Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
2 Kings 13:4

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

13:1-17:41 HISTORY TO THE FALL OF ISRAEL

After the anti-Baal revolution (13:1-14:22)

Jehu’s son Jehoahaz followed the sins of earlier Israelite kings, and so did his people. The Syrian attacks foreseen by Elisha were so severe that, had God not mercifully intervened, the whole population would have been left homeless and the entire army destroyed (13:1-9).
The next king, Jehoash, learnt from Elisha that he would win three battles against Syria. He would have won more, had he not lacked faith in God (10-19). During Jehoash’s reign Elisha died, but dramatic events at Elisha’s tomb showed that the God who had worked through him was still alive and powerful (20-21). Jehoash won three battles as Elisha had foretold, and thereby regained some of Israel’s lost territory (22-25).

After the murder of his father Joash, Amaziah came to the throne of Judah. Once firmly in control, he executed his father’s murderers (14:1-6). He planned to attack Edom, but when a census of his army revealed that he had not enough soldiers, he hired trained men from Israel. A prophet told him to send the Israelites back, for God would not give Judah’s army victory while it contained men from the ungodly northern kingdom. Angry at missing out on the chance to raid the Edomites, the northerners raided the cities of Judah instead. Amaziah, meanwhile, attacked and defeated Edom (7; 2 Chronicles 25:5-13).

Foolishly, Amaziah brought back to his palace some idols of the defeated Edomites. His military victory gave him such self-assurance that he thought he could act independently of God and ignore the warnings of God’s prophet (2 Chronicles 25:14-16). Confident in his increased military experience, he decided to attack Israel. The Israelite king warned him that Judah would be defeated, but Amaziah persisted. Judah was defeated, Amaziah was taken captive and Jerusalem was plundered (8-16; cf. 13:12). Later he was allowed to return to his throne, but apparently he was unpopular and, like his father, was assassinated (17-22).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

THE REIGN OF JEHOAHAZ, THE SON OF JEHU, IN ISRAEL

"In the three and twentieth year of Joash the son of Ahaziah, king of Judah, Jehoahaz the son of Jehu began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned seventeen years. And he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, and followed the sin of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, wherewith he made Israel to sin; he departed not therefrom. And the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hand of Hazael king of Syria, and into the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael continually. And Jehoahaz besought Jehovah, and Jehovah hearkened unto him; for he saw the oppression of Israel, how that the king of Syria oppressed them. (And Jehovah gave Israel a saviour, so that they went out from under the hand of the Syrians; and the children of Israel dwelt in their tents as beforetime. Nevertheless they departed not from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, wherewith he made Israel to sin, but walked therein: and there remained the Asherah also in Samaria). For he left not to Jehoahaz of the people, save fifty horsemen, and ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen; for the king of Syria destroyed them, and made them like the dust in threshing. Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz, and all that he did, and his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? And Jehoahaz slept with his fathers; and they buried him in Samaria: and Joash his son reigned in his stead."

"In the three and twentieth year of Joash" Cook wrote that this should be corrected to the "one and twentieth year on the basis of what is written in 2 Kings 13:10."Albert Barnes, Kings, p. 262.

"He… followed the sins of Jeroboam" We cannot accept the allegations that the calf worship set up by Jeroboam I at Dan and Bethel was anything other than outright rebellion against God. It is disgusting to this writer how one liberal scholar after another lines up to claim that there was in any manner whatever a suggestion of the true worship of God in all that calf business. For example, Auld wrote that, "The shrines at Bethel and Dan were in fact a part of Yahweh worship."A Graeme Auld, 1 and 2 Kings (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1986), p. 199. Ridiculous! They were no such thing. The worship of those calves was sinful, reprobate, licentious and totally wicked. Some appeal to the fact that Aaron did it in the wilderness with his Golden Calf. All right, go back to that episode and see what happened!

God Himself declared that the people "had corrupted themselves" (Exodus 32:7). Some claim that they were, in fact, "worshipping God"; but God himself said that, "They have made a calf and worshipped it and that they sacrificed to it"! (Exodus 32:8). There was absolutely no worship of God whatever in that reversion ` to paganism.

Under heavenly orders from God Himself, three thousand persons were put to death that day for their departure from the truth (Exodus 32:27-28). "The almost universal combination of unchastity with pagan rituals raises a suspicion that those who frequented the calf shrines in Dan and Bethel were not innocent of impurity."The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 5b, p. 261. The wickedness of that calf worship indicates that nothing whatever in it entitled it to be considered any less wicked than the outright worship of Baal. The apologists for that calf worship are totally in error.

Note especially the words in Exodus 32:6, where it is stated that, "They sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play." There was nothing innocent in that "playing." It is called "dancing" in Exodus 32:19; but whatever it was, it precipitated the fierce anger of God Himself. There was nothing innocent about it. The slaughter of three thousand people compels us to equate what happened in Exodus 32 with what happened in Numbers 25, where the reason for the slaughter of a similar high number of the so-called `worshippers' sheds much more light on what happened.

"Continually" "Israel during this period was little more than a vassal of Syria."The Layman's Bible Commentary, p. 98.

"Jehoahaz besought Jehovah… And Jehovah gave Israel a saviour, so that they went out from under the hands of the Syrians" The terrible oppression of Syria upon Israel forced Jehoahaz to turn to God in prayer. "He had forgotten God, forsaken him and betrayed him. But now that he is at his wits' end, he turns to him. This is the only kind of religion some people know. As long as all goes well, they manage all right without religion; but let calamity bend them low, and they cry to God in prayer."Raymond Calkins in The Interpreter's Bible, op. cit., p. 254.

"Jehovah gave Israel a saviour" Scholars differ about who that saviour was. Dentan thought he was, "Adad-nirari III, an Assyrian ruler who subjected Damascus and crippled Syria's military domination of Israel."The Layman's Bible Commentary, p. 99. However, LaSor rejected that interpretation on the basis that, "The date of Adad-nirari who subjected Damascus in 805 BC does not fit Biblical chronology."The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 357. Perhaps the safest opinion is that of Keil who wrote that, "The saviour was neither an angel nor the prophet Elisha, but the two successors of Jehoahaz, namely, Joash and Jeroboam II."C. F. Keil, Keil and Delitzsch's Old Testament Commentaries, 3b, p. 375. Hammond thought that perhaps, "The prophet Jonah, who prophesied the great deliverance by Jeroboam II, might also have been in mind."The Pulpit Commentary, op. cit., p. 262.

"And there remained the Asherah also in Samaria" Some have expressed surprise at an Asherah being in Samaria; but no surprise is in order. It was a thoroughly pagan city. As a matter of fact they even had their gold calf just like Dan and Bethel (See Hosea 8:6).Vol. 2., Hosea, of Burton Coffman's comments on the Minor Prophets, p. 172.

"He left Jehoahaz… ten chariots" This indicates that Hazael had forbidden Jehoahaz to maintain any kind of an armed force except for a small token for use on state occasions. "During the reign of Ahab, Israel had over 2,000 chariots; but now they were reduced to ten"!Arthur S. Peake's Commentary, p. 308. What had become of all those soldiers of Ahab? The next clause tells us.

"The king of Syria destroyed them and made them like the dust in threshing" Yes, this is a metaphor, perhaps; but it also described a merciless and brutal type of destroying defeated enemies after a battle. Amos referred to this as follows: "I will not turn away the punishment of Damascus; because they threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron" (Amos 1:4). This was accomplished by making the defeated troops lie down; and then their conquerors drove iron threshing instruments over them to slay them. Those instruments were something that resembled harrows.

"Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz" These words are a kind of formula repeated in connection with all of the kings whose lives are reported in 1 Kings and 2 Kings, and their verbatim repetition time after time in the exact words, "Indicates that both 1and 2 Kings are by one author and that they form only one book."The Pulpit Commentary, op. cit., p. 263.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 13

Now we're going to move north again to the reign of Jehoahaz over Israel in chapter thirteen. So up in Israel, Jehu has died and his son Jehoahaz begins to reign over Israel there in Samaria, and he reigned for seventeen years.

And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD ( 2 Kings 13:2 ),

Now, I told you before that Israel did not have one decent king. Of every king of Israel, it is declared, "He did evil in the sight of the Lord." Not one of them followed after the Lord. How tragic.

continued in the sins of Jeroboam [the first king who had led the people away from Jehovah to the worship of the calves.] And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, he delivered them into the hand of Hazael the king of Syria, and into the hand of Benhadad who was the son of Hazael. And Jehoahaz sought the LORD, and the LORD hearkened unto him: for he saw the oppression of Israel, because the king of Syria was oppressing them. (And the LORD raised up a saviour for Israel, so that they went out from under the hand of the Syrians: and the children of Israel began to dwell in their own cities, their own tents, as beforetime. Nevertheless they did not depart from their sins, but they walked in them: and there remained the grove, [the place of pagan worship] in the city of Samaria.) ( 2 Kings 13:2-6 ).

And so the people were really cut down. And the death of Jehoahaz is recorded in verse eight.

The rest of his deeds are in the books of the chronicles of the kings of Israel ( 2 Kings 13:8 ).

Now we're going to come back. We have his death recorded, but we're going to come back to Jehoahaz in chapter fourteen. So try and hold that in your mind. We get his death here, but as we get back to Amaziah because Amaziah related to Jehoahaz, we'll come back to Jehoahaz.

And the rest of the acts of Joash [who is also Jehoahaz], and all that he did, the fighting against Amaziah king of Judah, are written in the books of the chronicles of the king of Israel ( 2 Kings 13:12 ).

We don't have that in the Chronicles, but we will have more of that in the next chapter.

Now we turn to Elisha and the death of Elisha.

Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died. And Joash the king of Israel came down unto him, and wept over his face, and said, O my father, my father! the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof ( 2 Kings 13:14 ).

So this is what is called parenthetical. We're still... Joash is still king. We already reported his death, but now we're recording about Elisha. And he is... he came down when Elisha was sick. Now this to me is interesting. As far as the Old Testament is concerned, two men stand out as having great faith for miracles. One is Elijah and the other is Elisha. As Elisha was or... as Elijah was ready to be caught up into heaven, he said to Elisha, "What do you want?" He said, "I like a double portion of the Spirit that is upon me." He said, "If you see me when I go, it will be granted. If you don't, then it won't be granted." So Elisha was there, and he saw Elijah caught up into heaven. And his life was a life of miracles. Marvelous miracles of God were wrought by this man Elisha. A man of great faith. But this particular verse of scripture, "Now Elisha fell sick of this sickness whereof he died."

Let me tell you something; people of great faith get sick. People of tremendous faith die. And it is folly to believe that sickness or death results from a lack of faith or commitment to God. Sickness and death happen to everybody. But there are always those who are trying to sell snake oil. From the days of the early prairie. The cure-all. From bunions to earaches. And there always seems to be someone offering the spiritual snake oil or the panacea or the cure-all to all of the problems that a Christian faces. And these panaceas are offered to people and they go through various stages. When they are offered, you know, the book is written and all you have to do is praise the Lord. And if you just praise the Lord for anything and everything, then that's going to be a cure-all, once you learn to really praise the Lord. It's all going to work out smoothly, you know. All of these people and all these horrible problems, until they begin to praise the Lord for the problem, and once they start praising the Lord, the problem went away.

Let me tell you something. There are some problems you can praise the Lord for from now to eternity, and they're not going to go away. And I think it's absolute idiocy to praise the Lord for some of the things that happen. My uncle died as an alcoholic, oh, praise the Lord! No, that's tragic that he should die an alcoholic. But people are offering these cure-alls. Enough faith, you never need to be sick. Enough faith, you'll always be prosperous. And the spiritual cure-alls that are offered. And they go for a while, but soon there are people who try it and it doesn't work and then all of a sudden as they share their failure, they find that other people have experienced the same failures. They've been praising the Lord for a long time, nothing's happening to their situation and they've been believing; nothing's happened. Who really can understand the ways of God?

I will frankly confess I don't understand the ways of God. Now don't let that surprise you. If I stood up here and told you I understood the ways of God, then I would be a first-class liar. Any man tells you, "Well, I understand the ways of God," he doesn't know what he's talking about. And he is contradicting God because God said, "My ways are not your ways, my thoughts are not your thoughts" ( Isaiah 55:8 , Isaiah 55:9 ). For "my ways are beyond your finding out" ( Romans 11:33 ).

And I frankly confess I do not know the mysteries of God. I do not know why God allows certain beautiful Christians to be sick. I do not know why God allows many beautiful Christians to suffer. I do not know why many beautiful Christians are in prison in Siberia and in China and been tortured for their faith. I do not know why James was beheaded and Peter was crucified upside down. And Paul was beheaded and the early disciples all suffered martyrdom, because they believed God just as much as any of these pseudo prophets today. And if God wanted us to all be wealthy and prosperous and all, then He would have declared it plainly in the Scripture, and there would be a consistency to it within the Christian body.

It's a tragedy the way that these doctrines have proliferated through the country. People so anxious to believe. Let me tell you something, these doctrines haven't really had an effect upon the Siberian Christians yet. If you went up there and said, "Hey, you know, God wants you all to be prosperous and wealthy. You all ought to be driving Cadillacs up here." And yet, because of the hardships, they have been forced to a much deeper commitment than we even dream about. Their commitment to Christ caused them the slavery that they experience in Siberia. And there are thousands of Christians enslaved in Siberia today because they dare to proclaim their faith and commitment to Jesus Christ.

I wonder just how strong the commitment would be if God began to take away some of the Cadillacs. Well, He has actually. That's the problem with this thing; it's beginning to die out, thank God. Because too many people who went out on the basis on this and began to charge their Cadillacs and their caviar and all, and when the bills came due, they didn't have enough faith to pay them.

"Elisha was fallen sick of the sickness whereof he died." It doesn't mean that God doesn't love you. It doesn't mean that God is opposed to you. It doesn't mean that you've done something wrong and God is punishing you because you are sick. It isn't a sign of second-class spiritual development or growth. The best of God's children get sick. And it is tragic to lay that kind of a thing on, "Well, there's something wrong in your life or you know, if you only had enough faith." Or you know, "Just confess your sin, whatever you've been doing, and God will heal you." We'll be getting to the book of Job soon and we'll learn about this kind of doctrine.

So he came to Elisha who was there really sort of on his deathbed.

And Elisha said to the king Joash, Take your bow and your arrows. And he said, Put your hand in your bow and draw back. And Elisha put his hands upon the king's hand. He said, Now open the window towards the east. And he opened it. Then Elisha said, Shoot. And he shot. And he said, The arrow of the LORD'S deliverance, the deliverance from Syria: for you will smite the Syrians in Aphek, until you have consumed them. He said, Now take your arrows. And he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, Now smite the arrows on the ground. And the king smote the arrows on the ground three times. And Elisha became upset, he said, Why did you just strike three times; why didn't you smite five or six times; because then you would have utterly consumed the Syrians: but now you will only defeat them three times. So Elisha died, and they buried him. And at this time the Moabites began to send their bands into the land, [sort of marauding bands]. [And there were there was a man who had died and as they were getting ready to bury him, they saw this band of Moabites coming in; and so they just dropped the guy into the grave and began to ran], and they dropped him into the grave where Elisha was buried: and when this [guy's] body hit the bones of Elisha, he came to life, and stood up ( 2 Kings 13:15-21 ).

That to me is interesting and exciting. Such power in Elisha that even the bones there in the grave, this guy's body hitting them, the guy comes back to life.

Hazael the king of Syria was harassing Israel during the whole time of Jehoahaz. But the LORD was gracious, had compassion on them, and respect, because of his covenant with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and he would not destroy them, neither cast him out of his presence as yet. So Hazael the king of Syria died; Benhadad his son reigned in his stead. And Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz took again out of the hand of Benhadad the cities, which had been taken from Jehoahaz his father by war. And three times Joash beat him, and recovered the cities of Israel ( 2 Kings 13:22-25 ). "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

4. Jehoahaz’s evil reign in Israel 13:1-9

Jehoahaz reigned over the Northern Kingdom from 814 to 798 B.C. Because Israel continued to disregard the Mosaic Covenant, God allowed the Arameans to dominate her. Hazael ruled Aram from 841 to 801 B.C., and his son, Ben-Hadad III, succeeded him. The date that Ben-Hadad III’s reign ended seems to have been about 773 B.C. [Note: See the chart of Aramean kings named in 2 Kings in my comments on 8:7-15 above.]

Aram’s oppression moved Jehoahaz to seek Yahweh’s help, which He graciously provided in spite of the king’s unfaithfulness. The deliverer God raised up (2 Kings 13:5) was probably King Adad-Nirari III of Assyria (810-783 B.C.) who attacked Damascus as well as Tyre, Sidon, Media, Edom, and Egypt. [Note: J. Barton Payne, The Theology of the Older Testament, p. 132; Merrill, "2 Kings," pp. 280-81.] The Arameans consequently stopped attacking Israel and turned to defending themselves against their neighbor to the east, Assyria. Another way God disciplined Israel at this time was by reducing her army through casualties (2 Kings 13:7). This had begun in Jehu’s reign (2 Kings 10:32-36) but continued during Jehoahaz’s administration.

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

And Jehoahaz besought the Lord, and the Lord hearkened unto him,.... He did not apply in his distress to the calves he worshipped, but to the Lord; who had a regard to his prayer, not for his sake, or any righteousness of his, or even his repentance and humiliation, which were only external; but for the sake of Israel, and because they were oppressed, who were his people, and he their God, though they had sadly departed from him:

for he saw the oppression of Israel; not only with his eye of omniscience, but with an eye of mercy and compassion:

because the king of Syria oppressed them; by his incursions upon them, and wars with them.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      1 In the three and twentieth year of Joash the son of Ahaziah king of Judah Jehoahaz the son of Jehu began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned seventeen years.   2 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel to sin; he departed not therefrom.   3 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hand of Hazael king of Syria, and into the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael, all their days.   4 And Jehoahaz besought the LORD, and the LORD hearkened unto him: for he saw the oppression of Israel, because the king of Syria oppressed them.   5 (And the LORD gave Israel a saviour, so that they went out from under the hand of the Syrians: and the children of Israel dwelt in their tents, as beforetime.   6 Nevertheless they departed not from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, who made Israel sin, but walked therein: and there remained the grove also in Samaria.)   7 Neither did he leave of the people to Jehoahaz but fifty horsemen, and ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen; for the king of Syria had destroyed them, and had made them like the dust by threshing.   8 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz, and all that he did, and his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?   9 And Jehoahaz slept with his fathers; and they buried him in Samaria: and Joash his son reigned in his stead.

      This general account of the reign of Jehoahaz, and of the state of Israel during his seventeen years, though short, is long enough to let us see two things which are very affecting and instructive:--

      I. The glory of Israel raked up in the ashes, buried and lost, and turned into shame. How unlike does Israel appear here to what it had been and might have been! How is its crown profaned and its honour laid in the dust! 1. It was the honour of Israel that they worshipped the only living and true God, who is a Spirit, an eternal mind, and had rules by which to worship him of his own appointment; but by changing the glory of their incorruptible God into the similitude of an ox, the truth of God into a lie, they lost this honour, and levelled themselves with the nations that worshipped the work of their own hands. We find here that the king followed the sins of Jeroboam (2 Kings 13:2; 2 Kings 13:2), and the people departed not from them, but walked therein,2 Kings 13:6; 2 Kings 13:6. There could not be a greater reproach than these two idolized calves were to a people that were instructed in the service of God and entrusted with the lively oracles. In all the history of the ten tribes we never find the least shock given to that idolatry, but, in every reign, still the calf was their god, and they separated themselves to that shame. 2. It was the honour of Israel that they were taken under the special protection of heaven; God himself was their defence, the shield of their help and the sword of their excellency. Happy wast thou, O Israel! upon this account. But here, as often before, we find them stripped of this glory, and exposed to the insults of all their neighbours. They by their sins provoked God to anger, and then he delivered them into the hands of Hazael and Benhadad,2 Kings 13:3; 2 Kings 13:3. Hazael oppressed Israel2 Kings 13:22; 2 Kings 13:22. Surely never was any nation so often plucked and pillaged by their neighbours as Israel was. This the people brought upon themselves by sin; when they had provoked God to pluck up their hedge, the goodness of their land did but tempt their neighbours to prey upon them. So low was Israel brought in this reign, by the many depredations which the Syrians made upon them, that the militia of the kingdom and all the force they could bring into the field were but fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and 10,000 footmen, a despicable muster, 2 Kings 13:7; 2 Kings 13:7. Have the thousands of Israel come to this? How has the gold become dim! The debauching of a nation will certainly be the debasing of it.

      II. Some sparks of Israel's ancient honour appearing in these ashes. It is not quite forgotten, notwithstanding all these quarrels, that this people is the Israel of God and he is the God of Israel. For, 1. It was the ancient honour of Israel that they were a praying people: and here we find somewhat of that honour revived; for Jehoahaz their king, in his distress, besought the Lord (2 Kings 13:4; 2 Kings 13:4), applied for help, not to the calves (what help could they give him?) but to the Lord. It becomes kings to be beggars at God's door, and the greatest of men to be humble petitioners at the footstool of his throne. Need will drive them to it. 2. It was the ancient honour of Israel that they had God nigh unto them in all that which they called upon him for (Deuteronomy 4:7), and so he was here. Though he might justly have rejected the prayer as an abomination to him, yet the Lord hearkened unto Jehoahaz, and to his prayer for himself and for his people (2 Kings 13:4; 2 Kings 13:4), and he gave Israel a saviour (2 Kings 13:5; 2 Kings 13:5), not Jehoahaz himself, for all his days Hazael oppressed Israel (2 Kings 13:22; 2 Kings 13:22), but his son, to whom, in answer to his father's prayers, God gave success against the Syrians, so that he recovered the cities which they had taken from his father, 2 Kings 13:25; 2 Kings 13:25. This gracious answer God gave to the prayer of Jehoahaz, not for his sake, or the sake of that unworthy people, but in remembrance of his covenant with Abraham (2 Kings 13:23; 2 Kings 13:23), which, in such exigencies as these, he had long since promised to have respect to, Leviticus 26:42. See swift God is to show mercy, how ready to hear prayers, how willing to find out a reason to be gracious, else he would not look so far back as that ancient covenant which Israel had so often broken and forfeited all the benefit of. Let this invite and engage us for ever to him, and encourage even those that have forsaken him to return and repent; for there is forgiveness with him, that he may be feared.