Bible Strands
2 Kings 8:7
Then Elisha came to Damascus while Ben-hadad king of Aram was sick, and the king was told, “The man of God has come here.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Elisha arrives in Damascus while Ben-hadad king of Aram is ill, and court officials inform the monarch of the prophet’s presence. This event follows the king’s restoration of a woman’s property and precedes his directive to Hazael to seek Elisha’s counsel.
The words — The Hebrew verb וַיָּבֹא (va/yāḇōʾ) literally means “and he went” or “and he came,” marking Elisha’s physical arrival at the royal center. The noun חֹלֶה (ḥōlē) translates as “sick,” establishing the immediate condition that prompts the king’s subsequent inquiry.
The thread — The passage intersects with other Damascus and Aram references in Scripture, including Rezon’s settlement in 1 Kings 11:24 and earlier Aramite military campaigns recorded in 1 Kings 20:1 and 2 Kings 6:24.
Why it lands — The text records a moment where a dying monarch’s court acknowledges a prophet’s arrival, triggering a formal request for divine guidance. It asks the reader to note how political desperation meets prophetic presence without adding narrative commentary.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And Elisha came to Damascus; and Ben–hadad the king of Syria was sick; and it was told him, saying, The man of God is come hither.
Cross-references
- 1 Kings 11:24 and had gathered men to himself. When David killed the Zobaites, Rezon captained a band of raiders and went to Damascus, where they settled and gained control.
- 2 Kings 6:24 Some time later, Ben-hadad king of Aram assembled his entire army and marched up to besiege Samaria.
- 1 Kings 20:1 Now Ben-hadad king of Aram assembled his entire army. Accompanied by thirty-two kings with their horses and chariots, he marched up, besieged Samaria, and waged war against it.
- Genesis 14:15 During the night, Abram divided his forces and routed Chedorlaomer’s army, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus.
- Deuteronomy 33:1 This is the blessing that Moses the man of God pronounced upon the Israelites before his death.
- Judges 16:2 When the Gazites heard that Samson was there, they surrounded that place and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate. They were quiet throughout the night, saying, “Let us wait until dawn; then we will kill him.”
- 1 Kings 13:1 Suddenly, as Jeroboam was standing beside the altar to burn incense, there came a man of God from Judah to Bethel by the word of the LORD.
- 1 Kings 15:18 So Asa withdrew all the silver and gold that remained in the treasuries of the house of the LORD and the royal palace. He entrusted it to his servants and sent them with this message to Ben-hadad son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, the king of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus:
- 1 Kings 20:34 Ben-hadad said to him, “I will restore the cities my father took from your father; you may set up your own marketplaces in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria.” “By this treaty I release you,” Ahab replied. So he made a treaty with him and sent him away.
- 2 Kings 1:9 Then King Ahaziah sent to Elijah a captain with his company of fifty men. So the captain went up to Elijah, who was sitting on top of a hill, and said to him, “Man of God, the king declares, ‘Come down!’”