Elisha said to him, “Go, tell him, ‘You will surely recover;’ however the LORD has shown me that he will surely die.”
ExplanationCommentary
Verse 10. 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. Challoner.—The imperative is often used for the future tense. Gloss iii. 3. John 2:19. The present Hebrew reads, “Thou shalt not live: for,” and so forth which removes the difficulty. But the Chal. Septuagint Syr. and so forth agree with the Vulgate, ( Calmet.) as the Prot. version also does. “Thou mayst certainly recover, howbeit the Lord,” and so forth Bible.—Lo, “not,” in the Hebrew text, seems however preferable to the marginal reading, lu, “to him.” This mistake has been sometimes made elsewhere, and ought to be carefully examined. Kennicott 1 Chronicles 11:20.