2 Kings 8:1

ELISHA AGAIN AIDED THE SHUNAMMITE; THE ASSASSINATION OF BENHADAD BY HAZAEL; AND THE WICKED REIGNS OF JORAM AND AHAZIAH OF JUDAH;

THE SEQUEL TO THE STORY OF THE SHUNAMMITE

"Now Elisha had spoken unto the woman, whose son he had restored to life, saying, Arise, and go thou and thy household wheresoever thou canst sojourn: for Jehovah hath called for a famine; and it shall come upon the land seven years. And the woman arose, and did according to the word of the man of God; and she went with her household, and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years. And it came to pass, at the seven years' end, that the woman returned out of the land of the Philistines: and she went forth to cry unto the king for her house and for her land. Now the king was talking with Gehazi the servant of the man of God, saying, Tell me, I pray thee, all the great things that Elisha hath done. And it came to pass, as he was telling the king how he had restored to life him that was dead, that, behold, the woman, whose son he had restored to life, cried to the king for her house and for her land. And Gehazi said, My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life. And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed unto her a certain officer, saying, Restore all that was hers, and all the fruits of the field since the day that she left the land, even until now."

The big problem in this paragraph is the mention of Gehazi. Unless he had providentially been healed of his leprosy, this episode would necessarily have had to happen PRIOR TO the healing of Naaman, because it would be quite unlikely that the king of Israel would be talking freely with a leper. This problem has resulted in different opinions of scholars regarding which king restored the Shunammite's properties. Hammond believed it was Jehoram,[1] and Martin wrote that it was Jehu.[2] (See our introduction regarding the uncertainties regarding the chronologies in 2Kings.) The very fact of the sacred author's omitting the information that men seek regarding such questions underscores their lack of importance. It really does not make any difference which king it was. The big point of the narrative is that of the Shunammite's trust of the prophet's word and her reward in doing so.

"She went with her household and sojourned in the land of the Philistines" (2 Kings 8:2). The coastal plain of Palestine was usually spared from droughts that came to Israel, and even when it was not spared, supplies were readily available by sea from Egypt and the Nile Delta. Of course, during the woman's seven years' absence, her properties were appropriated by someone else, hence, her appeal to the king. Also, it would appear that during her sojourn in Philistia her husband had died.

"The king was talking with Gehazi ... and as he was telling the king ... behold, the woman ... cried to the king" (2 Kings 8:4,5). Nothing is more wonderful than the timing of the providences of God. "Note the coincidence. God times incidents with precision; `things work together' (Romans 8:28); they interweave."[3] Another example is found in the reading to the king of Persia of the honors due Mordecai just before his asking Haman what should be done for the man whom the king delighted to honor (Esther 6:1-14).

"The king appointed unto her a certain officer, saying, Restore all that was hers" (2 Kings 8:6). "The primary meaning of the word officer here is eunuch, and the secondary meaning is court minister."[4] "Eunuch is the preferred meaning here for propriety's sake when a man accompanied a lady."[5] The introduction of eunuchs into the social structure of the royal families of Israel was due to their shameful harems. David possessed eunuchs (1 Chronicles 28:1), and presumably Solomon also; and afterward "Eunuchs were common in the Samarian court of Israel; but there is no record of them in the kingdom of Judah until the times of Hezekiah (Isaiah 56:3-4)."[6]

"What happened here shows that Elisha's previous offer to speak to the king for the Shunammite woman (2 Kings 4:13) had not been an idle one."[7]