What does the king order restored to the woman after her return from the Philistines’ land?

Atlas of Saints · Chapter summary

After hearing her account, the king appoints a eunuch and orders him to restore everything that is hers, including all the revenues of her lands from the day she left until the present. Her appeal comes while Giezi is telling the king about Eliseus raising her son to life.

Chapter breakdown

Eliseus tells the woman whose son he restored to life to rise and go with her household, staying wherever she can find a place. He says the Lord has called a famine that will come upon the land for seven years.

She follows the man of God’s word, going with her household to stay in the land of the Philistines for many days. When the seven years end, she returns from that land and goes to speak to the king about her house and lands.

The king asks Giezi, Eliseus’s servant, to tell him all the great things Eliseus has done. While Giezi is telling how he raised a dead person to life, the woman appears, appealing to the king for her house and lands. Giezi identifies her and her son as the woman and son Eliseus restored to life.

The king questions the woman, and she tells him. He appoints a eunuch for her and orders him to restore all that is hers, with all the revenues of the lands from the day she left the land until the present.

Eliseus comes to Damascus while Benadad, king of Syria, is sick. Benadad is told the man of God has come. He tells Hazael to take presents, meet Eliseus and consult the Lord through him about whether he can recover from his illness. Hazael goes with presents and all the good things of Damascus, the burdens of forty camels. Standing before Eliseus, he says his son Benadad, king of Syria, has sent him with the recovery question.

Eliseus tells Hazael to go and tell Benadad he will recover, but says the Lord has shown him that Benadad will surely die.

Challoner’s separate note gives two possible explanations. The words may mean the king’s disease was not mortal and he would recover if no violence were used. Or Eliseus may have spoken this way to let Hazael understand that he knew what Hazael would say and do: Hazael would tell the king he would recover, but would himself bring about the king’s death.

The account says he stood with him and was troubled so far as to blush, and Eliseus wept. Hazael asks why his lord weeps. Eliseus says he knows the evil Hazael will do to the children of Israel: burn their strong cities with fire, kill their young men with the sword, dash their children and rip up their pregnant women.

Hazael asks what he is, a servant and a dog, that he should do this great thing. Eliseus answers that the Lord has shown him Hazael will be king of Syria.

Hazael leaves Eliseus and returns to his master, who asks what Eliseus said. Hazael answers that Eliseus told him Benadad would recover. On the next day Hazael takes a blanket, pours water on it and spreads it upon Benadad’s face. Benadad dies, and Hazael reigns in his place.

The reign of Joram, son of Josaphat, king of Juda, begins in the fifth year of Joram, son of Achab, king of Israel. The verse also names Josaphat, king of Juda, in its dating statement.

Challoner’s separate note explains that Josaphat was still alive and had made his son Joram king some time before his death, as David had earlier done with his own son Solomon.

Joram is thirty-two when he begins to reign and reigns eight years in Jerusalem. He walks in the ways of Israel’s kings, as the house of Achab did, because Achab’s daughter is his wife. He does evil in the Lord’s sight. Yet the Lord will not destroy Juda for his servant David’s sake, according to his promise to give David and his children a light always.

In Joram’s days Edom revolts from being under Juda and makes a king for itself. Joram comes to Seira with all the chariots, rises in the night and defeats the Edomites who have surrounded him and the captains of the chariots. But the people flee into their tents. Edom remains in revolt from Juda to the account’s present day, and Lobna revolts at the same time.

The account asks whether the rest of Joram’s acts and all he did are written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda. Joram sleeps with his fathers and is buried with them in the city of David. His son Ochozias reigns in his place.

Ochozias, son of Joram, begins to reign as king of Juda in the twelfth year of Joram, son of Achab, king of Israel. He is twenty-two when he begins and reigns one year in Jerusalem. His mother is Athalia, called the daughter of Amri, king of Israel.

Challoner’s separate note explains daughter here as granddaughter: Athalia was the daughter of Achab, son of Amri, with a reference to verse 18.

Ochozias walks in the ways of Achab’s house and does evil before the Lord as that house did, for he is the son-in-law of the house of Achab.

Ochozias goes with Joram, son of Achab, to fight Hazael, king of Syria, at Ramoth Galaad. The Syrians wound Joram. He returns to Jezrahel to be healed because of those wounds received at Ramoth while fighting Hazael. Ochozias, son of Joram and king of Juda, goes down to visit Joram, son of Achab, in Jezrahel because he is sick there.

The story inside

Eliseus warns the woman whose son he restored to life about seven years of famine and tells her to go with her household wherever she can find a place. She stays in the Philistines’ land and returns when the seven years end. Her property appeal comes while Giezi is telling the king about her son’s restoration; after questioning her, the king orders everything hers and the land revenues restored for the full period of absence. In Damascus, sick Benadad sends Hazael to ask Eliseus about recovery, with gifts carried by forty camels. Eliseus gives the recovery instruction but also says Benadad will surely die. Challoner offers two possible explanations of those words. Eliseus weeps and tells Hazael of four kinds of evil he will do to Israel, then says he will be king of Syria. Hazael reports the recovery statement to Benadad; the next day he puts a wet blanket upon Benadad’s face, Benadad dies and Hazael succeeds him. The account turns to Joram of Juda, distinguishing him from Joram of Israel by their fathers. It gives his reign, marriage, evil conduct, the Lord’s promise for David’s sake, the revolts and the night fighting at Seira. Joram dies and his son Ochozias succeeds. Ochozias’s age, reign, mother and conduct are followed by a joint campaign with Joram of Israel against Hazael. Joram is wounded and returns to Jezrahel; Ochozias visits because he is sick.

Lessons worth keeping

1
The king’s restoration order has a defined scope. He hears Giezi identify the woman and her son, asks the woman and receives her account. His instruction includes all that belongs to her and all land revenues from her departure to the present. The chapter records that order without describing its execution or stating who had taken possession of the property.
2
Both parts of Eliseus’s answer to Hazael matter. He says to report recovery, yet says the Lord has shown him Benadad will surely die. Challoner gives the nonfatal-illness explanation conditioned on no violence, then offers another possibility about what Hazael would say and do. Keeping that alternative prevents one interpretation from being presented as the only explanation. Hazael’s later reported words and action with the blanket remain separate events in the narrative.
3
The royal accounts distinguish kings with the same name. Joram of Juda is Josaphat’s son; Joram of Israel is Achab’s son. Ochozias succeeds his father Joram of Juda and later fights alongside Joram of Israel. The stated dates, ages and places keep the succession and campaign clear. The account ends with the wounded Joram in Jezrahel and Ochozias’s visit, without narrating a fatal wound or a later judgment.

Test your recall

How does the woman’s return during Giezi’s account lead to the restoration order, and how do Hazael’s visit to Eliseus and the later joint campaign lead to the changes of kings and Ochozias’s visit to Joram in Jezrahel?

Source edition and notes

Douay–Rheims, revised by Richard Challoner (1749–1752). Project Gutenberg no. 1581. Locators refer to lines in the admitted pg1581.txt edition. Source notes may include Challoner commentary.

Lines 38861–38872
4 Kings Chapter 8 After seven years’ famine foretold by Eliseus, the Sunamitess returning home, recovereth her lands, and revenues. Eliseus foresheweth the death of Benadad, king of Syria, and the reign of Hazael. Joram’s wicked reign in Juda. He dieth, and his son Ochozias succeedeth. 8:1.And Eliseus spoke to the woman, whose son he had restored to life, saying: Arise, and go thou, and thy household, and sojourn wheresoever thou canst find: for the Lord hath called a famine, and it shall come upon the land seven years.
Lines 38873–38880
8:2. And she arose, and did according to the word of the man of God: and going with her household, she sojourned in the land of the Philistines many days. 8:3. And when the seven years were ended, the woman returned out of the land of the Philistines, and she went forth to speak to the king for her house and for her lands.
Lines 38881–38888
8:4. And the king talked with Giezi, the servant of the man of God, saying: Tell me all the great things that Eliseus hath done. 8:5. And when he was telling the king how he had raised one dead to life, the woman appeared, whose son he had restored to life, crying to the king for her house, and her lands. And Giezi said: My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son, whom Eliseus raised to life.
Lines 38889–38893
8:6. And the king asked the woman: and she told him. And the king appointed her an eunuch, saying: Restore her all that is hers, and all the revenues of the lands, from the day that she left the land to this present.
Lines 38894–38905
8:7. Eliseus also came to Damascus, and Benadad, king of Syria was sick; and they told him, saying: The man of God is come hither. 8:8. And the king said to Hazael: Take with thee presents, and go to meet the man of God, and consult the Lord by him, saying: Can I recover of this my illness? 8:9. And Hazael went to meet him, taking with him presents, and all the good things of Damascus, the burdens of forty camels. And when he stood before him, he said: Thy son, Benadad, the king of Syria, hath sent me to thee, saying: Can I recover of this my illness?
Lines 38906–38908
8:10. And Eliseus said to him: Go tell him: Thou shalt recover: but the Lord hath shewed me that he shall surely die.
Lines 38909–38915
Tell him: thou shalt recover.... By these words the prophet signified that the king’s disease was not mortal: and that he would recover if no violence were used. Or he might only express himself in this manner, by way of giving Hazael to understand that he knew both what he would say and do; that he would indeed tell the king he should recover; but would be himself the instrument of his death.
Lines 38916–38924
8:11. And he stood with him, and was troubled so far as to blush: and the man of God wept. 8:12. And Hazael said to him: Why doth my lord weep? And he said: Because I know the evil that thou wilt do to the children of Israel. Their strong cities thou wilt burn with fire, and their young men thou wilt kill with the sword, and thou wilt dash their children, and rip up their pregnant women.
Lines 38925–38928
8:13. And Hazael said: But what am I, thy servant, a dog, that I should do this great thing? And Eliseus said: The Lord hath shewed me that thou shalt be king of Syria.
Lines 38929–38936
8:14. And when he was departed from Eliseus he came to his master, who said to him: What said Eliseus to thee? And he answered: He told me: Thou shalt recover. 8:15. And on the next day, he took a blanket, and poured water on it, and spread it upon his face: and he died, and Hazael reigned in his stead.
Lines 38937–38939
8:16. In the fifth year of Joram, son of Achab, king of Israel, and of Josaphat, king of Juda, reigned Joram, son of Josaphat, king of Juda.
Lines 38940–38943
And of Josaphat, etc.... That is, Josaphat being yet alive, who sometime before his death made his son Joram king, as David had done before by his own son Solomon.
Lines 38944–38954
8:17. He was two and thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. 8:18. And he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, as the house of Achab had walked: for the daughter of Achab was his wife: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord. 8:19. But the Lord would not destroy Juda, for David his servant’s sake, as he had promised him, to give him a light, and to his children always.
Lines 38955–38964
8:20. In his days Edom revolted from being under Juda, and made themselves a king. 8:21. And Joram came to Seira, and all the chariots with him: and he arose in the night, and defeated the Edomites that had surrounded him, and the captains of the chariots, but the people fled into their tents. 8:22. So Edom revolted from being under Juda, unto this day. Then Lobna also revolted at the same time.
Lines 38965–38970
8:23. But the rest of the acts of Joram, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda? 8:24. And Joram slept with his fathers, and was buried with them in the city of David, and Ochozias, his son, reigned in his stead.
Lines 38971–38977
8:25. In the twelfth year of Joram, the son of Achab, king of Israel, reigned Ochozias, son of Joram, king of Juda. 8:26. Ochozias was two and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Athalia the daughter of Amri king of Israel.
Lines 38978–38980
Daughter.... That is, grand-daughter; for she was daughter of Achab son of Amri, ver. 18.
Lines 38981–38984
8:27. And he walked in the ways of the house of Achab: and he did evil before the Lord, as did the house of Achab: for he was the son in law of the house of Achab.
Lines 38985–38993
8:28. He went also with Joram, son of Achab, to fight against Hazael, king of Syria, in Ramoth Galaad, and the Syrians wounded Joram: 8:29. And he went back to be healed, in Jezrahel: because the Syrians had wounded him in Ramoth, when he fought against Hazael, king of Syria And Ochozias, the son of Joram, king of Juda, went down to visit Joram, the son of Achab, in Jezrahel, because he was sick there.