2 Kings 13:17 Komentář

This chapter brings us again to the history of the kings of Israel, and particularly of the family of Jehu. We have here an account of the reign, I. Of his son Jehoahaz, which continued seventeen years. 1. His bad character in general (Kg2 13:1, Kg2 13:2), the trouble he was brought into (Kg2 13:3), and the low ebb of his affairs (Kg2 13:7). 2. His humiliation before God, and God's compassion towards him (Kg2 13:4, Kg2 13:5, and Kg2 13:23). 3. His continuance in his idolatry notwithstanding (Kg2 13:6). 4. His death (Kg2 13:8, Kg2 13:9). II. Of his grandson Joash, which continued sixteen years. Here is a general account of his reign in the usual form (Kg2 13:10-13), but a particular account of the death of Elisha in his time. 1. The kind visit the king made him (Kg2 13:14), the encouragement he gave the king in his wars with Syria (Kg2 13:15-19). 2. His death and burial (Kg2 13:20), and a miracle wrought by his bones (Kg2 13:21). And, lastly, the advantages Joash gained against the Syrians, according to his predictions (Kg2 13:24, Kg2 13:25).

INTRODUCTION TO 2 KINGS 13 This chapter gives an account of the wicked reign of Jehoahaz son of Jehu king of Israel, and of the low estate he was brought into by the Syrians, Kg2 13:1, and of the reign of his son Joash, Kg2 13:10, and of the sickness and death of Elisha; of the visit Joash made him in his sickness; and of his prediction of the king's success against the Syrians; and of the reviving of a dead man cast into the prophet's sepulchre, Kg2 13:14 and of the success of Joash against the Syrians, according to the prediction of the prophet, Kg2 13:22.

And the man of God was wroth with him,.... Because he ceased smiting, and smote no oftener; for it was revealed to the prophet, by an impulse upon his mind, that by the number of times he smote on the ground, it would be known how often he should get the victory over his enemies; but this was to be left to the king's own will, how often he would smite, and thereby the prophet would know also with what spirit he would pursue his victories, and the advantages he would gain: and said, thou shouldest have smitten five or six times, then hadst thou smitten Syria until thou hadst consumed it; as a nation, as well as routed their several armies: whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice; beat them only three times in battle, according to the number of his smitings on the ground.

“Now when Elisha had fallen sick with the illness from which he was to die, King Joash of Israel went down to him and wept before him, crying, “My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” And Jehu, king of Israel, died, and Jehoahaz, his son, took his place for seventeen years and died. And his son Joash reigned; he reestablished the kingship which had been troubled by his father, and fought impiety. Elisha helped him with words and actions. And when the prophet was struck with a fatal disease, the king came to him and, seeing that his death was imminent, began to weep like a son deprived of his father and said, “My father, my father,” and so on. This is also the word that Elisha said at the moment of Elijah’s ascension to heaven. And the meaning of both words is one, and we have explained it above.Then he calls the prophet “chariots and horsemen of Israel,” because the peace of the kingdom and the victories of Israel depended on his prayer and rule. The prophet, on his part, rewarded the love of his tears and “said to him, ‘Take a bow and arrows.’ Elisha laid his hands on the king’s hands” and ordered him to open the window turned eastwards and to shoot the arrow. And he shot the arrow. And Elisha said, “The Lord’s arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Aram!” Indeed, the window was turned towards Aram. “You shall fight the Arameans in Aphek until you have made an end of them.” This passage suggests two spiritual meanings. The first is that God has bound the victory of the children of Israel to that sign, which is not a new thing: it existed for many centuries, [as was demonstrated] a few centuries before when the Lord made the plagues of Egypt and the liberation of the people depend on the lifting of the rod of Moses, and the destruction of Amalek on the lifting of his hands during the prayer and the destruction of the city of Ai on the lifting of the javelin of Joshua. It was appropriate that that situation was carried out in that manner, so that the people might clearly recognize with certainty the aid that God had given them and, at the moment of receiving such grace, the memory of grace might penetrate into their hearts. But only Elisha clearly knew the mystery, whereas it was hidden to the king; otherwise, he would have not struck the ground three times but ten. And since he was hesitant and drew back, Elisha blamed him—not because he had committed any fault but because his mistake deprived the children of his people of the victory and the great profit that would have derived from the extermination of the Arameans and the overthrowing of their kingdom that Elisha strongly desired. He is sad for being frustrated in his hope by the king who had stopped and had not multiplied the prescribed strokes. But the real motive which prevented the grace was the apostasy of the king and the people and their rebellious will in the worship of idols. That was again the cause that hindered the gift of the grace that was signified in that sign. The fact that Elisha laid his hands on the hands of the king shows that the weak hands of the king would be strengthened by the power that dwelled in the hands of the prophet, who stood here in the place of his master, so that those hands might be capable of destroying Aram and to exterminate it after it had destroyed and exterminated Israel. It is clear that the children of Israel, at the time of Joram, had diminished a great deal because in the royal city only 5 horses, and at the time of his son, only 10 chariots were available in their entire land and 50 horsemen, and only 10, foot soldiers, as the Scripture says, because the king of Aram had made them perish and had made them like the dust at threshing. Now the Hebrews, at the time of Solomon, had 52, horses in the stables of the king, and Jeroboam sent to war 800, men, and Abijah lined up against them 400, brave men whom he had gathered from the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin. The second spiritual meaning is the following: this sign is divided into two figures, and each of them possesses its own meaning: “The Lord’s arrow of victory” clearly signifies our Lord and Savior hanging from the wood and giving up his spirit. In his spirit he descends into the fortresses and the castle of Sheol and delivers the righteous, who were imprisoned there, and after his resurrection, he subdues the entire universe through the holy apostles and gives new life to those who believe in his name. On the other hand, the fact that the arrow was shot from the window placed eastwards means that the accomplishment of our salvation has been obtained through the ascension of our Lord, as he rides higher than the heavens of the eastern heavens, and through his ascension he raises the eternal gates and makes us ascend as a host of the captives of heaven. Again the arrow stuck into the ground and then pulled out or departing from the ground signifies the burial of our Lord and his resurrection after he had descended and remained in the heart of the Sheol and in the land of the dead. Observe also, with discernment, that the land of Israel has been struck with three arrows, but the kingdom of Aram has been defeated in three battles, in the likeness of the adorable body of our Lord, which was tried with the thorns, the nails and the sword but was not corrupted. The power of death, of Satan, has been crushed three times. Indeed, [the Lord] annihilated Satan and banished sin and death. Again the arrow is shot three times and stays on the ground, but the Lord raises up the people of the Lord who had been thrown onto the ground, as also Christ was placed in the tomb and gave the hope of resurrection to the saints.

Jehoahaz reigns in Israel seventeen years; his various acts, and wars with the Syrians, Kg2 13:1-8. He dies, and Joash reigns in his stead, and does evil in the sight of the Lord, Kg2 13:9-13. Elisha's last sickness; he foretells a three-fold defeat of the Syrians, and dies, Kg2 13:14-20. A dead man raised to life by touching the bones of Elisha, Kg2 13:21. Hazael dies, having long oppressed Israel; but Jehoash recovers many cities out of the hands of Ben-hadad, his successor, and defeats him three times, Kg2 13:22-25.

Open the window eastward - This was towards the country beyond Jordan, which Hazael had taken from the Israelites. The arrow of - deliverance from Syria - That is, As surely as that arrow is shot towards the lands conquered from Israel by the Syrians, so surely shall those lands be reconquered and restored to Israel. It was an ancient custom to shoot an arrow or cast a spear into the country which an army intended to invade. Justin says that, as soon as Alexander the Great had arrived on the coasts of Iona, he threw a dart into the country of the Persians. "Cum delati in continentem essent, primus Alexander jaculum velut in hostilem terram jacit." - Just. lib. ii. The dart, spear, or arrow thrown, was an emblem of the commencement of hostilities. Virgil (Aen. lib. ix., ver. 51) represents Turnus as giving the signal of attack by throwing a spear: - Ecquis erit mecum, O Juvenes, qui primus in hostem? En, ait: et jaculum intorquens emittit in auras, Principium pugnae; et campo sese arduus infert. "Who, first," he cried, "with me the foe will dare?" Then hurled a dart, the signal of the war. Pitt. Servius, in his note upon this place, shows that it was a custom to proclaim war in this stay: the pater patratus, or chief of the Feciales, a sort of heralds, went to the confines of the enemy's country, and, after some solemnities, said with a loud voice, I wage war with you, for such and such reasons; and then threw in a spear. It was then the business of the parties thus defied or warned to take the subject into consideration; and if they did not, within thirty days, come to some accommodation, the war was begun. Thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek - This was a city of Syria, and probably the place of the first battle; and there, it appears, they had a total overthrow. They were, in the language of the text, consumed or exterminated.

JEHOAHAZ'S WICKED REIGN OVER ISRAEL. (Kg2 13:1-7) Jehoahaz . . . reigned seventeen years--Under his government, which pursued the policy of his predecessors regarding the support of the calf-worship, Israel's apostasy from the true God became greater and more confirmed than in the time of his father Jehu. The national chastisement, when it came, was consequently the more severe and the instruments employed by the Lord in scourging the revolted nation were Hazael and his son and general Ben-hadad, in resisting whose successive invasions the Israelitish army was sadly reduced and weakened. In the extremity of his distress, Jehoahaz besought the Lord, and was heard, not on his own account (Psa 66:18; Pro 1:28; Pro 15:8), but that of the ancient covenant with the patriarchs (Kg2 13:23).