2 Kings 6:33

2Ki 6:33 And while he yet talked with them, behold, the messenger came down unto him: and he said, Behold, this evil [is] of the LORD; what should I wait for the LORD any longer?

Ver. 33. Behold, this evil is of the Lord.] He hath brought us to the lowest ebb, and done us as much mischief as is possible; an impious and blasphemous charge of injustice and hard dealing.

What should I wait for the Lord?] q.d., Wait as wait will: I will yield up all, and make for myself as good terms as I can. See Pro 19:3.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Ki 6:33. While he yet talked with them, the messenger came — Namely, to the door, where we are to understand he was stopped that he could not come at the prophet till the king came. And he said, Behold, this evil, &c. — Either the messenger said this in the king’s name and words, or rather the king himself, who, though not here named, may be presumed to be present, both by the prophet’s prediction of his speedy coming, and by the presence of the lord, on whose hand the king leaned, 2Ki 7:2. This evil — This dreadful famine, which is now so extreme, that women are forced to eat their own children; is of the Lord — He hath inflicted it, and, for aught I see, he will not remove it. All penal evil is of the Lord as the first cause and sovereign judge: and this we ought to apply to particular cases: if all evil, then this evil which we are groaning under. Whoever are the instruments, God is the principal agent. What should I wait for the Lord any longer? — Thou biddest me wait upon God for help; but I perceive I may wait long enough before deliverance comes: I am weary with waiting, I can wait no longer.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

6:33 And the king said: Literally And he said. The messenger might have been delivering the king’s words verbatim. • Because the misery of the siege appeared to be from the Lord, Joram felt that further prayer for rescue was useless.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

So the wicked fall into a rage and desperation, if they find not sudden remedy against their afflictions.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 33. Behold, this evil is of the Lord] It is difficult to know whether it be the prophet, the messenger, or the king, that says these words. It might be the answer of the prophet from within to the messenger who was without, and who sought for admission, and gave his reason; to whom Elisha might have replied: "I am not the cause of these calamities; they are from the Lord; I have been praying for their removal; but why should I pray to the Lord any longer, for the time of your deliverance is at hand?" And then Elisha said, - see the following chapter, where the removal of the calamity is foretold in the most explicit manner; and indeed the chapter is unhappily divided from this. The seventh chapter should have begun with 2Kgs 6:24 of this chapter, as, by the present division, the story is unnaturally interrupted.

How natural is it for men to lay the cause of their suffering on any thing or person but themselves! Ahab's iniquity was sufficient to have brought down God's displeasure on a whole nation; and yet he takes no blame to himself, but lays all on the prophet, who was the only salt that preserved the whole nation from corruption. How few take their sins to themselves! and till they do this, they cannot be true penitents; nor can they expect God's wrath to be averted till they feel themselves the chief of sinners.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(33) Yet talked.—Was still speaking.

The messenger.—Ewalïs correction, “the king” (melek for maâk), is certainly right. In the rapid progress of the story, the arrival and momentary exclusion of the messenger is understood. The approach of the king may have been seen from the upper part of Elisha’s house.

Came down.—Was coming down, to the prophet’s house, from the ramparts. (Comp. 2Ki_5:24.)

And he said.—That is, the king said.

Behold, this evil is of the Lord.—Rather, Behold, such (this) is the distress from Jehovah. Things have come to this pitch by the will of Jehovah.

What (rather, why) should I wait for the Lord any longer?—As I have hitherto done, at your persuasion. Why should I not now surrender to the Syrians, and slay the prophet who has so long deluded me with vain hopes?

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

33. while he yet talked with them] He had hardly explained his knowledge and his wish before action became necessary. The messenger arrived, and we must understand that the king also arrived immediately afterwards, and so the execution of Elisha was stayed, and Jehoram was shewn to be in some degree penitent for his hasty threat.

and he said] The words which follow must be the words of the king. He has reached Elisha’s house and countermanded his first order. Now his thought is of what shall be done next. The people are at the direst extremity, and God, who has allowed this evil to come upon the nation, gives His prophet no message of relief. In this conviction he is of the mind that Samaria shall be surrendered. Hence his language, ‘This evil is of the Lord’ and He allows it to continue, ‘why should I wait for the Lord any longer?’

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The messenger - It has been proposed to change “messenger” into “king,” the two words being in Hebrew nearly alike, and the speech with which the chapter ends being considered only suitable in the mouth of the king, whose presence is indicated in 2Ki 7:2, 2Ki 7:17. Others think that the words “and the king after him” have fallen out of the text.

Came down - The messenger came down from off the wall to the level of the streets.

Behold this evil ... - Jehoram bursts into the prophet’s presence with a justification of the sentence 2Ki 6:31 he has pronounced against him. “Behold this evil - this siege with all its horrors - is from Yahweh - from Yahweh, Whose prophet thou art. Why should I wait for Yahweh - temporize with Him - keep as it were, on terms with Him by suffering thee to live - any longer? What hast thou to say in arrest of judgment?”

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

And he, Joram, (Menochius, &c.) after (Haydock) his messenger. (Estius) (Piscator) --- What, &c. All is desperate; (Calmet) our miseries cannot increase. (Menochius) --- I have nothing now to fear or to hope for. (Salien)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Unto him, to wit, to the door, where also we are to understand that he was held fast, that he could not come at the prophet till the king came, as the prophet had commanded them to do.

He said; either, first, The messenger, in the king’s name and words. Or, secondly, The king himself, who, though not here named, may be presumed to be present, both by the prophet’s prediction of his speedy coming, and by the presence of the lord on whose hand the king leaned, 2Ki 7:2. This evil; this dreadful famine, which is now so extreme that women are forced to eat their own children.

Is of the Lord; he hath inflicted it, and (for aught that I see) he will not remove it. Thus he lays all the blame upon God, not, as he ought, upon his own and his mother’s wickedness, which provoked God, who doth not willingly afflict, to send this heavy judgment upon him.

What should I wait for the Lord any longer? thou biddest me wait upon God for help; but I perceive I may wait long enough before deliverance comes; I am weary with waiting, I can wait no longer.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

33. While he yet talked with them — While Elisha was yet in the act of telling the elders to fasten the door and keep the messenger out.

And he said — Who said? It seems at first difficult to determine whether the words that follow are the words of the prophet, the messenger, or the king.

But on closer study they seem best to suit the mouth of the king, and the obscurity of the passage must be attributed to the brevity of the narrative.

This evil is of the Lord — These words of the king are a part of his countermand of the order to behead Elisha, and a reason for it. He is convinced that the famine is a Divine judgment on the nation for his sins.

What should I wait for the Lord — Rather, Why should I wait, etc. These words are virtually a prayer for the Lord to come and remove the famine. The passage may be thus paraphrased: I acknowledge that this evil is a punishment for my sins; the Lord thus chastens me sorely. But now, when all this people are brought to such an extremity of woe, why should I wait longer for the Lord to interpose and deliver his people from their sufferings?

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And while he yet talked with themi.e. , while Elisha yet talked with the elders, endeavoring probably to persuade them to stop the messengerbehold, the messenger came down unto him: and he said. The narrative is very compressed and elliptical. Some suppose words to have fallen out (as wyrja after wyla); but this is unnecessary. The reader is expected to supply missing links, and to understand that all happened as Elisha had predicted and enjoined that the messenger came, that the elders stopped him, and that the king shortly arrived. The king was, of course, admitted, and, being admitted, took the word, and said, Behold, this evil is of the Lord; what rather, why should I wait for the Lord any longer? Jehoram had, apparently, to some extent repented of his hasty message, and had hurried after his messenger, to give Elisha one further chance of life. We must understand that they had been in communication previously on the subject of the siege, and that Elisha had encouraged the king to "wait for" an interposition of Jehovah. The king now urges that the time for waiting is over; matters are at the last gasp; "this evil" this terrible suffering which can no longer be endured of the Lord," has come from him, is continued by him, and is not relieved. What use is there in his "waiting" any longer? Why should he not break with Jehovah, behead the lying prophet, and surrender the town? What has Elisha to say in reply?

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He said - Or, the king, who, though not here named, may be presumed to be present, both by the prophet's prediction of his speedy coming, and by the presence of the Lord, on whose hand the king leaned, chap. vii, 2. This evil - This dreadful famine, which is now so extreme, that women are forced to eat their own children. The Lord - Hath inflicted it, and (for ought I see) he will not remove it. All penal evil is of the Lord, as the first cause and sovereign judge. And this we ought to apply to particular cases: if all evil, then this evil which we are groaning under. Whoever are the instruments, God is the principal agent. What should I, &c. - Thou bidst me wait upon God for help: but I perceive I may wait long enough before deliverance comes: I am weary with waiting, I can wait no longer.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

He said. The king.

“Behold, this tragedy is from Adonoy.” This is one of the curses that He cursed through Moshe, “And you will eat the flesh of your womb, etc., in the siege and in the distress, etc.”

What more can I hope for from Adonoy? To save, it will surely not avail.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.