2 Kings 8:1-6

C. PREDICTION OF FAMINE IN ISRAEL 8:1-6

TRANSLATION

(1) Now Elisha had spoken to the woman whose son he had revived, saying, Arise, you and your household go, and sojourn wherever you may sojourn; for the LORD has called for a famine, and it shall also come upon the land seven years. (2) And the woman arose, and did according to the word of the man of God; and she went, she and her household, and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years. (3) Then the woman returned from the land of the Philistines, and went out to cry unto the king concerning her house and her land. (4) Now the king was speaking unto Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, Relate to me all the great things which Elisha has done. (5) And it came to pass as he was relating to the king how he had revived the dead, then behold the woman whose son he had revived was crying unto the king concerning her house and her field. And Gehazi said, My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son whom Elisha revived. (6) And the king made inquiry of the woman and she answered him. And the king appointed for her an officer, saying, Restore all which belongs to her, and all the produce of her field from the day she left the land until now.

COMMENTS

That a great famine had come about during the reign of Jehoram of Israel has been attested by 2 Kings 4:38. Prior to the approach of that famine Elisha had warned his wealthy Shunammite friend to leave her home and take up residence wherever she might choose in order that she might escape the pressure of the calamity. God had determined to bring a famine upon the land which would last for seven years (2 Kings 8:1). This faithful woman regarded the prophet as a spokesman for God, and she accepted his instructions as divine commands. The woman and her household migrated to the fertile Philistine plain which, though not totally exempt from famine, did not suffer from such natural calamities nearly as much as did Samaria or Judah. For seven years the Shunammite resided in that foreign land (2 Kings 8:2).

When the famine abated, the woman returned to her native land to discover that some neighbor had seized her unoccupied house and land and now refused to return it to its rightful owner. The woman had no recourse but to appeal to the king that her properties be restored (2 Kings 8:3). The king happened to be talking with Gehazi when the woman came into his presence to plead her case. It would seem that Jehoram had sent for Gehazi to satisfy his curiosity with regard to the miraculous deeds of Elisha (2 Kings 8:4). This king and the prophet himself had never been on particularly friendly terms, hence the best source for accurate information about the deeds of this man of God was his servant. The present episode must be chronologically prior to infliction of leprosy on Gehazi recorded in chapter 5.

It was just as Gehazi related the most stupendous of all Elisha's miraclesthe resurrection of the Shunammite's son that this woman began to cry for the attention of the king. Divine providence so ordered matters that just when the king's interest in the woman was warmest, the woman appeared to press her claim. Gehazi was pleased to point out his old friend and her son, who by this time must have been a lad often years or more (2 Kings 8:5). The king made inquiry of the woman, not only about the miracle which had been wrought in her house, but also about her property claims. Convinced of the justness of her cause, the king appointed an officer of the court to expedite matters and to see that all the woman's property was returned to her. In addition, he awarded her all the profits which the land had produced during the seven years of her absence (2 Kings 8:6).