Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Kings 19:17
And it shall come to pass, [that] him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay: and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay.
17. shall Elisha slay ] Here we come upon evidence that the language of these verses (15 18) is not to be pressed into a literal interpretation. In the second book of Kings the compiler gives us all that he thought needful of the life of Elisha, and there is nothing in it which accords with a literal acceptance of this verse. We read of none that were slain by the hand of Elijah’s successor. But his voice and his labours for the overthrow of false worship, and for making known, both to Israel and to the nations round about, that there was ‘no God in all the earth but in Israel’ (2Ki 6:15) were constant, and by this ‘sword of his mouth’ he overthrew the foes of Jehovah. In this sense he fulfilled the declaration in the text, his work coming in and being effectual in places and ways where Hazael and Jehu wrought no deliverance.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Compare the marginal references.
Shall Elisha slay – i. e., With a spiritual slaying by the word of the Lord, which is sharper than any two-edged sword, and may be said to slay those whose doom it pronounces (compare the marginal reference; Jer 1:10). Elisha does not seem, like Elijah, to have executed Gods judgments on the guilty.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 17. Shall Elisha slay.] We do not find that Elisha either used the sword, or commissioned it to be used, though he delivered solemn prophecies against this disobedient people: and this is probably the sense in which this should be understood, as Elisha was prophet before Hazael was king, and Hazael was king before Jehu; and the heavy famine which he brought on the land took place before the reign either of Jehu or Hazael. The meaning of the prophecy may be this: Hazael, Jehu, and Elisha, shall be the ministers of my vengeance against this disobedient and rebellious people. The order of time, here, is not to be regarded.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Here the order of times seems to be perverted; for Elisha was prophet before Jehu or Hazael were kings, and Hazael was king before Jehu. But that is of no moment as to the substance of the thing threatened, which is only this, that one or other of these should infallibly execute Gods judgments upon the apostatical Israelites. Elisha is said to slay them, either because he slew those forty-two children, 2Ki 2:24, besides others whom upon like occasions he might destroy; or because he by Gods appointment inflicted the famine, 2Ki 6:31; or rather, by the sword which came out of his mouth, as Isa 49:2; Rev 1:16; 19:15,21, by his cutting prophecies and threatenings of Gods judgments; the prophets being said to pull down and to destroy what they only declare and foretell shall be pulled down, &c. Hazael began to slay them before Jehu was king, 2Ki 8:28, though his cruelty was much increased afterward, 2Ki 10:32; 13:1-3; and Jehu destroyed those whom Hazael did not, king Joram himself, and Ahaziah, and his forty-two brethren, 2Ki 9:24,27; 10:14, all the near relations of wicked Ahab.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
4-18. went a day’s journey into thewildernesson the way from Beer-sheba to Horeba wide expanseof sand hills, covered with the retem (not juniper, but broomshrubs), whose tall and spreading branches, with their white leaves,afford a very cheering and refreshing shade. His gracious God did notlose sight of His fugitive servant, but watched over him, and,miraculously ministering to his wants, enabled him, in a better butnot wholly right frame of mind, by virtue of that supernaturalsupply, to complete his contemplated journey. In the solitude ofSinai, God appeared to instruct him. “What doest thou here,Elijah?” was a searching question addressed to one who had beencalled to so arduous and urgent a mission as his. By an awfulexhibition of divine power, he was made aware of the divine speakerwho addressed him; his attention was arrested, his petulance wassilenced, his heart was touched, and he was bid without delay returnto the land of Israel, and prosecute the Lord’s work there. Toconvince him that an idolatrous nation will not be unpunished, Hecommissions him to anoint three persons who were destined inProvidence to avenge God’s controversy with the people of Israel.Anointing is used synonymously with appointment (Jud9:8), and is applied to all named, although Jehu alone had theconsecrated oil poured over his head. They were all three destined tobe eminent instruments in achieving the destruction of idolaters,though in different ways. But of the three commissions, Elijahpersonally executed only one; namely, the call of Elisha to be hisassistant and successor [1Ki19:19], and by him the other two were accomplished (2Ki 8:7-13;2Ki 9:1-10). Having thussatisfied the fiery zeal of the erring but sincere and pious prophet,the Lord proceeded to correct the erroneous impression under whichElijah had been laboring, of his being the sole adherent of the truereligion in the land; for God, who seeth in secret, and knew all thatwere His, knew that there were seven thousand persons who had notdone homage (literally, “kissed the hand”) to Baal.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And it shall come to pass, that him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay,…. Which suggests that many should be slain in Israel by them both, as were by Hazael, 2Ki 10:32 and by Jehu, 2Ki 9:24,
and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay; which may be understood either literally of the forty two children cursed by him, in consequence of which they were destroyed by bears, 2Ki 2:24 or rather figuratively by his prophecies, see Ho 6:5 who foretold the slaughters made by Hazael and Jehu, as well as others, see 2Ki 8:12, these several things were not done in the order in which they are here put; for what Elisha did was before Hazael and Jehu, and Jehu before Hazael; these words therefore do not respect the exact order of time in which they should be done, only that each should do the part appointed and assigned unto him, and what could not be so well done by the other; thus Hazael was to destroy those that came out to war; and Jehu Ahab’s family that did not; and Elisha the children of idolatrous parents at Bethel, that came not within the reach of either; though it may be observed, that Hazael began to distress Israel before Jehu appeared, 2Ki 8:28 and the prophecies of Elisha might not have their full accomplishment until after Hazael and Jehu had done what was appointed for them.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(17) Him that escapeth the sword of Hazael.The vengeance wrought by Hazael and Jehu on the faithlessness of Israel speaks for itself; it is marked in bloody letters on the history (2 Kings 10). But Elishas mission was obviously not one of such vengeance. He had to destroy enmity, but not to slay the enemies of God. The difficulty, such as it is, is one of the many marks of historic accuracy in the whole passage. Probably Elishas mission is here described in the terms in which Elijah would best understand it. His spirit was for war; he could hardly have conceived how the completion of his mission was to be wrought out by the weapons of peace in the hand of his successor. (Comp. 2Co. 10:3-6.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
17. Hazael Jehu Elisha These are to be the ministers of Divine vengeance against the house of Ahab the swords of a Jew and a Gentile king, and the word of Elijah’s successor. Around these three names cluster the destinies of Israel for a whole generation, and hence their significance in this revelation to Elijah.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1Ki 19:17. Him that escapeth the sword of Hazael, &c. It is evident, that the text mentions not the things according to the order of time wherein they happened; for Elisha was prophet before Hazael was king, and Hazael was king before Jehu; but they are spoken of according to the decree of God; and the words plainly mean no more than this: that God, in his providence, had appointed three persons to punish the Israelites according to their deserts; and that one or other of these should infallibly execute his judgments upon them. The only difficulty is, How the prophet Elisha can be said to slay, when by profession he was a pacific man, and never engaged in war? But when we consider the two-and-forty children which he destroyed, the sore famine which, by God’s appointment, he sent upon the Israelites, 2Ki 6:25 and the many dreadful prophesies and comminations (called in Scripture the sword of the mouth, Isa 49:2. Rev 1:16.) which he denounced against them, and which were fulfilled, we shall find reason enough to justify the expression.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
1Ki 19:17 And it shall come to pass, [that] him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay: and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay.
Ver. 17. Shall Elisha slay. ] Elisha then hath his sword as well as Jehu and Hazael, though of another nature; viz., prayers, a threatenings, curses, which did all most certainly and infallibly come to pass. And whensoever Elisha unsheatheth and brandisheth his sword, it is a fair warning that the sword of Jehu and Hazael are at hand. See Hos 6:5 Jer 1:10 .
a They that can stand against or escape the power of two kings, shall yet fall by the hand of prayer.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
the sword. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Cause), App-6, for judgments inflicted by it. Compare 2Ki 9 and 2Ki 10. The first prophecy given to Elijah.
Elisha slay: i.e. declare should be slain. Hebrew idiom. See Jer 1:10. Hos 6:5.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
him that escapeth: Isa 24:17, Isa 24:18, Amo 2:14, Amo 5:19
the sword of Hazael: 2Ki 8:12, 2Ki 10:32, 2Ki 13:3, 2Ki 13:22
the sword of Jehu: 2Ki 9:14-26, 2Ki 10:6-11
Elisha slay: 2Ki 2:23, 2Ki 2:24, Isa 11:4, Jer 1:10, Hos 6:5, Rev 19:21
Reciprocal: 1Sa 5:12 – died 2Ki 8:28 – Hazael 2Ki 9:2 – Jehu 2Ki 10:16 – Come with me Jer 48:44 – that fleeth Eze 15:7 – they shall Amo 1:3 – because
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Ki 19:17. Him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay This is not to be understood, as if the sword of Hazael should do execution before the sword of Jehu, and the sword of Jehu before that of Elisha: it only signifies, that God had appointed these three persons to punish the apostate Israelites for their idolatries, and that one or other of them should infallibly execute his judgments upon them: Hazael, however, began to slay them before Jehu was king, 2Ki 8:28-29; though his cruelty was much increased afterward. Jehu destroyed those, whom Hazael did not, as King Joram himself, and Ahaziah, and all the near relations of Ahab. Elisha is said to slay them, either because he brought down, by his prayers, destruction upon the forty-two children of Beth-el, that idolatrous city, 2Ki 2:24; or because by Gods appointment he inflicted the famine, 2Ki 8:1; or rather, as the prophets are said to pull down and destroy, what they foretel and declare shall be pulled down, because he threatened and predicted destructive judgments to come upon them. He slew them with the sword that came out of his month, the word of God: like the Branch from the stem of Jesse, he smote them with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he slew the wicked, Isa 11:4.