Bible Strands
2 Kings 8:9
So Hazael went to meet Elisha, taking with him a gift of forty camel loads of every good thing from Damascus. And he went in and stood before him and said, “Your son Ben-hadad king of Aram has sent me to ask, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Hazael travels to meet Elisha, carrying a gift from Damascus on behalf of King Ben-hadad. He stands before the prophet to deliver the king's direct question about recovering from his illness.
The words — The text specifies מִנְחָה (minchah), meaning a gift or tribute, which Hazael carries in his hand. He also brings כָּל־טוּב (kol-tuv), literally "every good thing," denoting the full wealth of his city.
The thread — The narrative records Hazael's journey to Damascus to consult a prophet, which aligns with the earlier command in 1 Kings 19:15 to go to that same city. The presentation of a substantial offering to a man of God mirrors the diplomatic customs described in 2 Kings 5:5.
Why it lands — The passage states a political envoy's attempt to secure a divine prognosis for a dying monarch. It asks a reader to note how royal anxiety and material wealth are brought directly to prophetic authority for judgment.
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
So Hazael went to meet him, and took a present with him, even of every good thing of Damascus, forty camels’ burden, and came and stood before him, and said, Thy son Ben–hadad king of Syria hath sent me to thee, saying, Shall I recover of this disease?
Cross-references
- 1 Samuel 25:8 Ask your young men, and they will tell you. So let my young men find favor with you, for we have come on the day of a feast. Please give whatever you can spare to your servants and to your son David.’”
- 1 Kings 19:15 Then the LORD said to him, “Go back by the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you arrive, you are to anoint Hazael as king over Aram.
- 2 Kings 5:5 “Go now,” said the king of Aram, “and I will send you with a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman departed, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of clothing.
- 2 Kings 5:13 Naaman’s servants, however, approached him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’?”
- 2 Kings 6:21 And when the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha, “My father, shall I kill them? Shall I kill them?”
- 2 Kings 13:14 When Elisha had fallen sick with the illness from which he would die, Jehoash king of Israel came down to him and wept over him, saying, “My father, my father, the chariots and horsemen of Israel!”
- 2 Kings 16:7 So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son. Come up and save me from the hands of the kings of Aram and Israel, who are rising up against me.”
- Philemon 1:14 But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that your goodness will not be out of compulsion, but by your own free will.