The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Kings — Section 127

and secondly becanse the emphe.tio lnfinitive xv. 16; Isa. xm. 16, 18; Hos. x. H; is in itself affirm1.1tive, e.nd does not oomit Nah. iii. 10: Amos i. 13, etc. The ware or of a nogntive prefix. The emende.tion in Ha.znel with the Israelites are mentioned in the Hebrew margin (;1, for ~r,), accepted by eh. x. 32, 33; xiii. 3-7; and Amos i. 3, 4. nil tl10 versions, nnd by e.lmost e.11 commen- Ver. 13.-And He.zael said, But whe.t, is ti:ltors, is thus certain. Our translators are thy servant e. dog, that he should do this therefore. so for, in the right; but the.v were great thing t This rendering is generally not entitled to tone down the strong nffirma- allowed to be incorrect. The true sens,,, ti ve, ldiayih thikhyah, "living thou she.It which is well represented in the Septuagint live," or" thou shalt surely live," into the (Tls lu-r,v d BoiiA6s aov, 6 H.-Owv ~ 7'f9V7JKcils-, 8·n weak potential, "thou mayeet certainly re- ..-o,"1<1u -ro f,11µa. -rov-ro ;), is-" But what is cover." What Elisha says to Hazael is, thy servant, this dog, that he should do so •• Go, say unto him, Thou shalt surely live ; '' great e. thing?" Hazael docs not accuse i.e. "Go, say unto him, whe.t thou hast Elisha of making him out a dog in the nlrendy made up thy mind to say, what a future, but calls himself a dog in the coUl'tier is sure to say, Thou shalt recover." present. "Dog" is a word of ext~me Howbeit the Lord hath showed me that he contempt-"the most contemptnous epithet she.11 surely die. If Hazael had reported of abuse" (Winer), as appellrB, among other tho wl.Jolo answer to Benhadad, he wonld places, from I Sam. xxiv. 14 and 2 Sam. Lave told no lie, and thus Elisha is not xvi. 9. Hazael means to say-How is it responsible for his lie. possible that he, occupying, as he does, so Ver. 11.-And he settled his oonntene.nce poor and humble a position ns that of a stee.dfastly-litere.lly, and he settled hi• coun- mere courtier or domestic ( ol1<er"1s, Josephus), tenance and set it; i.e. Elisha fixed on Hazael should ever wage war with Israel, and do a long and meaning look-nntil he--i.e. the "great things" which Elisha has pre- Hazael-was ashamed j i.e. until Hazael felt dicted of him? And Elisha answered, embarrassed, and his eyes fell. It may The Lord hath showed me that thou shalt be gathered that the ambitious courtier be king over Syria. Elisha explains how had alreooy formed e. murderous design it would be possible. He.za.el would not against his master, and understood by tile continue in his poor e.nd humble condition. peculiar gaze which the prophet fixed upon Jehovah has revealed it to him that the him that his design was penetrated. And mere courtier will shortly mount the Syrian the man of God wept. There flashed on throne. the prophet's mind nll the long se1ies of Ver. 14.-So he departed from Elisha, oe.lamities which Israel would suffer at the and came to his master; who said to him, he.nds of Syria during Hazael's reign, and What se.id Elisha to thee 1 And he answered, he could not but weep at the thought of Re told me that thou shouldest snxely them (sec the next verse). reoover. This, as already observe,!, was Ver. 12.-And Hazael said, Why weepeth giving half Elisha's o.nswer, and suppress- my lord 1 While inwardly contemplating ing the other half. The suppressio veri is an act of audacious wickedness in defiance a suggestio falsi; o.nd the suppression was of tho prophet's implied rebuke, Hazael Hazael's act, not Elisha's. Had Hazael preserves towards him outwe.rdly an altitude repeo.tcd the whole of Elisha's o.nswer- of extreme deference and respect. "My " Say unto him, Thou shall sorely recover; lord" was the phrase with which slaves howbeit the Lord ht1th showed me that he addressed their masters, and subjects their shall surely die "-Benhada.<l might ht1ve monarohs(eee eh. v. 3; vi. 12, etc.). And he been puzzled, but I.Je would not have been answered, Beoa11Se I know the evil that thou decoived. wilt do unto the ohildren of Israel : their Vl'r. 15.-And it came to pass on the strongholds wilt thou set on fire, and their morrow, that he took a thick cloth. MacMr yonng men wilt thon slay with the sword, is a cloth of a coarse texture-a. uw.t, or and wilt dash their children, and rip up their piece of carpeting. It has here the article women with child. The prophet does not prefixed to it (ham-macber), which implies intend to tu Hazael with any special that there was but one iu the sick-room. cr_nelty. He only means to say, "Thou \Ve may oonjecture th,it it was a mat nsed wilt wage long and bloody wars with Israel as a sort of pillow, and interposed between in which will occur all those oustomary tho hea<l-rest (so common iu Egypt crnd horrors that make war so terrible-the Assyria) and the head (compare the c'bir of buruing of cities, the slaughter of the 1 Sam. xix. 13). And dipped it in water. flower of the youth, the violent death of The water would fill up the interstices ol.Jildren, and even the massacre of women through which air might otherwise have in e. state of pregnancy. These horrors been drawn, and hasten the suffocation. A belonged, more or less, to all Oriental wars, death of the same kind is recorded in the and a.re touched on i11 Ps. oxxxvii. 9; oh. Persian history entitled 'Kholusat el Akh-  168 THE SECOND BOOK OF 'l'HE KINGS. [on. vm. 1-29,