Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Kings 6:33
And while he yet talked with them, behold, the messenger came down unto him: and he said, Behold, this evil [is] of the LORD; what should I wait for the LORD any longer?
33. while he yet talked with them ] He had hardly explained his knowledge and his wish before action became necessary. The messenger arrived, and we must understand that the king also arrived immediately afterwards, and so the execution of Elisha was stayed, and Jehoram was shewn to be in some degree penitent for his hasty threat.
and he said ] The words which follow must be the words of the king. He has reached Elisha’s house and countermanded his first order. Now his thought is of what shall be done next. The people are at the direst extremity, and God, who has allowed this evil to come upon the nation, gives His prophet no message of relief. In this conviction he is of the mind that Samaria shall be surrendered. Hence his language, ‘This evil is of the Lord’ and He allows it to continue, ‘why should I wait for the Lord any longer?’
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The messenger – It has been proposed to change messenger into king, the two words being in Hebrew nearly alike, and the speech with which the chapter ends being considered only suitable in the mouth of the king, whose presence is indicated in 2Ki 7:2, 2Ki 7:17. Others think that the words and the king after him have fallen out of the text.
Came down – The messenger came down from off the wall to the level of the streets.
Behold this evil … – Jehoram bursts into the prophets presence with a justification of the sentence 2Ki 6:31 he has pronounced against him. Behold this evil – this siege with all its horrors – is from Yahweh – from Yahweh, Whose prophet thou art. Why should I wait for Yahweh – temporize with Him – keep as it were, on terms with Him by suffering thee to live – any longer? What hast thou to say in arrest of judgment?
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 33. Behold, this evil is of the Lord] It is difficult to know whether it be the prophet, the messenger, or the king, that says these words. It might be the answer of the prophet from within to the messenger who was without, and who sought for admission, and gave his reason; to whom Elisha might have replied: “I am not the cause of these calamities; they are from the Lord; I have been praying for their removal; but why should I pray to the Lord any longer, for the time of your deliverance is at hand?” And then Elisha said, – see the following chapter, where the removal of the calamity is foretold in the most explicit manner; and indeed the chapter is unhappily divided from this. The seventh chapter should have begun with 2Kgs 6:24 of this chapter, as, by the present division, the story is unnaturally interrupted.
How natural is it for men to lay the cause of their suffering on any thing or person but themselves! Ahab’s iniquity was sufficient to have brought down God’s displeasure on a whole nation; and yet he takes no blame to himself, but lays all on the prophet, who was the only salt that preserved the whole nation from corruption. How few take their sins to themselves! and till they do this, they cannot be true penitents; nor can they expect God’s wrath to be averted till they feel themselves the chief of sinners.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Unto him, to wit, to the door, where also we are to understand that he was held fast, that he could not come at the prophet till the king came, as the prophet had commanded them to do.
He said; either, first, The messenger, in the kings name and words. Or, secondly, The king himself, who, though not here named, may be presumed to be present, both by the prophets prediction of his speedy coming, and by the presence of the lord on whose hand the king leaned, 2Ki 7:2. This evil; this dreadful famine, which is now so extreme that women are forced to eat their own children.
Is of the Lord; he hath inflicted it, and (for aught that I see) he will not remove it. Thus he lays all the blame upon God, not, as he ought, upon his own and his mothers wickedness, which provoked God, who doth not willingly afflict, to send this heavy judgment upon him.
What should I wait for the Lord any longer? thou biddest me wait upon God for help; but I perceive I may wait long enough before deliverance comes; I am weary with waiting, I can wait no longer.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And while he yet talked with them,…. Elisha with the elders:
behold, the messenger came down unto him; sent by the king:
and he said; either the messenger in the king’s name, or rather the king, who was at his heels, and came to the door before the messenger was let in, who was detained; and therefore it is most probable the king went in first; for that was the intention of Elisha in holding the messenger, not to save his own life, but that the king, who was following, might hear what he had to say; and whom he advised to wait for the Lord, and his appearance, for deliverance: in answer to which he said,
behold, this evil is of the Lord, what should 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; this he said as despairing, and so resolving to hold out the siege no longer.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(33) Yet talked.Was still speaking.
The messenger.Ewals correction, the king (melek for mak), is certainly right. In the rapid progress of the story, the arrival and momentary exclusion of the messenger is understood. The approach of the king may have been seen from the upper part of Elishas house.
Came down.Was coming down, to the prophets house, from the ramparts. (Comp. 2Ki. 5:24.)
And he said.That is, the king said.
Behold, this evil is of the Lord.Rather, Behold, such (this) is the distress from Jehovah. Things have come to this pitch by the will of Jehovah.
What (rather, why) should I wait for the Lord any longer?As I have hitherto done, at your persuasion. Why should I not now surrender to the Syrians, and slay the prophet who has so long deluded me with vain hopes?
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
33. While he yet talked with them While Elisha was yet in the act of telling the elders to fasten the door and keep the messenger out.
And he said Who said? It seems at first difficult to determine whether the words that follow are the words of the prophet, the messenger, or the king.
But on closer study they seem best to suit the mouth of the king, and the obscurity of the passage must be attributed to the brevity of the narrative.
This evil is of the Lord These words of the king are a part of his countermand of the order to behead Elisha, and a reason for it. He is convinced that the famine is a Divine judgment on the nation for his sins.
What should I wait for the Lord Rather, Why should I wait, etc. These words are virtually a prayer for the Lord to come and remove the famine. The passage may be thus paraphrased: I acknowledge that this evil is a punishment for my sins; the Lord thus chastens me sorely. But now, when all this people are brought to such an extremity of woe, why should I wait longer for the Lord to interpose and deliver his people from their sufferings?
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
2Ki 6:33. And he said, Behold this evil is of the Lord, &c. He said, that is, according to some, the messenger; though Houbigant rather thinks that it was the king himself; for it appears both from the preceding verse, and from 2Ki 6:17 of the next chapter, that the king came to Elisha; and as Elisha had ordered the messenger not to enter, it is the less probable that these were his words. From the expression, what should I wait for the Lord, we may collect that Elisha had said, wait for the Lord, or something to that purpose.
Note; (1.) In the distresses of our souls, if God be not our friend, vain is the help of man. (2.) None know the sufferings which await them before they die; we need pray that God would prepare us for what he has prepared for us.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
REFLECTIONS
IN the perusal of this chapter, methinks I would behold the prophet Elisha with the greater attention in the several interesting services here recorded of him, by way of having my soul directed, with more awakened earnestness, to contemplate the grace of his heavenly Master. Surely it is refreshing and comfortable, and highly encouraging to the souls of the faithful, when we see the gracious condescension of the Lord in the employment of such men. What a series of servants the Lord hath called forth in his church! And to what a noble, employment have they been called! And when we call to mind the cause of their ministry; and more especially their Employer; how is the mind overpowered in the contemplation of that love of Christ which passeth knowledge. He gave some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints; for the work of the ministry; for the edifying of the body of Christ; till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.
But is it possible, my soul, to look at these, even all of them, though of the highest order, and pause a moment in the review, without having all the finer affections exercised, and called forth in the contemplation of thee, thou blessed Jesus, thou Prince of prophets, thou Lord of all thy faithful apostles, and of the innumerable host with which thou art encircled on mount Zion, where, as a Lamb that hath been slain, thou still appearest to manifest the everlasting nature of thy priesthood, and the eternal efficacy of thy redemption! Oh! precious Lord God! how do all prophets, priests, and kings sink to nothing before thee! Be thou my unceasing meditation! Teach me, Lord, to behold thee so as to have all my soul’s affections drawn out after thee, and unto thee. Oh! for grace to behold the Lord always before me, and to set him on my right hand. May my eyes, by the lively exercise of faith, gaze upon him with unceasing, and increasing, delight, until he shall come to take me home, to behold his glory in one full blaze of everlasting day; and never, never more shall I then take off my ravished eyes from beholding his beauty. Make haste, my Beloved; and be thou like to a roe, or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
2Ki 6:33 And while he yet talked with them, behold, the messenger came down unto him: and he said, Behold, this evil [is] of the LORD; what should I wait for the LORD any longer?
Ver. 33. Behold, this evil is of the Lord. ] He hath brought us to the lowest ebb, and done us as much mischief as is possible; an impious and blasphemous charge of injustice and hard dealing.
What should I wait for the Lord?
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
messenger. Hebrew. hammal’ak, without the ‘aleph (‘a), as in Septuagint and Syriac. In 1Sa 11:4 the case is reversed. The Massorah informs us that the aleph was wrongly inserted, making it read messengers instead of “kings”. The king must have followed on his heels, for Elisha addresses him directly in 2Ki 7:1, 2Ki 7:2. Compare 2Ki 7:17.
what . . . ? = why? Figure of speech Erotesis. App-6. These are the words of the king.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
this evil is of the Lord: Gen 4:13, Exo 16:6-8, 1Sa 28:6-8, 1Sa 31:4, Job 1:11, Job 1:21, Job 2:5, Job 2:9, Pro 19:3, Isa 8:21, Jer 2:25, Eze 33:10, Mat 27:4, Mat 27:5, 2Co 2:7, 2Co 2:11, Rev 16:9-11
wait for the: Psa 27:14, Psa 37:7, Psa 37:9, Psa 62:5, Isa 8:17, Isa 26:3, Isa 50:10, Lam 3:25, Lam 3:26, Hab 2:3, Luk 18:1
Reciprocal: Jdg 14:4 – it was of the Lord 1Sa 28:7 – Seek me 2Ki 3:10 – the Lord 2Ki 7:1 – Elisha said 2Ki 7:13 – they are even Job 15:22 – He believeth not Psa 107:12 – and there Jer 18:12 – There Amo 6:10 – Hold
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2Ki 6:33. While he yet talked with them, the messenger came Namely, to the door, where we are to understand he was stopped that he could not come at the prophet till the king came. And he said, Behold, this evil, &c. Either the messenger said this in the kings name and words, or rather the king himself, who, though not here named, may be presumed to be present, both by the prophets prediction of his speedy coming, and by the presence of the lord, on whose hand the king leaned, 2Ki 7:2. This evil This dreadful famine, which is now so extreme, that women are forced to eat their own children; is of the Lord He hath inflicted it, and, for aught I see, he will not remove it. All penal evil is of the Lord as the first cause and sovereign judge: and this we ought to apply to particular cases: if all evil, then this evil which we are groaning under. Whoever are the instruments, God is the principal agent. What should I wait for the Lord any longer? Thou biddest me wait upon God for help; but I perceive I may wait long enough before deliverance comes: I am weary with waiting, I can wait no longer.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
6:33 And while he yet talked with them, behold, the messenger came down unto him: and he said, Behold, this evil [is] of the LORD; what {r} should I wait for the LORD any longer?
(r) So the wicked fall into a rage and desperation, if they do not find a quick remedy for their afflictions.