Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Kings 13:22
But Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz.
22 25. Hazael’s oppression of Israel. God has compassion on them. The victories of Jehoash over Ben-hadad (Not in Chronicles)
22. But [R.V. And ] Hazael oppressed Israel ] In these four verses we have a recapitulation of the attitude of Syria toward the Israelites in the two reigns of Jehoahaz and his son. The oppression lasted all the days of the former king, but yet, as in answer to his prayer (verse 4), Israel was not allowed to be destroyed. In the next reign came a greater relief.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
But Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz. That he reigned alone, at least, before he took his son Joash to reign with him.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The prophecy which Elisha uttered before his death is here followed immediately by the account of its fulfilment, and to this end the oppression of the Israelites by Hazael is mentioned once more, together with that turn of affairs which took place through the compassion of God after the death of Hazael and in the reign of his son Benhadad. is a pluperfect: “Hazael had oppressed” (for the fact itself compare 2Ki 13:4 and 2Ki 13:7). For the sake of the covenant made with the patriarchs the Lord turned again to the Israelites, and would not destroy them, and did not cast them away from His face (“till now”), as was the case afterwards, but delivered them from the threatening destruction through the death of Hazael. For in the reign of his son and successor Benhadad, Joash the son of Jehoahaz took from him again ( is to be connected with ) the cities which he (Hazael) had taken from Jehoahaz in the war. These cities which Hazael had wrested from Jehoahaz were on this side of the Jordan, for Hazael had conquered all Gilead in the time of Jehu (2Ki 10:32-33). Joash recovered the former from Benhadad, whilst his son Jeroboam reconquered Gilead also (see at 2Ki 14:25).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES.
2Ki. 13:25. Three times did Joash beat himi.e., Benhadad, the son of Hazael; according to the number of arrows he shot (2Ki. 13:19).W. H. J.
HOMILETICS OF 2Ki. 13:22-25
THE UNCHANGEABLENESS OF THE DIVINE MERCY
I. Seen in commiserating the sufferings of His people.Hazael oppressed Israel; and the Lord was gracious unto them and had compassion (2Ki. 13:22-23). The Divine heart is moved with the sight of suffering and woe. It is impossible for Him to be callous and indifferent to the afflictions of His people; the more they suffer, the more they are endeared to Him. The tenderness of the Divine mercy is unspeakably exquisite. How great is our sin to treat that mercy with coldness and persistent unbelief! Suffering is often the first thing that opens our eyes to the enormity of our sin and the marvellous condescension of the Divine mercy.
II. Seen in His reluctance to inflict the extreme penalty of disobedience.The Lord would not destroy them, neither cast He them from His presence as yet (2Ki. 13:23). The sins of the Israelites cried for chastisement. The greatest chastisement would be to be abandoned by Jehovah to the fury of their enemies, as was ultimately done (2Ki. 17:18; 2Ki. 17:20). But, though their iniquities deserved it, this extreme punishment was delayed by the Divine mercy. That mercy was reinforced by the Divine faithfulness. The Lord remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The exercise of mercy is always in harmony with every attribute of the Divine nature. If God be slow to punish because of His mercy, His justice ensures the certainty of punishment.
III. Seen in His faithful fulfilment of the promise of deliverance (2Ki. 13:25). The dying Elisha, as the mouth-piece of Jehovah, had promised Israel three victories over Syria, and the resuscitation of the corpse when it touched the bones of the buried prophet would tend to strengthen faith in the fulfilment of the promise. In this verse the fact of that fulfilment is recordedanother indication that the history was written, not to set forth the valour and prowess of the Hebrews, and the external glory of the kingdom, but to illustrate the dealings of God with them, and trace the true causes of their decline and extinction as a nation. Every page of the history bears testimony to both the mercy and faithfulness of God. Mercy rejoices in providing means of deliverance, and faithfulness in carrying them out.
LESSONS:The Divine mercy.
1. Is tender and long-suffering.
2. Gives no licence to wrong-doing.
3. Provides an opportunity for repentance and reform.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES
2Ki. 13:22-23.National suffering. I. A chastisement for national sin. II. Awakens the Divine compassion. III. Is alleviated by the Divine mercy.
2Ki. 13:23.When God turns Himself from us, then we are given over to wretchedness: when he turns back to us again, then we find salvation. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had been dead for a thousand years, and yet their blessing was efficacious. God does not take pleasure in our ruin, but remembers, even in the midst of His anger, His promised grace and the covenant He has made.Lange.
2Ki. 13:25.Property wrongfully acquired. I. Has no security in its possession. II. Acquired by violence, may be restored by violence. III. Is not worth the trouble it costs to acquire and keep.
Tyrants are rods by means of which God chastises His people; but finally the tyrants themselves are chastised by God and cast into the fire.
These cities were unjustly obtained and quickly lost. Unrighteous wealth rarely comes to the third generation.Lange.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(22) But Hazael . . . oppressed.Rather, Now Hazael . . . had oppressed. The narrative returns to 2Ki. 13:3.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
DELIVERANCE FROM THE SYRIAN OPPRESSION, 2Ki 13:22-25.
22. All the days of Jehoahaz So, though the Lord heard the prayer of this king of Israel, he did not answer it by sending a saviour until after his death. See 2Ki 13:4-5, notes.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The chapter closes with a double aspect, Israel’s unworthiness, and the Lord’s grace and favor. Oh! dearest Jesus! how doth thy great, thy glorious salvation shine more conspicuously blessed, when beheld over the view of man’s undeservings! Surely everything in redemption-work loudly proclaims that sovereign truth, where sin abounded, grace doth much more abound; that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might, grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ our Lord. Rom 5:20-21 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
2Ki 13:22 But Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz.
Ver. 22. All the days of Jehoahaz. ] For about fifty years in all had this tyrant oppressed them. But God had promised them a saviour, viz., Joash, 2Ki 13:5 and this much about the time that Jehoahaz had besought the Lord, who was easily entreated to pity the low condition of his people. 2Ki 13:4
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
am 3148-3165, bc 856-839
Hazael: 2Ki 13:3-7, 2Ki 8:12, Psa 106:40-42
Reciprocal: Jdg 2:18 – their groanings 1Ki 19:17 – the sword of Hazael 2Ki 10:32 – Hazael 2Ki 13:4 – because the king Psa 102:20 – To hear Psa 107:39 – oppression Hos 7:9 – devoured
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2Ki 13:22-25. The Death of Hazael the redoubtable Usurper of the Syrian Throne.His son Ben-hadad was less successful, and was thrice defeated by Jehoash, in accordance with the prophecy of the dying Elisha.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
Jehoash of Israel’s victories 13:22-25
The basis of God’s continuing mercy to Israel was not her goodness but God’s in remaining faithful to the Abrahamic Covenant (2Ki 13:23; cf. 1Ki 8:44-50; Gen 13:14-17). As Elisha had predicted, Jehoash defeated the Arameans three times (2Ki 13:25; cf. 2Ki 13:18-19), but he did not destroy them completely (cf. 2Ki 13:19).
Why did the writer place the record of the resuscitation (2Ki 13:20-21) within the story of the Aramean army’s defeat (2Ki 13:14-25)? Probably he intended the resuscitation incident to illustrate the fact that God would also revive Israel by defeating Aram, as he had revived the dead man. One writer argued that the man who revived was only apparently dead, which is possible since in that culture people were buried almost immediately after they died. [Note: H. L. Ellison, The Prophets of Israel, p. 54.]
In this record of his life, Jehoash appears to have been a spiritually sensitive man whose confidence in God was weak, but he also perpetuated the Jeroboam cult.