The passages of story recorded in this chapter oblige us to look back. I. We read before of a Shunammite woman that was a kind benefactor to Elisha; now here we are told how she fared the better for it, afterwards, in the advice Elisha gave her, and the favour the king showed her for his sake, ver. 1-6. II. We read before of the designation of Hazael to be king of Syria (1 Kings xix. 15), and here we have an account of his elevation to that throne and the way he forced for himself to it, by killing his master, ver. 7-15. III. We read before of Jehoram's reigning over Judah in the room of his father Jehoshaphat (1 Kings xxii. 50), now here we have a short and sad history of his short and wicked reign (ver. 16-24), and the beginning of the history of the reign of his son Ahaziah, ver. 25-29.
A Famine in Israel; the Shunammite's Possessions Restored. (b. c. 886.)