David W. Jones

Kings Appointed – 2 Kings 8:1–9:13

Read the Passage: 2 Kings 8:1–9:13

King of Syria (8:1–15)

2 Kings 8:1–6 narrates a miracle from the ministry of Elisha that likely occurred many years earlier in the chronology of this book. We know this must be true, for Gehazi was inflicted with leprosy in 2 Kings 5, yet here in 2 Kings 8 Gehazi is freely serving before king Jehoram. In this passage, Elisha instructs a Shunammite woman, whose son he had restored to life earlier (cf. 2 Kings 4:8–37), to flee from Israel on account of an imminent seven-year famine. This famine, which was likely provoked by Israel’s worship of false gods (cf. Deut. 11:16–17), was apparently localized, for the woman and her family fled less than 100 miles to Philistia. After seven years, the Shunamite returned home and visited the king in order to ask that her land be restored to her. When she appeared before Jehoram, Gehazi had just told the king about Elisha’s miracle of raising her son back to life.

2 Kings 8:7–15 records an occasion when Elisha visited Damascus and he learned that Ben-Hadad, the king of Syria was sick. In this narrative, Ben-Hadad sent his otherwise unknown servant Hazael, along with a lavish gift, to ask Elisha if he would recover from his illness. Elisha’s response was that Ben-Hadad would recover from his illness; yet, he would soon die. Elisha explains this prophesy to the seemingly bewildered servant by revealing to Hazael that he would murder Ben-Hadad and seize the throne of Syria for himself. Indeed, this event occurred the very next day. Recall earlier, during the ministry of Elijah, God had told Elijah to travel to “Damascus and when you arrive anoint Hazael king over Syria” (1 Kings 19:15). Since Elijah ascended to heaven before he was able to fulfill this command, his successor Elisha now brought God’s directive to completion.

Kings of Judah (8:16–29)

Observe that the Hazael murdered Ben-Hadad in 841 BC, and then reigned from 841–801 BC. As Elisha had prophesied in 2 Kings 8:12, so 2 Kings 9–13 reports that Ben-Hadad was periodically at war with Israel, and surely he committed the atrocities that Elisha had mentioned. 2 Kings 8:16–24 details the reign of King Jehoram of Judah (848–841 BC), who is not to be confused with King Jehoram of Israel (852–841 BC). Since their reigns coincided, and in order to avoid confusion, sometimes Jehoram of Israel is referred to as Joram. Yet, Jehoram of Judah is also referred to as Joram on a few occasions. Jehoram of Israel is referred to as Jehoram 12 times, and as Joram 13 times; while Jehoram of Judah is referred to as Jehoram 15 times, and as Joram 5 times. This can be confusing, yet one common fact about both of these kings is that they were wicked rulers over God’s people.

2 Kings 8:25–29 briefly narrates the reign of King Ahaziah of Judah. Just as the reign of his father Jehoram is easily mixed up with the reign of the king of Israel with the same name, so it is possible to confuse King Ahaziah of Judah (841 BC) with King Ahaziah of Israel (853–852 BC). It is interesting that of the 43 leaders of Israel and Judah, only two names overlap: Jehoram and Ahaziah. In Israel, Ahaziah is the brother of Jehoram, while in Judah, Jehoram is the father of Ahaziah. Ahaziah was a relatively unimportant king of Judah, for he was evil and only reigned for one year. Yet, this narrative significantly notes that Ahaziah’s “mother’s name was Athaliah” (2 Kings 8:26). This is important, for when Ahaziah died, Athaliah usurped the throne and became the only reigning queen in Judah’s history (cf. 2 Kings 11). As we’ll see, this was a low point in Judah’s history.

King of Israel (9:1–13)

This passage details how Elisha directed one of the prophets to anoint Jehu to be king of Israel. Note that 2 Kings 9:1 is the last time that the prophet Elisha is mentioned in this book prior to the narration of his death at 2 Kings 13:14–21. Furthermore, as was the case with the anointing of Hazael as king of Syria, so the appointment of Jehu as king of Israel was disclosed by God to Elijah back in 1 Kings 19:16–17. Next, the unnamed prophet who was appointed by Elisha traveled to Ramoth, found Jehu, and anointed him king of Israel. The prophet then charged Jehu with destroying the entire house of Ahab in Israel. God said the rationale for this cleansing was, “[So] that I may avenge the blood of My servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord, at the hand of Jezebel” (2 Kings 9:7). This would also entail the removal of Baal worship from Israel.

Application Questions:

  1. How does this book embody Prov. 29:2, “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; but when a wicked man rules, the people groan” (cf. Prov. 28:12)?
  2. Why would an evil king like Jehoram restore land to a helpless woman like the Shunammite?
  3. Why did God give Elijah a command he could not keep? Why did Hazael seem surprised at Elisha’s prophecy?
  4. How should Christians think about obeying wicked rulers? Can a believer serve in an evil government?
  5. How could God use an evil king like Jehu to mete out his punishment upon Ahab and Israel?