2 Kings 13:5

And the Lord gave Israel a saviour The LXX, has σωτηρίαν -salvation", -deliverance". The two verses 5 and 6 are a parenthesis, and interrupt the connexion. The - saviour" alludes to what is said of Jeroboam 2. (2 Kings 14:27). -The Lord savedIsrael by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash". This was the time when the prayer of Jehoahaz was truly answered, in the reign of his grandson. That passage is connected with this also by the language of the preceding verse (26) -The Lord saw the affliction of Israel, that it was bitter".

so that they went out from under the hand of the Syrians Language like this must refer to some very great change in the relative positions of Syria and Israel. We have some indication of it in the statement (2 Kings 14:28) that Jeroboam recovered Damascus for Israel. By such a reverse the power of Syria must have been severely broken. We learn from the cuneiform inscriptions (1 Rawl. 35) that Damascus was about this time made subject to Assyria (Schrader p. 110; Eng. Trans. vol. 1. 203). It may be therefore that by the help of Assyria (which we have seen that Israel sometimes gained at the expense of liberty) the kings of Israel were able to shake off the thraldom of their nearer, and therefore more galling, oppressor, at first partially, then completely, so as to come from under his hand.

the children of Israel dwelt in their tents The expression may refer to the peaceful state when the dwellers in the country could live safely out amid their flocks and crops, and not be constrained by the pressure of war to seek refuge in the towns. But it has been noted (see on 1 Kings 8:66) that -tents" is used for -homes". Hence the words of this verse may mean only that the people lived quietly at home, and were not constantly called forth to resist the inroads of the Syrians.