Exposition of the Whole Bible

not; nor to be excufed diy evil'in the difcharge of his pot and office; but fer the pardon of the fin of idolatry he had been guilty of, of which he was truly fenfible, now fincerely acknowledges, and defires forgivenefs of; and fo Dr. Lightfoot”, and fome others *, interpret it;

~words may be rendered, when my majter went in to the houje of Rimmon to worflip there, which was his ufual cuftoms and heleaned on my hand, which was the common form in which he was introduced into it; and I worfipped in the boufe of Rimmon, as his mafter did, for the fame word is ufed here as before; in as much, or Jeeing I bave worfhipped in the boufe of Rimmon, have been guilty of fuch grols idolatry; the Lord, I pray, forgive thy ferwent in ibis thing, the language of a true penition, might have feen through; but his. heart was fo filled with gratitade for the benefit received, that he was glad.of ah opportunity, at any rate, of fhewing refpect to the prophet..

y. 23. Aud Naaman aid, Be content, &c.]. Or and’to this fenfe the) be pleafed; don’t object to it: take two talents; a talent for each "young man, which amounted to between 3 and 400 pounds a piece: and bé urged; preffed Kim hard, infifted upon his taking them, who might pretend a great deal of modefty, and a tri regard to his:matter’s orders: and bound ‘two talents of filver in two bags, with two changes of garments; for each young man:.and laid them upon two of bis fervants; the fervants,of Naaman, not chufing to burden E/ifba’s fervant with them; for fuch a quantity of money and clothes. was pretty rene. jbeavy: and they bare them before him; both for his y¥. 19. And he faid unto him, &c.] That is, the prophet faid to Naaman: Go in peace, in peace of mind; be affured that God has pardoned this and all other tranigreflions; fo be departed from him @ little way; about a mile, as the Zarguim, and fo other Fewi/h writers; of this phrafe, fee the note on Gea. xxkv. 16. fome fay a land’s length, that is, about t20 feet; rather it was 1000 cubits, or eafe, and for his honour, y¥.24. And whem hé came to the tower, &c.] Of Samaria, or which was near it; a fortified place, and where was a-watch, to whom he could fafely commit the money and clothes: 4e took them from their hand, not willing they fhould go any farther with him, left.the aftair fhould be difcoverhalfled to his mafter: and beflowed them in the houfe s a mile. 4; depofited them there in the hands of fome perfon

¥. 20. But Gebazi the fervant of Elifba the man of God faid, &c.\ Within himfelf, obferving what had pailed: Bebold, my mafter bath fpared Naaman this Syrian, in not receiving at bis hands that which be brought, he {peaks contemptibly of Naaman, as an alien from the common-wealth of J/rael, and reproaches his mafter for letting him go free, without paying for his cure; when he thought he fhould have taken what he brought and offered, and given it to needy J/raelites, and efpecially to the prophets, that wanted it; and perhaps it moftly difturbed him, that he had no fhare of it himfelf: but as the Lord liveth, I will run after bim, and take fomewhat of him; the word for fomewbat wanting 4 letter ufually in it, is what is fometimes ufed for a blot; and ‘Farchi obferves, that Gebazi taking fomething from Naaman, was a blot unto _ him, and indeed fuch an one that he could not whom he could truft; or laid them out, or ordered them to be laid out, in the purchafe of houfes, lands, vineyards, &&c. fee ¥. 26. and he let the men \ go, and they departed, to their matter.

y.25. But he went in, and fiood before bis mafter, &c.| To know his wills and minifter to him, as he had ufed to do, and.as. if he had never been from the houfe: and Elifha faid unto him, Whence comeft thou, Gebazi? where had he been, and fons of the} where was he laft? and he faid, Thy fervant went xo whither; he pretended he had never been out of doors, which was another impudent lie; one would have thought that he who had lived fo long with the prophet, and had feen the miracles wrought by him, and knew with what a {pirit of prophecy he was endowed, would never have ventured to tell fuch,an untruth, fince he might expeé to be deteéted; but covetoufnefs had blinded his éyes, and wipe off, hardened his heart. > y¥.21. So Gebazi followed after Naaman, &c.| As faft as he could: and when Naaman faw him running after him; which he might obferve, looking back, or be informed of by fome of his fervants: he lighted down from the chariot to meet him in honour to the prophet, whole fervant he was: wnd faid, \s all well, tearing fomething ill had befallen Elifha, or he himfelf had done fomething wrong, which occafioned the fervant to run after y. 26. And he faid unto him, Went not mine beart with thee, Sc.] Did my heart or knowledge go from me, that what thou. haft done fhould be hid from me? fo Bex Gerfom and others; or my heart * did not go with thee, it was contrary to my mind and will what thou did;. fo Abendana; or rather, as the Targum, by a fpirit of prophecy it was fhewn unto me, &c. I knew full well what thou wenteft for, and haft done; and fo Maimonides; was not him. i I employed in my thoughts? or, did I not think y.22. And be faid, All is well, &c.] He need give himfelf no uneafinefs at the coming and fight of him: my majfier bath feat me, faying, Bebold,. & now there be come to me; juft then, fince he deom him: from mount Ephraim two young\done: fons of the prophets; where perhaps was a _ fe them: give ‘bem, I pray thee, a talent of _ filver, and two changes of garments, which, as it was a downright lie, fo highly improbable that _ £ilifoa thould afk, fo large a fum of money, with - two changes of raiment for two young fcholars, Ne y. 5. and which Naaman, with a little that fo it was as thou haft done? I did: when the man turned again from his chariot to. meet thee? meaning Naaman the Syrian: is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, as Gebazi had now and olive-yards, and vineyards,and foeep and oxen, and,men-fervants, and maid-fervants; that is, to purchafe thofe with the two talents of filver he had received, as he thought in his heart, or intended to do, as the Zargum; or had given orders to purchiafe fuch for himeto the perfons to whom he had committed the care of them in’ the tower 5 reflec-this was not a proper time, when the honour of the prophet, and the credit of religion, and the good of this man, as a new profelyte, were in dan-;covetoufnefs he had his money, fo for his punithment he fhould have his diicafe: and he went out y. 27. Lhe leprofy therefore of Naaman foall cleave unto thee, and unto thy feed for ever, &c.) As long as any of his race retained 3 as through his j& this chapter are tecorded other wonders of Elifba, as caufing iron to fwim, ¥. 1—7. having knowledge of the fecret counfels of the king of Syria, which he difclofed to the king of J/rael, ¥. 8—12. f{miting the Syrian army with blindnefs fent to take him, and which he led into the midft of Samaria. y. 13—23. and the chapter is clofed with an account of the fiege of Samaria, and a fore famine in it, ¥. 24—~33.

y¥. 1. And the fons of the prophets faid unto Elifba, &c.] Orthe difciples of the prophets, as the Targum: Bebold now, the place where we dwell with thee is too firait for us; their numbers were fo increafed, that there was not room enough for them in the houfe they dwelt in with the prophet; which increafe was owing, the Fews * fay, to the departure of Gebazi laft-mentioned, who was a bad man, and ufed the difciples fo ill, that they could not ftay in the college; but when he was gone, they flocked in great numbers; but rather it was owing to the very inftructive miniftry and wonderful miracles of Elifha: the place where the prophet and his difciples now dwelt feems to be Gz/gal, ch. iv. 8.: y.2. Let us go, we pray thee, unto Fordan, &c.] Which, according to Yofepbus *, was 50 furlongs, or upwards of 6 miles diftant from Gilgal: and take thence every man a beam; by cutting down the trees that grew there; for Mr. Maundrel fays *, the banks of ‘Jordan are befet with bufhes and trees, which are an harbour for wild beafts; and another traveller * obferves, that it is fhadowed on both fides with poplars, alders, &¢. and who fpeaks of their cutting down boughs from the trees when there: and let us make us a place there where we may dwell, near the banks of Yordan, which they might chufe for the retirednefs and pleafantnefs of the fituation, or becaufe Elijab was taken up to heaven near it, as Abarbinel thinks; from whence it appears that thefe fcholars were far from living an idle life; for they were not only trained up in ufeful learning, but were employed in trades and manufactures, to which they had been brought up, and knew how to fell timher, and build houfes: and he anfwered, Go ye; he gavethem leave, without which they did not chufe to do any thing. ¥. 3. And one faid, Be content, I pray thee, and “go with thy fervants, &c.] Or be pleafed to go with us; he begged it as a favour, that being awed by his prefence, they might preferve peace and order, and have his advice as to the {pot of ground to erect their edifice on, and might be protected by him from hurt and mifchief, by men or wild beafts: and be anfwered, I will go, he confented to it, knowing perhaps beforehand, that he fhould"have an opportunity of working a miracle there, as he did..

king of J/rae/ unawares, as he and his forces fhot from bis prefence, as one afhamed and confounded, and difcharged from his matter’s fervice: @ leper as white as fnow; a leprofy of which colour is the worft, and is incurabie.:

¥. 4: So be went with them. And dben they came to fordan, they cut down wocd.| ‘Trees which grew upon the banks of it, to build their houfe with, at leaft for the raftering and flooring of it, fuppofing the walls to be built of ftone.

y. 5. But as one was felling a beam, &c.) Curting down a tree, or a branch of it: the ax-head fell into the water; into the waters of Fordan; or the iron *, the iron part of it, with which the wood was cut; that flew off from the helve into the water: and he cried, and fajd, Alas, mafter, for it was borrowed; it grieved him to lofe his ax, becaufe he could do no more work, and the more, becaufe it was not his own, but he had borrowed itof his neighbour; and {till more, becaufe, as it feems, he was poor,’ and not able to pay for it, which, being of an honeft difpofition, gave him diftrefs.

y.6. And the man of God faid, Where fell it? &c.} For though endowed with a fpirit of prophecy, he did not know all things, and at all times; and if he did know where it fell, he might afk this queftion to lead on to the performance of the miracle: and be foewed him the place; the exact place in the river into which it fell: and be cut down a flick, and caft it in thither; he did not take the old helve and throw in, but a new ftick he cut off of a tree; fome think he made of this another helve or handle, of the fame fize and meafure with the other, and — that this being caft in, was miraculoufly direéted — and fixed in the hole of the iron at the bottom of the water, and brought it up with it; but, as Abarbinel obferves, there is no need to fuppofe this 5 the wood was caft into the precife place where the: iron fell, and was fent as it were to call it up to it: and the iron did fwim it came up and appeared, and was bore on the furface of the waters; or, and made the iron to fwim*; which fome underftand of the wood caft in, as if it had fome peculiar virtue in it to draw up the iron; but it was not any particular chofen wood, but what firft occurred to the prophet‘; and the meaning is, that E/ijba caufed it to fwim, contrary to the nature of iron.

y. 7. Therefore faid he, Take it up to thee, &c.] This the prophet faid to the man that had loft it: and he put out bis band, and took it; it being on ~ the top of the water within his reach, y¥. 8. Then the king of Syria warred againft Ijrael, &c.] Proclaimed war againft him; on what account, or how long it was after erik general came with a letter of recommendation from him — to the king of J/rae/, and had his cure, is not faid: ~ and took counfel with bis fervants, his privy-coun= — fellors, or the general officers-of his army: aying, in fuch and fuch a place thall be my camp; in fome — covered hidden place, as the Targum, where he would lie encamped in ambufcade, to fall upon the — pafs that way; the place, no doubt, was named compaffed the cily, both with bhorf.

by the king of Syria, though not recorded by the hiftorian; or, as the words may be rendered, she place of fuch and fuch a man: for; as Ben Melech obferves, Peleni Almoni ate ufed of perfons whofe names are either unknown or concealed.

¥.9. And the man of God fent unto the king of Traci, 8c.) That is, Elifba fent to him: faying, Beware that thou pafs not fuch a place not go to it, but avoid it, and pafs another way: for thither the Syrians are come down; are hidden, as the J. argum; lie covered at the bottom of the hill, fo as not to be feen.

¥.10. And the king of Ifrael fent to the place which the man of God told him, and warned him of, &c.] Sent fpies thither to fee whether the Sjrians were there or not, and whether it was truth the man of God told him; for he had no hearty refpect for the prophet, though he had been fo ferviceable to him: and faved kim/elf there, not once, nor twice; efcaped the fnares the king of Syria laid for him, not once, nor twice only, but many times,

¥. ut. Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was fore troubled for this thing, &c.] There was as it were a ftorm in his breaft, as the word fignifies; he was like a troubled fea, tofféd with tempefts, exceeding uneafy in his mind, fretting at the difappointment he met with tithe after time: and be called his fervants, and faid unto them, will ye not foew me which of us is for the king of Irael? he fufpected, that fome one of his counfellors was in the intereft of the king of Jacl, and betrayed his fecrets to him, which was the caufe of his difappointments.

¥.12. And one of his fervants faid, none, my lord, O king, &c.| He believed every one of his counfellors were true and faithful to him: but Elifha the prophet, that is in Ifrael, telleth the king of Ifrael the words that thou fpeakeft in thy bed-chamber, what is faid in the moft private place, and in the moft fecret manner: this man had heard much of Elifoa, by Naaman very probably; or perhaps he had attended him in his journey to J/rae/ for a cure, and fo might have perfonal knowledge of Elifha, and be acquainted with the affair of Gebazi; from whence he concluded, that he who had the thoughts of men revealed to him, had knowledge of ‘their swords and counfels, though ever fo fecret; fee Eccl. X. 20.

¥. 13. And he faid, go, and {py where he is, that I may fend and fetch him, &c.} But how could he expect to take him, who could give the king of Yrael fach intelligence of his defigns againft him, rfés and chariots; which he could fee at the door of his matter’s houfe, the city being built upon an eminence; or which he perceived, as foon as he came out of the gates of the city, or was about fo to do: and bis Jervant faid unto bin, Elia being with him; or elfe he returned to his mafter on the fight of fuch an army, and not being able to go forward: alas, my mafier, how fall we do? to get out of the city, and through this hoft, and proceed on our intended journey; and if he underftood that the. intention of this formidable hoft was to take his mafter, his concern might be the greater; and the more as he was a new fervant, and not fo well acquainted with his mafter’s being poflefied of a power of doing miracles.

¥.16. And be anfwered, fear not, for they that be with us, are more than they that be with them.

Meaning the legions of angels that encamped around them:

¥.17. And Elifoa prayed, and faid, Lord, I pray thee, open bis eyes that he may fee, &c.] Not the eyes of his body, which were not fhut nor blinded, but the eyes of his mind; or, in other words, grant him a vilion, reprefented in fo ftrong a light, as to remove his fears: and the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he faw; he had a vifion of angels: and behold, the mountain; on which the city was built; or one near it: was full of horfes and chariots of fire, angels in this form, as in ch. ii. rr. and thefe were round about Elifba; being round about the city where he was; or rather {o in the vifion it was reprefented to the young man, he faw his mafter furrounded with horfes and chariots-of fire in the utmoft fafety.

y.18. dnd when they came down to him, &c.] The Syrian army, from the hill on which they were firft feen, who came down from thence to the bottom of the hill on which the city ftood; and whither Elifha came out, in order both to meet them, and proceed on his journey to Samaria: Elifba prayed unto the Lord, and faid, fmite this people, I pray thee, with blindnefs; or blindneffes®; with great blindnefs, fuch as the men of Sodom were fmitten with; the fame word is here ufed as of them, Gen. xix. 11. and he /mote them with blindnefs, according to the word of Elifba; not in fuch manner that they — could difcern no object, for then they could not have followed Elba; but their fight was fo altered, that they knew not the objects they faw; they appeared quite otherwife to them than they were; they faw the city, but knew it not to be the fame, and Eli/ba, but knew him not to be the man of that he might efcape his fnares? and it was told God, though they might have fome in the hott him, faying, behold, he is in Dothan; a city in the tribe of Manaffeh, not far from Shechem; fee the note on Gen. xXxxvil. 17.

¥.14. Therefore fent he thither horfes and chariots, and a great hoft, &c.) To terrify the inhabitants from attempting to defend the prophet, but deliver him up at once: amd they came by night; that they might come upon them unawares, and their defign not be difcovered, fo as to have timely fuccour from Samaria, which was not far off: and compaffed the city about, that the prophet might not make his efcape out of it.

that knew him perfonally.;

¥. 19. And Elifha faid_ unto them, This is not the way, neither is this the city, &c.] Which is an an{wer to fome queftions of the Syrians; as, whether this was the way to find the prophet Eijha, and this the city in which he was to be found? and he anfwers moft truly, though ambiguoufly, that the way they were in, and in which fhould they proceed, was not the way, nor this the city, in which he was to be found, becaufe he was come out of it, and was going to Samaria: follow me; - and I will bring you to the man whom ye seek; as he

¥.15. And when the fervant of the man of God did: but he led them to Samaria; whither he was was rifen early, and gone forth, &c.] Either out of his mafter’s houfe, or out of the city upon fome’ bufineis to be done betimes; this was not Gebex, but a new fervant: bebold, an bhoft going, they being ftill under that fort of blindnefs with which they were {mitten; otherwife they would have known the country better than to have been led thither.

, har: a ‘it until an afs’s bead was fold for fourfeore pieces of ‘filver;, thekels, as the Targum explains the word in the next claufe, which amounted to: about a ‘or ten pounds of our moneys. a great price for ‘head of fuch a creature, by law unclean,’ its: difagreeable, and of that but very. little,.as is om an head: and the fourth part of a cab of doves dung for five pieces of filver; fome of the Fezwé fh writers.

fay *, this was bought for fuel, which was fearce+ Fofepbus fays', for falt, and fo Procopius Gazeus, y. 20. And it came to pafs when they were come into Samaria, that Elifha‘faid, Lord, open the eyes of thefe men, that they may fee, &c.] So as to Know where they were: and the Lord opened their eyes, and they faw, and bebold, they were in: the midft of Samaria, the gates being thrown’ open for them, and they led into the very heart of the city; for, no doubt, Elifha fent his fervant before, to acquaint the king of J/rael with what he was doing; who got a fufficient number of armed men to inclofe them, and fall upon them, when put into his hands, as appears by what follows.

v.21. And the king of Ifrael faid unto Elifha, when he faw them, &c.] ‘The Syrian army thus in his hands: My father, frall 1 fmite them? foallI mite them? he fpeaks with great reverence and refpect to the prophet, whom at other times he neglected and defpifed; and the repetition of his words fhews the eagernefs of his mind to fall upon his enemy at this. advantage.

y. 22. And be anfwered, Thou foalt not fmite them, &¢.] For they were not his, but the prophet’s captives, or rather the Lord’s: wouldft thou funite thofe whom thou haft taken ceptive, with thy fword, and with thy bow? when foldiers are made prifoners’of war, it is contrary to humanity, to the Jaws of nature and: nations, to kill them in cold blood, and much more thofe who were taken not by his fword and bow, but by the power and providence of God: fet bread and water before thent, that. they may eat and drink, and go to their mafter; the king of Syria, and report the miracles wrought, and the good ufage they met with, when in the hand of an enemy, fed and let go; which would be more to the glory of the God of J/ce/, and more agreeable to the character of a king of [/rael, reckoned merciful, and more ferviceable to the civil good of the land of J/rae/, as well as more to the honour of the prophet and true religion, fee Rom. xii. 20,21.

¥. 23. And he prepared great provifion for them, &c.]. Or a great feaft, as theZargum, fo obedient was he to the prophet’s orders: aud when they had.eaten and drank, and refrefhed themfelves, which they needed, having marched all night’ and that morning from place to place: he fent them away; that is, the king of J/rael difmiffed them: and they went to their mafter; the king of Syria, but without the prophet Elia’ they were fent to fetch: fo the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Ifrael; not as yet, or for fome time; or rather the fenfe is, that the Syrians came not any more in {mall bodies, as troops of robbers making excurfions, and carrying off booty in a private manner, and by furprize; but afterwards came with a large army in an open hoftile manner, as follows.

y. 24. And it came to pafs after this, that Benbadad king of Syria gathered all his boft, &c. Still retaining a grudge and enmity againft [/rae/, and not at all foftened by the kind and humane treat-} ment his forces had met with, when in the hands of

Lrael, and finding he could do nothing in a fecret way, by ambufcade, muftered all his forces together, to try what he could do by open war: and went up, and befieged Samaria; Jeboram king of Hrael not being able to ftop him till he came to his capital, which he laid clofe fiege to.

¥.25. And there was a great famine in Samaria,| &c.] No care, perhaps, having been taken to lay up ftores againft a fiege: and debold, they befeged fomething particular and preffing in her cafe: and fhe anfwered, this woman faid unto wie, who was now with her, and to whom fhe pointed: give /on that we may eat him to-day, and we [jon to-morrow’, and this was. agreed to betwe them, that firft-one fhould be eaten, and then th other, and that they fhould feed.upon one as lon as it would laft, and then on the other 5: for it and Tbeodoret; others, fer dunging the lands, which is the ufe of ic in Perfia* for melons 3 neither of which are probable; moft certainly ie — was for food; but as doves dung muft not only be very difagreeable, but fcarce affording any nourifhment, fomething elfeé muft be meant;. fome have — thought that the grains found in theif crops, or in their excrements, undigefted, and’ picked out, are meant; and others, their crops or craws themfelves;. or intrails; but Bochart' is of opinion, that a fore of pulfe is meant, as lentiles or vetches, much the fame with the Ka# or parched corn ufed in Jrael, fee 1 Sam. xvii. 17. 2 Sem. xvii. 28, and a Tate traveller ™ obferves, that the Leb/ebby of the Arabs: is very probably the Kai, or parched. pulfe of the {criptures, and has been taken for the pigeon’s dung mentioned at the fiege of Samaria; and’indeed as the cicer (a fort of peas or pulfe) is pointed at one end, and acquires an afh-colour by parching, the firft of which circumftances anfwers to the figure, the other to the ufual colour of pigeon’s dung, the fuppofition is by no means to be difregarded: a cab was a meafure with the Jews, which held the quantity of 24 egg-fhells; according to Godwin”, it anfwered to our quart, fo that a fourth part was half a pint; and half a pint of thefe lentiles, or vetches, or parched pulfe, was fold for eleven or twelve fhillings. ie sy ¥.26. And as the king of Ijrael was paffing by upon the wall, &c.| To defcry the motion and — fituation of the enemy, and to give orders for the annoyance of them, and to fee that his foldiers did their duty: there cried a womam to him, fay= ing, help, my lord, O king; defired- his affiftance and. help in a caufe depending between her and another woman.) ' 59 gt epee y.27. And he faid, if the Lord do not help thee, whence foall I help thee, 8c. ] Miftaking her meaning, as if fhe prayed him to relieve her hun« - ger; the margin of our bible is, Jet not the Lord fave thee; and fo fome underftand it as a wifh that fhe might perifh and fo Fo/ephus’, that being wroth, he curfed her in the name of God: out o the barn-floor, or out of the wine-prefs? when nei-

¥. 28. And the king faid ep ksh, ‘aii ae not to be limited precifely to a day and to-moexecute what he had fworn thould be done that day to the prophet: but ere the’ meffenger came to him;

y¥. 29. So we boiled my fon, and did eat him, 8cc. | be faid to the elders, fee ye how this fon of a murderer

Thus what was. predicted by way of threatening, began to be accomplifhed, Dew. xxviii. 53. fee the note there; and of which there were other inftances of a like kind at the fiege of Yerufalem, both by Nebuchadnezzar and Vefpafian: and I faid unto her on the next day; after her child had been wholly ate up: give thy fon that we may eat bim; according to agreement: and fhe bath hid her fon; either to fave him alive, or to eat him herfelf alone.

¥. 30. And it came to pafs, when the king. heard the words of the woman, that be rent his clothes, &c. ] At the horror of the fact reported, and through grief that his people were brought into fuch diftrefs through famine: and he paffed by upon the wall; returning to his palace: and the people looked, and bebold, he had. fackcloth upon bis flefh; which in token of humiliation for averting the calamities he was under, he had put there before, and now was feen through the renting of his clothes., y. 31. Then he faid, God do fo and more alfo. to me, &c.) He fwore and made dreadful imprecations: if the head of Elifha the fon of Shaphat hall fiand on him this day; imputing the fore famine to him, becaufe he had foretold it, and did not pray for the removal of it, as he might; and perhaps had advifed and encouraged the king to hold out the fiege, which had brought them to this extremity, and therefore was enraged at him.

¥. 32. And Elifoa fat in his houfe, &c.| In Samaria: and the elders fat with him, not the elders of the city, or the magiftrates thereof, but his difciples, as Fo/epbus fays ®, the eldeft of them, whom he admitted to greater familiarity and converfe with him: and the king fent a man from before him; to hath fent to take away mine head? which he knew by a {pirit of prophecy, and fpoke of it before thé executioner came; he calls Yoram the fon of a murderer, becaufe of his mother ¥ezebe, who killed Nadoth, and the prophets of ‘the Lord, and to which his father Ahad alfo confented, and therefore might be fo called too; and he intimates hereby; that he was of the {ame temper and difpofition, and das the above oath, and his orders, fhewed: Jook’

when-the meffenger cometh, fout the ‘door, and bold him faft at the door; and not fuffer him to come in: is not the found of bis mafter’s feet behind him 2 that is, of Yoram king of I/rael, who followed thé meffenger, either. to liften and hear what the pros phet would fay unto him; or repenting of his or« der, as Fofephus * thinks, he followed him to prevent the execution.:

¥. 33. And while be yet talked with them, &c.} Elifba with the elders: debold, the meffenger camé down unto him; {ent by the king: and be faid; either the mefienger in the king’s name, or rather the king who was at his heels, and came. to the door before the meflenger was let in, who was. detained; and therefore 1t is moft probable the king went in firft; for that was the intention of Elba in holding the meffenger, not to fave his own life; but that the king, who was following, might hear what he had to fay; and whom he advifed to wait for the Lord, and his appearance for deliverance ‘ in anfwer to which he faid, ebold, this evil is of the Lord, what fhould I wait for the Lord any longer? this calamity is from him, and he is determined upon the ruin of my people, and there is no hope 3 this he faid as defpairing, and fo refolving to hold out the fiege no longer.

HIS chapter begins with a prophecy of great plenty in Samaria on the morrow, and of| the death of an unbelieving lord, ¥. 1, 2. relates his accurate computation, was two fhillings and four-pence.farthing, and near the 8th part of one*: and two meafures of barley for a fhekel, in the gate of the cafe of four lepers, who that night went into the Syrian camp, which was deferted, occafioned by the noife of chariots, horfes and a hoft, which they fancied they heard, ¥. 3—9. the report which the lepers made to the king’s houfhold of this affair, and the method the king’s fervants took, to know the truth of it, ¥. 1o—15. which, when confirmed, the people went out and fpoiled the tents of the Syrians, whereby the prophecy of plenty was fulfilled, y. 16. and the unbelieving lord having a poft at the gate of the city affigned him, was trod to death, and fo the prediction concerning him had its accomplifhment alfo, y. 17—20.

y¥.1. Then Elifha faid, Hear the word of the Lord, &c.] This he faid to the king and thofe that were with him: Thus faith the Lord, To-morrow about this time; which very probably was the forenoon: fhall a meajure of fine flour be fold for a fockel; 4 feab, the meafure here fpoken, of,.or faium, according to fome‘, was a gallon and an half; but bifhop Cumberland’ makes it two wine gallons and an half; and a fhekel, according to