744 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Therefore sent he thither horses and chariots, and a great host,.... To terrify the inhabitants from attempting to defend the prophet, but deliver him up at once: and they came by night; that they might come upon them unawares, and their design not be discovered, so as to have timely help from Samaria, which was not far off: and compassed the city...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth,.... Either out of his master's house, or out of the city upon some business to be done early in the morning; this was not Gehazi, but a new servant: behold, an host compassed the city, both with horses and chariots; which he could see at the door of his master's house, the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he answered, 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.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see,.... Not the eyes of his body, which were not shut nor blinded, but the eyes of his mind; or, in other words, grant him a vision, represented in so strong a light, as to remove his fears: and the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw; he had a vision of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And when they came down to him,.... The Syrian army, from the hill on which they were first seen, who came down from thence to the bottom of the hill on which the city stood; and whither Elisha came out, in order both to meet them, and proceed on his journey to Samaria: Elisha prayed unto the Lord, and said, smite this people, I pray thee, with...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Elisha said unto them, this is not the way, neither is this the city,.... Which is an answer to some questions of the Syrians; as, whether this was the way to find the prophet Elisha, and this the city in which he was to be found? and he answers most truly, though ambiguously, that the way they were in, and in which should they proceed, was...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And it came to pass, when they were come into Samaria, that Elisha said, Lord, open the eyes of these men, that they may see,.... So as to know where they were: and the Lord opened their eyes, and they saw, and, behold, they were in the midst of Samaria; the gates being thrown open for them, and they led into the very heart of the city; for, no...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the king of Israel said unto Elisha, when he saw them,.... The Syrian army thus in his hands: my father, shall I smite them? shall I smite them? he speaks with great reverence and respect to the prophet, whom at other times he neglected and despised; and the repetition of his words shows the eagerness of his mind to fall upon his enemy when...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he answered, thou shalt not smite them,.... For they were not his, but the prophet's captives, or rather the Lord's: wouldest thou smite those whom thou hast taken captive with thy sword and with thy bow? when soldiers are made prisoners of war, it is contrary to humanity, to the laws of nature and nations, to kill them in cold blood, and much...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he prepared great provision for them,.... Or a great feast, as the Targum; so obedient was he to the prophet's orders: and when they had eaten and drank; and refreshed themselves, which they needed, having marched all night and that morning from place to place: he sent them away; that is, the king of Israel dismissed them: and they went to...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And it came to pass after this, that Benhadad king of Syria gathered all his host,.... Still retaining a grudge and enmity against Israel, and not at all softened by the kind and humane treatment his forces had met with, when in the hands of Israel; and finding he could do nothing in a secret way, by ambush, mustered all his forces together, to...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And there was a great famine in Samaria,.... No care, perhaps, having been taken to lay up stores against a siege: and, behold, they besieged it until an ass's head was [sold] for fourscore [pieces] of silver; shekels, as the Targum explains the word in the next clause, which amounted to about nine or ten pounds of our money; a great price for the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, c. To spy out the motion and situation of the enemy, and to give orders for the annoyance of them, and to see that his soldiers did their duty: there cried a woman to him, saying, help, my lord, O king desired his assistance and help in a cause depending between her and another woman.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he said, if the Lord do not help thee, whence shall I help thee?.... Mistaking her meaning, as if she prayed him to relieve her hunger; the margin of our Bible is, "let not the Lord save thee"; and so some understand it as a wish that she might perish; and so Josephus (o), that being wroth, he cursed her in the name of God: out of the barn...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the king said unto her, what aileth thee?.... His passion subsiding, or pitying her as in distress, and supposing that there might be something particular and pressing in her case: and she answered, this woman said unto me; who was now with her, and to whom she pointed: give thy son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow;...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
So we boiled my son, and did eat him,.... Thus what was predicted, by way of threatening, began to be accomplished, Deuteronomy 28:53, [See comments on Deuteronomy 28:53], and of which there were other instances of a like kind at the siege of Jerusalem, both by Nebuchadnezzar and Vespasian: and I said unto her on the next day; after her child had...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he rent his clothes,.... At the horror of the fact reported, and through grief that his people were brought into such distress through famine: and he passed by upon the wall; returning to his palace: and the people looked, and, behold, he had sackcloth upon his flesh; which, in...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then he said, God do so and more also to me,.... He swore and made dreadful imprecations: if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stand on him this day; imputing the sore famine to him, because he had foretold it, and did not pray for the removal of it, as he might; and perhaps had advised and encouraged the king to hold out the siege,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Elisha sat in his house,.... In Samaria: and the elders sat with him; not the elders of the city, or the magistrates thereof, but his disciples, as Josephus says (p), the eldest of them, whom he admitted to greater familiarity and converse with him: and the king sent a man from before him; to execute what he had sworn should be done that day...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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;...