REIGNS OF JEHOAHAZ AND JOASH OF ISRAEL. THE LAST PREDICTION OF ELISHA 3. All _their_ DAYS] RV 'continually,' i.e. throughout the reign of Jehoahaz. 5 A SAVIOUR] either Jehoash (2 Kings 13:25) or Jeroboam II (2 Kings 14:25) is meant. IN THEIR TENTS] i.e. in their homes, the phrase being a survival... [ Continue Reading ]
THE GROVE] RV 'the Asherah': see on 1 Kings 14:15. If Jehu had altogether abolished the worship of Baal (2 Kings 10:28), this Asherah must have been connected with the worship of the Lord, like the pillars before the Temple of Solomon (1 Kings 7:15.)... [ Continue Reading ]
JEROBOAM] usually designated as Jeroboam II.... [ Continue Reading ]
JOASH.. UNTO HIM] Both Elijah and Elisha, though strenuous antagonists to the religion of Baal, yet seem to have tolerated the worship of the Lord under the form of a calf, for both prophets had friendly relations with kings who retained that mode of worship. Corrupt in character as it was, it was n... [ Continue Reading ]
ELISHA PUT, etc.] in order to indicate that the king's destined success came from another source than his own strength.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE ARROW, etc.] The shooting of the arrow eastward was symbolic of a victory in that direction, Syria lying NE. of Israel. APHEK] the Aphek of 1 Kings 20:26.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE MAN OF GOD WAS WROTH] because the king displayed too little confidence in the God whose minister the prophet was.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE BANDS OF THE MOABITES] If Elisha was buried either at Samaria or at his home of Abel-meholah, the Moabites must have crossed the Jordan.... [ Continue Reading ]
TOUCHED] The corpse would not be placed in a coffin but swathed in grave-clothes; and the tomb was probably an excavation in the side of a hill, not a hole in the ground.... [ Continue Reading ]
BEN-HADAD] Probably the third of the name mentioned in the Bible: see 1 Kings 15:18; 1 Kings 20:1.... [ Continue Reading ]
THREE TIMES] in accordance with Elisha's prophecy (2 Kings 13:19). The success of Israel over Syria was probably aided by the disasters which that country sustained from Assyria. The contemporary Assyrian king was Ramman-nirari, who in his inscriptions relates that he besieged Damascus and compelled... [ Continue Reading ]