2nd Kings Chapter 8 verse 10 Holy Bible

Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 10. - And Elisha said unto him; Go, say unto him; Thou mayest certainly recover. The existing Masoretic text (חָיִה תִחְיָה ךאמָר־לא) is untranslatable, since emar-lo cannot mean, "say not," on account of the order of the words; and lo cannot he joined with khayiah thikhyah, first on account of the makkeph whick attaches it to emar, and secondly because the emphatic infinitive is in itself affirmative, and does not admit of a negative prefix. The emendation in the Hebrew margin (לו for לא), accepted by all the versions, and by almost all commentators, is thus certain. Our translators are therefore, so far, in the right; but they were not entitled to tone down the strong affirmative, khayih thikhyah, "living thou shalt live," or "thou shalt surely live," into the weak potential, "thou mayest certainly recover." What Elisha says to Hazael is, "Go, say unto him, Thou shalt surely live;" i.e. "Go, say unto him, what thou hast already made up thy mind to say, what a courtier is sure to say, Thou shalt recover." Howbeit the Lord hath showed me that he shall surely die. If Hazael had reported the whole answer to Benhadad, he would have told no lie, and thus Elisha is not responsible for his lie.

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(10) Unto him.--The reading of some Hebrew MSS., of the Hebrew margin, and of all the versions, as well as of Josephus.The ordinary Hebrew text has "not" (lo', instead of lo), so that the meaning would be, "Thou shalt not recover." But (1) the position of the negative before the adverbial infinitive is anomalous; and (2) Hazae?s report of Elisha's words, in 2Kings 8:14, is without the negative particle. (See the Note there.) The Authorised Version is, therefore, right.Thou mayest certainly recover.--Rather. Thou wilt certainly live. Elisha sees through Hazae?s character and designs, and answers him in the tone of irony which he used to Gehazi in 2Kings 5:26, "Go, tell thy lord--as thou, the supple and unscrupulous courtier wilt be sure to do--he will certainly recover. I know, however, that he will assuredly die, and by thy hand." Others interpret, "Thou mightest recover" (i.e., thy disease is not mortal); and make the rest of the prophe?s reply a confidential communication to Hazael. But this is to represent the prophet as deceiving Benhadad, and guilty of complicity with Hazael, which agrees neither with Elisha's character nor with what follows in 2Kings 8:11-12. The Syriac and Arabic, with some MSS., read, "thou wilt die" for "he will die."