2 Kings · 29 verses
2 Kings 8
Every verse links to the people and places named in it, and to the passages readers connect it with.
The chapter
What happens here
Atlas's own reading, written from this chapter and nothing else, and published only once a person has approved it. Each scene names the verses it covers; the names inside it link to the people and places they name.
While Gehazi is telling the king about a restored son, the restored son’s mother arrives to reclaim the house and land that famine drove her from—a most punctual entrance, though the chapter offers no explanation for it.
The woman returns at the exact moment of the storyvv. 1–6
Elisha sends the woman whose son he restored to life away from the coming seven-year famine. She and her household live as foreigners in Philistia, then return and appeal to the king for her house and land. The king, meanwhile, is asking Gehazi for tales of Elisha’s great deeds; Gehazi has reached the resurrection when the woman herself appears, with the son beside her. The king hears her confirmation and orders an officer to restore everything, including the field’s proceeds from the day she left.
A message with two destinationsvv. 7–15
Elisha comes to Damascus while Ben-hadad is sick, and Hazael arrives carrying forty camel loads of every good thing from the city—a diplomatic gift with the dimensions of a small procession. Elisha tells Hazael to say that the king will recover, while also declaring that the LORD has shown him the king will die. Hazael grows uncomfortable under Elisha’s gaze, hears the horrors he will inflict on Israel, protests that such a thing is beyond a mere dog, and then receives the unsettling reason: he will be king over Aram. He reports only the recovery. The next day, a wet cloth settles the matter, and Hazael reigns in Ben-hadad’s place.
Two kings, one family connection too manyvv. 16–29
Jehoram succeeds his father as king of Judah and reigns eight years in Jerusalem. He walks in the ways of Ahab’s house, yet Judah is not destroyed for the sake of David and the promised lamp. Edom rebels, Jehoram attacks by night at Zair, and his troops flee home; Libnah rebels as well. After Jehoram dies, Ahaziah reigns for one year in Jerusalem, following the ways of Ahab’s house through his mother Athaliah and his marriage connection. He joins Joram against Hazael at Ramoth-gilead; Joram is wounded, returns to Jezreel, and Ahaziah goes down there to visit him. The chapter ends with the wounded king receiving company, which is less restful than it sounds.
The text
Read it
Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.
2 Kgs 8:1Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, “Arise, you and your household; go and live as a foreigner wherever you can. For the LORD has decreed that a seven-year famine will come to the land.”
2 Kgs 8:2So the woman had proceeded to do as the man of God had instructed. And she and her household lived as foreigners for seven years in the land of the Philistines.
2 Kgs 8:3At the end of seven years, when the woman returned from the land of the Philistines, she went to the king to appeal for her house and her land.
2 Kgs 8:4Now the king had been speaking to Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, “Please relate to me all the great things Elisha has done.”
2 Kgs 8:5And Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha had brought the dead back to life. Just then the woman whose son Elisha had revived came to appeal to the king for her house and her land. So Gehazi said, “My lord the king, this is the woman, and this is the son Elisha restored to life.”
2 Kgs 8:6When the king asked the woman, she confirmed it. So the king appointed for her an officer, saying, “Restore all that was hers, along with all the proceeds of the field from the day that she left the country until now.”
2 Kgs 8:7Then Elisha came to Damascus while Ben-hadad king of Aram was sick, and the king was told, “The man of God has come here.”
2 Kgs 8:8So the king said to Hazael, “Take a gift in your hand, go to meet the man of God, and inquire of the LORD through him, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’”
2 Kgs 8:9So 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?’”
2 Kgs 8:10Elisha answered, “Go and tell him, ‘You will surely recover.’ But the LORD has shown me that in fact he will die.”
2 Kgs 8:11Elisha fixed his gaze steadily on him until Hazael became uncomfortable. Then the man of God began to weep.
2 Kgs 8:12“Why is my lord weeping?” asked Hazael. “Because I know the evil you will do to the Israelites,” Elisha replied. “You will set fire to their fortresses, kill their young men with the sword, dash their little ones to pieces, and rip open their pregnant women.”
2 Kgs 8:13“But how could your servant, a mere dog, do such a monstrous thing?” said Hazael. And Elisha answered, “The LORD has shown me that you will be king over Aram.”
2 Kgs 8:14So Hazael left Elisha and went to his master, who asked him, “What did Elisha say to you?” And he replied, “He told me that you would surely recover.”
2 Kgs 8:15But the next day Hazael took a thick cloth, dipped it in water, and spread it over the king’s face. So Ben-hadad died, and Hazael reigned in his place.
2 Kgs 8:16In the fifth year of the reign of Joram son of Ahab over Israel, Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat succeeded his father as king of Judah.
2 Kgs 8:17Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years.
2 Kgs 8:18And Jehoram walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done. For he married a daughter of Ahab and did evil in the sight of the LORD.
2 Kgs 8:19Yet for the sake of His servant David, the LORD was unwilling to destroy Judah, since He had promised to maintain a lamp for David and his descendants forever.
2 Kgs 8:20In the days of Jehoram, Edom rebelled against the hand of Judah and appointed their own king.
2 Kgs 8:21So Jehoram crossed over to Zair with all his chariots. When the Edomites surrounded him and his chariot commanders, he rose up and attacked by night. His troops, however, fled to their homes.
2 Kgs 8:22So to this day Edom has been in rebellion against the hand of Judah. Likewise, Libnah rebelled at the same time.
2 Kgs 8:23As for the rest of the acts of Jehoram, along with all his accomplishments, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?
2 Kgs 8:24And Jehoram rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the City of David. And his son Ahaziah reigned in his place.
2 Kgs 8:25In the twelfth year of the reign of Joram son of Ahab over Israel, Ahaziah son of Jehoram became king of Judah.
2 Kgs 8:26Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem one year. His mother’s name was Athaliah, the granddaughter of Omri king of Israel.
2 Kgs 8:27And Ahaziah walked in the ways of the house of Ahab and did evil in the sight of the LORD like the house of Ahab, for he was a son-in-law of the house of Ahab.
2 Kgs 8:28Then Ahaziah went with Joram son of Ahab to fight against Hazael king of Aram at Ramoth-gilead, and the Arameans wounded Joram.
2 Kgs 8:29So King Joram returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds that the Arameans had inflicted on him at Ramah when he fought against Hazael king of Aram. Then Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to Jezreel to visit Joram son of Ahab, because Joram had been wounded.
01 — Also here
Who else the chapter reaches
Names written in the English are linked in the text above. These are the ones that are not: an entity the Hebrew or Greek names under a spelling the translation does not use, or one reached only by an assertion about a verse of this chapter.
Named in the Hebrew or Greek somewhere in this chapter, under a form the English renders differently — the registry's Ludim against the translation's Ludites — so there is no word in the sentence to hang the link on.
Reached by an assertion Atlas extracted from a verse of this chapter rather than by a name written in it — a pronoun, a title, or a participant the sentence carries without naming. This layer is model-read and measured at 88.6–90.3% precision, and it is kept separate from the names above for that reason.
02 — Read alongside
Where this is echoed
Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 279 passages were voted onto 29 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.
- 6Proverbs 16:7When a man’s ways please the LORD, He makes even the man’s enemies live at peace with him.
- 6Proverbs 21:1The king’s heart is a waterway in the hand of the LORD; He directs it where He pleases.
- 62 Samuel 9:7“Do not be afraid,” said David, “for surely I will show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land of your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table.”
- 12Hosea 13:16Samaria will bear her guilt because she has rebelled against her God. They will fall by the sword; their little ones will be dashed to pieces, and their pregnant women ripped open.
- 191 Kings 11:36I will give one tribe to his son, so that My servant David will always have a lamp before Me in Jerusalem, the city where I chose to put My Name.
- 12Nahum 3:10Yet she became an exile; she went into captivity. Her infants were dashed to pieces at the head of every street. They cast lots for her dignitaries, and all her nobles were bound in chains.
- 62 Kings 9:32He looked up at the window and called out, “Who is on my side? Who?” And two or three eunuchs looked down at him.
- 61 Chronicles 28:1Now David summoned all the leaders of Israel to Jerusalem: the leaders of the tribes, the leaders of the divisions in the king’s service, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and the officials in charge of all the property and cattle of the king and his sons, along with the court officials and mighty men—every mighty man of valor.
- 122 Kings 15:16At that time Menahem, starting from Tirzah, attacked Tiphsah and everyone in its vicinity, because they would not open their gates. So he attacked Tiphsah and ripped open all the pregnant women.
- 131 Samuel 17:43“Am I a dog,” he said to David, “that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.
- 6Deuteronomy 22:2If your brother does not live near you, or if you do not know who he is, you are to take the animal home to remain with you until your brother comes seeking it; then you can return it to him.
- 6Genesis 37:36Meanwhile, the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard.
- 122 Kings 12:17At that time Hazael king of Aram marched up and fought against Gath and captured it. Then he decided to attack Jerusalem.
- 122 Kings 13:3So the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He delivered them continually into the hands of Hazael king of Aram and his son Ben-hadad.
- 131 Kings 19:15Then 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.
- 12 Kings 4:31–35Gehazi went on ahead of them and laid the staff on the boy’s face, but there was no sound or response. So he went back to meet Elisha and told him, “The boy has not awakened.”
Onward