gravel from rising; a great quantity of them all, notwithstanding this precaution, must unavoidably be taken up with the grain; at the same time the straw is shattered to pieces. Hence it is a most significant figure, frequently employed by Orientals to describe a state of national suffering, little short of extermination (Isa 21:10; Mic 4:12; Jer 51:33). The figure originated in a barbarous war custom, which Hazael literally followed (Amo 1:3-4; compare Sa2 18:31; Jdg 8:7).

JOASH SUCCEEDS HIM. (2Ki. 13:8-25) his might--This is particularly noticed in order to show that the grievous oppression from foreign enemies, by which the Israelites were ground down, was not owing to the cowardice or imbecility of their king, but solely to the righteous and terrible judgment of God for their foul apostasy.

In the twenty and third year of Joash the son of Ahaziah king of Judah,.... The same year he was so zealous and busy in repairing the temple, 2 Kings 12:6, Jehoahaz the son of Jehu began to reign over Israel in Samaria; whereas Joash began to reign in the seventh year of Jehu, and Jehu reigned but twenty eight years, 2 Kings 10:36, and 2 Kings 12:1, this could be but the twenty first of Joash; to reconcile which it must be observed, that it was at the beginning of the seventh year of Jehu that Joash began to reign, and at the beginning of the twenty third of Joash that Jehoahaz began to reign, as the Jewish commentators observe: and reigned seventeen years; the two last of which were in common with his son, as Junius, see

And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord,.... Committed idolatry: and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel to sin; worshipping the golden calves: he departed not therefrom; from the worship of them.

And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel,.... They doing as their kings did: and he delivered them into the hand of Hazael king of Syria, and into the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael, all their days; the word "their" should not be supplied, since it was not true that Israel was delivered into the hands of both those kings of Syria as long as they lived; for they were delivered out of the hands of Benhadad, 2 Kings 13:25, but the word "his" should be inserted for it as to be understood of the days of Jehoahaz, see 2 Kings 13:22.

And Jehoahaz besought the Lord, and the Lord hearkened unto him,.... He did not apply in his distress to the calves he worshipped, but to the Lord; who had a regard to his prayer, not for his sake, or any righteousness of his, or even his repentance and humiliation, which were only external; but for the sake of Israel, and because they were oppressed, who were his people, and he their God, though they had sadly departed from him: for he saw the oppression of Israel; not only with his eye of omniscience, but with an eye of mercy and compassion: because the king of Syria oppressed them; by his incursions upon them, and wars with them.

And the Lord gave Israel a saviour,.... Not an angel sent by him, nor a captain raised up among them, nor the prophet Elisha, who predicted their deliverance, nor Jehoahaz himself, but his son Joash, 2 Kings 13:25. so that they went out from under the hand of the Syrians; were not in subjection to them, nor harassed by them, nor in fear of them: and the children of Israel dwelt in their tents, as before time; in peace and safety.

Nevertheless, they departed not from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, who made Israel to sin, but walked therein,.... Continued to worship the calves still, which was an instance of great ingratitude; the Syriac and Arabic versions read, "he departed not"; Jehoahaz the king: and there remained the grove in Samaria; which Ahab made there, 1 Kings 16:33, neither Jehu nor his son had it cut down, though Baal was destroyed.

Neither did he leave of the people to Jehoahaz but fifty horsemen,.... This is to be connected with 2 Kings 13:4, the verses 2 Kings 12:5, being to be read in a parenthesis, as in our version, and to be understood of the king of Syria, who left no more to the king of Israel, not of the people of the land, but of his army, than fifty horsemen, all the rest being either taken and carried captive by him, or slain: and ten chariots; military chariots, with the men they carried: and ten thousand footmen; foot soldiers; to so small a number was his army reduced through wars with the Syrians: for the king of Syria had destroyed them, and had made them like the dust by threshing: as corn or chaff may be reduced to dust by too much threshing; or as mire and clay by treading on it.

Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz, and all that he did, and his might,.... Which he exerted against the Syrians, being a man of courage, though not successful, because the Lord was not with him, but against him: are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? where their acts, and the events of their reigns, were recorded.

And Jehoahaz slept with his fathers,.... Died, as they did: and they buried him in Samaria; where Omri, and all the kings of Israel, that descended from him, were buried: and Joash his son reigned in his stead; of whom a short account is given in the following verses.

And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord,.... As his father did, and his character is described in the same words, see 2 Kings 13:2.

And the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did,.... Though none of his acts as yet are recorded, but his sinful ones: and his might; or valiant actions in war with the Syrians, 2 Kings 13:25, and wherewith he fought against Amaziah king of Judah; of which there is an account in the following chapter: are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? in the history of the transactions of their reigns.

And Joash slept with his fathers,.... Or died: and Jeroboam sat upon his throne; who was his son; it is not said that he began to sit on it, or to reign, nor to reign in his father's stead; hence it is concluded, as by Kimchi and others, that his father set him on his throne in his lifetime; and the Jewish chronology (l) expressly asserts that he reigned with him one year: and Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel; see 2 Kings 13:9, the history of his life and actions does not cease here, but, after an account of the sickness and death of Elisha, it is reassumed, which was necessary to interpose to lead on to it. (l) Seder Olam Rabba, c. 19.

We have here Jehoash, or Joash, the son of Jehoahaz and grandson of Jehu, upon the throne of Israel. Probably the house of Jehu intended some respect to the house of David when they gave this heir-apparent to the crown the same name with him that was then king of Judah. I. The general account here given of him and his reign is much the same with what we have already met with, and has little in it remarkable, Kg2 13:10-13. He was none of the worst, and yet, because he kept up that ancient and politic idolatry of the house of Jeroboam, it is said, He did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord. That one evil was enough to leave an indelible mark of infamy upon his name; for, how little evil soever men saw in it, it was, in the sight of the Lord, a very wicked thing; and we are sure that his judgment is according to truth. It is observable how lightly the inspired penman passes over his acts, and his might wherewith he warred, leaving it to the common historians to record them, while he takes notice only of the respect he showed to Elisha. One good action shall make a better figure in God's book than twenty great ones; and, in his account, it gains a man a much better reputation to honour a prophet than to conquer a king and his army. II. The particular account of what passed between him and Elisha has several things in it remarkable. 1. Elisha fell sick, Kg2 13:14. Observe, (1.) He lived long; for it was now about sixty years since he was first called to be a prophet. It was a great mercy to Israel, and especially to the sons of the prophets, that he was continued so long a burning and shining light. Elijah finished his testimony in a fourth part of that time. God's prophets have their day set them, some longer, others shorter, as Infinite Wisdom sees fit. (2.) All the latter part of his time, from the anointing of Jehu, which was forty-five years before Joash began his reign, we find no mention made of him, or of any thing he did, till we find him here upon his death-bed. He might be useful to the last, and yet not so famous as he had sometimes been. The time of his flourishing was less than the time of his living. Let not old people complain of obscurity, but rather be well pleased with retirement. (3.) The spirit of Elijah rested on Elisha, and yet he was not sent for to heaven in a fiery chariot, as Elijah was, but went the common road out of the world, and was visited with the visitation of all men. If God honour some above others, who yet are not inferior to them in gifts or graces, who shall find fault? May he not do what he will with his own? 2. King Joash visited him in his sickness, and wept over him, Kg2 13:14. This was an evidence of some good in him, that he had a value and affection for a faithful prophet; so far was he from hating and persecuting him as a troubler of Israel that he loved and honoured him as one of the greatest blessings of his kingdom, and lamented the loss of him. There have been those who would not be obedient to the word of God, and yet have the faithful ministers of it so manifested in their consciences that they could not but have an honour for them. Observe here, (1.) When the king heard of Elisha's sickness he came to visit him, and to receive his dying counsel and blessing; and it was no disparagement to him, though a king, thus to honour one whom God honoured. Note, It may turn much to our spiritual advantage to attend the sick-beds and death-beds of good ministers and other good men, that we may learn to die, and may be encouraged in religion by the living comforts they have from it in a dying hour. (2.) Though Elisha was very old, had been a great while useful, and, in the course of nature, could not continue long, yet the king, when he saw him sick and likely to die, wept over him. The aged are most experienced and therefore can worst be spared. In many causes, one old witness is worth ten young ones. (3.) He lamented him in the same words with which Elisha had himself lamented the removal of Elijah: My father, my father. It is probable he had heard or read them in that famous story. Note, Those that give just honours to the generation that goes before them are often recompensed with the like from the generation that comes after them. He that watereth, that watereth with tears, shall be watered, shall be so watered, also himself, when it comes to his own turn, Pro 11:25. (4.) This king was herein selfish; he lamented the loss of Elisha because he was as the chariot and horsemen of Israel, and therefore could be ill spared when Israel was so poor in chariots and horsemen, as we find they were (Kg2 13:7), when they had in all but fifty horsemen and ten chariots. Those who consider how much good men contribute to the defence of a nation, and the keeping off of God's judgments, will see cause to lament the removal of them. 3. Elisha gave the king great assurances of his success against the Syrians, Israel's present oppressors, and encouraged him to prosecute the war against them with vigour. Elisha was aware that therefore he was loth to part with him because he looked upon him as the great bulwark of the kingdom against that common enemy, and depended much upon his blessings and prayers in his designs against them. "Well," says Elisha, "if that be the cause of your grief, let not that trouble thee, for thou shalt be victorious over the Syrians when I am in my grave. I die, but God will surely visit you. He has the residue of the Spirit, and can raise up other prophets to pray for you." God's grace is not tied to one hand. He can bury his workmen and yet carry on his work. To animate the king against the Syrians he gives him a sign, orders him to take bow and arrows (Kg2 13:15), to intimate to him that, in order to the deliverance of his kingdom from the Syrians, he must put himself into a military posture and resolve to undergo the perils and fatigues of war. God would be the agent, but he must be the instrument. And that he should be successful he gives him a token, by directing him, (1.) To shoot an arrow towards Syria, Kg2 13:16, Kg2 13:17. The king, no doubt, knew how to manage a bow better than the prophet did, and yet, because the arrow now to be shot was to have its significancy from the divine institution, as if he were now to be disciplined, he received the words of command from the prophet: Put thy hand upon the bow - Open the window - Shoot. Nay, as if he had been a child that never drew a bow before, Elisha put his hands upon the king's hands, to signify that in all his expeditions against the Syrians he must look up to God for direction and strength, must reckon his own hands not sufficient for him, but go on in a dependence upon divine aid. He teacheth my hands to war, Psa 18:34; Psa 144:1. The trembling hands of a dying prophet, as they signified the concurrence and communication of the power of God, gave this arrow more force than the hands of the king in his full strength. The Syrians had made themselves masters of the country that lay eastward, Kg2 10:33. Thitherward therefore the arrow was directed, and such an interpretation given by the prophet of the shooting of this arrow, though shot in one respect at random, as made it, [1.] A commission to the king to attack the Syrians, notwithstanding their power and possession. [2.] A promise of success therein. It is the arrow of the Lord's deliverance, even the arrow of deliverance from Syria. It is God that commands deliverance; and, when he will effect it, who can hinder? The arrow of deliverance is his. He shoots out his arrows, and the work is done, Psa 18:14. "Thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, where they are now encamped, or where they are to have a general rendezvous of their forces, till thou have consumed those of them that are vexatious and oppressive to thee and thy kingdom." (2.) To strike with the arrows, Kg2 13:18, Kg2 13:19. The prophet having in God's name assured him of victory over the Syrians, he will now try him and see what improvement he will make of his victories, whether he will push them on with more zeal than Ahab did when Benhadad lay at his mercy. For the trial of this he bids him smite with the arrows on the ground: "Believe them brought to the ground by the arrow of the Lord's deliverance, and laid at thy feet; and now show me what thou wilt do to them when thou hast them down, whether thou wilt do as David did when God gave him the necks of his enemies, beat them small as the dust before the wind," Psa 18:40, Psa 18:42. The king showed not that eagerness and flame which one might have expected upon this occasion, but smote thrice, and no more. Either out of foolish tenderness to the Syrians, he smote as if he were afraid of hurting them, at least of ruining them, willing to show mercy to those that never did, nor ever would, show mercy to him or his people. Or, perhaps, he smote thrice, and very coldly, because he thought it but a silly thing, that it looked idle and childish for a king to beat the floor with his arrows; and thrice was often enough for him to play the fool merely to please the prophet. But, by contemning the sign, he lost the thing signified, sorely to the grief of the dying prophet, who was angry with him, and told him he should have smitten five or six times. Not being straitened in the power and promise of God, why should he be straitened in his own expectations and endeavours? Note, It cannot but be a trouble to good men to see those they wish well to stand in their own light and forsake their own mercies, to see them lose their advantages against their spiritual enemies, and to give them advantage.

Take bow and arrows--Hostilities were usually proclaimed by a herald, sometimes by a king or general making a public and formal discharge of an arrow into the enemy's country. Elisha directed Joash to do this, as a symbolical act, designed to intimate more fully and significantly the victories promised to the king of Israel over the Syrians. His laying his hands upon the king's hands was to represent the power imparted to the bow shot as coming from the Lord through the medium of the prophet. His shooting the first arrow eastward--to that part of his kingdom which the Syrians had taken and which was east of Samaria--was a declaration of war against them for the invasion. His shooting the other arrows into the ground was in token of the number of victories he was taken to gain; but his stopping at the third betrayed the weakness of his faith; for, as the discharged arrow signified a victory over the Syrians, it is evident that the more arrows he shot the more victories he would gain. As he stopped so soon, his conquests would be incomplete.

Elisha died--He had enjoyed a happier life than Elijah, as he possessed a milder character, and bore a less hard commission. His rough garment was honored even at the court. coming in of the year--that is, the spring, the usual season of beginning campaigns in ancient times. Predatory bands from Moab generally made incursions at that time on the lands of Israel. The bearers of a corpse, alarmed by the appearance of one of these bands, hastily deposited, as they passed that way, their load in Elisha's sepulchre, which might be easily done by removing the stone at the mouth of the cave. According to the Jewish and Eastern custom, his body, as well as that of the man who was miraculously restored, was not laid in a coffin, but only swathed; so that the bodies could be brought into contact, and the object of the miracle was to stimulate the king's and people of Israel's faith in the still unaccomplished predictions of Elisha respecting the war with the Syrians. Accordingly the historian forthwith records the historical fulfilment of the prediction (Kg2 13:22-25), in the defeat of the enemy, in the recovery of the cities that had been taken, and their restoration to the kingdom of Israel. Next: 2 Kings Chapter 14

Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died,.... The prophets do not live for ever; this sickness was unto death; Elisha died, and was not translated as Elijah was: and Joash the king came down unto him; from his palace to the prophet's house, to visit him in his sickness; which was an instance of great condescension and respect, and especially in a wicked prince that could not be reformed by him: and wept over his face; held his head over him, and wept, perceiving he was near his end, and sensible that his death would be a public loss; the nation having often reaped the benefit of his prayers, though his counsel and advice were neglected and despised: and said, O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof; the same words Elisha said to Elijah, as he went up to heaven, which very probably Joash had heard of; See Gill on 2 Kings 2:12, and here, as there, the Targum is,"my master, my master, who was better to Israel by his prayers than chariots and horsemen.''

And Elisha said unto him, take bow and arrows,.... The usual instruments of war in those days: and he took unto him bow and arrows; which though they might not be had in the house of the prophet, he could have some from his guards that attended him.

And he said unto the king of Israel, put thine hand upon the bow, and he put his hand upon it,.... His left hand: and Elisha put his hands upon the king's hands; on both his hands, which were put, the one on the bow, the other on the arrow (m); hereby signifying, that though the king would draw the bow in battle, the Lord, whom the prophet represented, would give the success; and that it would be by his help, and through his blessing on his arms, that he would obtain victory over his enemies. (m) See Virgil. Aeneid. 11. ver. 831, 862.

And he said, open the window eastward,.... Syria lying east of the land of Israel, as the Jewish commentators in general observe, and for which they quote Isaiah 9:12, but it lay northeast, or rather more to the north; wherefore this may respect the eastward part of the land of Israel, which the Syrians had got possession of, and should be recovered, as this sign showed, see 2 Kings 10:33, and he opened it: then Elisha said, shoot, and he shot; the arrow, out of the window, being opened: and he said, the arrow of the Lord's deliverance, and the arrow of deliverance from Syria; meaning, that that arrow was a sign of the Lord's deliverance of Israel from the Syrians, by whom they had been sadly oppressed, and reduced very low: for thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek till thou hast consumed them; not the whole nation, but that army they should bring thither; which was a city in the land of Israel, where the Syrians were routed in Ahab's time; 100,000 were slain near it on one day, and 27,000 by the fall of the wall of it, 1 Kings 20:26 hence some read the words here, "as in Aphek."

And he said, take the arrows, and he took them,.... The rest of them: and he said unto the king of Israel, smite upon the ground; the floor of the room in which the prophet lay: and he smote thrice, and stayed; made a stop, ceased smiting; he might think this action trifling, and beneath him, only was willing to please the prophet, but did not do it with a good will, and therefore smote no more; though this was an emblem of his smiting the Syrians, which he might not understand.

And the man of God was wroth with him,.... Because he ceased smiting, and smote no oftener; for it was revealed to the prophet, by an impulse upon his mind, that by the number of times he smote on the ground, it would be known how often he should get the victory over his enemies; but this was to be left to the king's own will, how often he would smite, and thereby the prophet would know also with what spirit he would pursue his victories, and the advantages he would gain: and said, thou shouldest have smitten five or six times, then hadst thou smitten Syria until thou hadst consumed it; as a nation, as well as routed their several armies: whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice; beat them only three times in battle, according to the number of his smitings on the ground.

And Elisha died, and they buried him,.... In Samaria. Epiphanius says (n), in Sebastopolis of Samaria, Samaria itself was called Sebaste in later times; though the Jews say (o) he was buried in Mount Carmel, in the cave of Elijah; according to the Jewish chronology (p), he died in the tenth year of Joash, and he prophesied more than sixty years; sixty six, as Abarbinel, since he began to prophesy in the nineteenth year of Jehoshaphat; and, according to Clemens (q) of Alexandria, when he was forty years of age; but it seems rather, as Kimchi observes, that he died in the beginning of the reign of Joash, and even before his father's death, when he was a partner with him in the throne, and before any salvation or deliverance from the Syrians was wrought: and the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year; at the spring of the year, when there was fruit on the earth, those troops of robbers came to plunder and spoil; several of the Jewish writers observe, that in the word for "coming", is instead of and so may be rendered "in that year", in that selfsame year that Elisha died; and so read the Syriac, Arabic, and the Vulgate Latin versions. (n) De Vitis Prophet. c. 6. (o) Cippi Heb. p. 46. (p) Seder Olam Rabba, c. 19. (q) Stromat. l. 1. p. 326.

And it came to pass, as they were burying a man,.... That is, as they were going to bury him; for as yet they were not come to the place they designed to bury him at, as appears by what follows: that, behold, they spied a band of men; one of the bands of the Moabites, which came to rob and plunder, and which was about the place where they intended to bury the man; or they supposed would be there by that time they got to it, or at least before they could bury him, and therefore being frightened stopped: and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha; that being nearest, they opened it, or rather rolled away the stone from it, and threw the body in great haste: and when the man was let down, and touched the bone's of Elisha; or "went and touched" (r); that is, as Kimchi interprets it, being cast in, he rolled till he came to the body of the prophet, and touched it: he revived, and stood upon his feet; which might serve to confirm the faith of Joash in the predictions of the prophet concerning his victories; is a proof of the resurrection of the dead, and of eternal life, and an emblem of our being quickened through the death of Christ. The Jews say (s) this man was Shallum the son of Tikvah, and husband of Huldah the prophetess, and was a good man, much given to alms, for which he was rewarded; and they further say, he went to his own house, and lived many years, and begat children, and particularly Hananeel, mentioned in Jeremiah 32:7, which is not likely; though others say (t) he was a wicked man, Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah, 1 Kings 22:24 and therefore not suffered to continue in the prophet's grave; but the former is more probable; and, according to Josephus (u), it was the band of robbers that left this man, whom they had murdered, in the grave of Elisha. This grave seems to have been in the field, where the Jews of old, and in later times, buried, as in the field of Hebron, the potter's field, &c. so the Greeks, as Pausanias relates (w), and the Romans also (x), buried by the wayside. (r) "abit et tetigit", Pagninus, Montanus. (s) Pirke Eliezer, c. 33. (t) T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol, 47. 1. Shalshalet Hakabala, fol. 11. 2.((u) Antiqu. l. 9. c. 8. sect. 6. (w) Corinthiac. sive, l. 2. p. 97. (x) Vid. Kirchman. Funer. Roman. l. 2. c. 22.

But Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz. That he reigned alone, at least, before he took his son Joash to reign with him.

And the Lord was gracious to them,.... To Israel, notwithstanding their apostasy from him, and the idolatry of the calves they were guilty of: and had compassion on them; being in oppression and distress: and had respect unto them; looked upon them with an eye of pity and mercy: because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; made so long ago he still remembered: and would not destroy them, neither cast he them from his presence as yet; or suffered them to be carried captive into another land, as he afterwards did in the times of Hoshea.

So Hazael the king of Syria died, and Benhadad his son reigned in his stead. This was Benhadad the third; the first of this name was of the Damascene kings; but though the kingdom was now in another family, yet this name, being respectable with the Syrians, was retained in it.

And Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz took again out of the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael the cities which he had taken out of the hand of Jehoahaz his father by war,.... Which were in the countries of Gilead and Bashan, and belonged to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, 2 Kings 10:33, three times did Joash beat him: in so many pitched battles, but where is not said, no doubt one of them was in Aphek, at least, 2 Kings 13:17, and perhaps the other two on the other side Jordan; this agrees with the three times he smote the ground, significant thereof, 2 Kings 13:18. and recovered the cities of Israel; those before mentioned; otherwise, if those had not been recovered, not ten tribes, only seven and a half, would have been carried captive by the king of Assyria; whereas Josephus (y) says expressly, the ten tribes were carried captive. (y) Antiqu. l. 9. c. 14. sect. 1.