2 Kings 8:11

2Ki 8:11 And he settled his countenance stedfastly, until he was ashamed: and the man of God wept.

Ver. 11. And he settled his countenance steadfastly.] Heb., And set it. He settled his countenance and looked wistly with a comely gravity; Elisha did so upon Hazael.

Until he was ashamed.] Till Hazael blushed to see the prophet look so earnestly upon him.

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 8:11. He settled his countenance steadfastly — Elisha fixed his eyes on Hazael, and looked upon him so earnestly, so long, and with such a settled countenance, that Hazael was ashamed, as apprehending that the prophet discerned or suspected something of an evil and shameful nature in him. The Hebrew words, however, rendered till he was ashamed, are ambiguous, and may be indifferently referred either to the prophet or to Hazael: but they seem more properly to belong to the latter, because it follows by way of distinction, The man of God wept.

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

8:11 Elisha started weeping because he foresaw the atrocities that Hazael would commit against God’s people when he became king (8:28; 9:14-15; 10:32-33; 12:17-18; 13:3, 22).

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

he settled his countenance stedfastly until he was ashamed--that is, Hazael. The steadfast, penetrating look of the prophet seemed to have convinced Hazael that his secret designs were known. The deep emotions of Elisha were justified by the horrible atrocities which, too common in ancient warfare, that successful usurper committed in Israel (Kg2 10:32; Kg2 13:3-4, Kg2 13:22).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 11. He settled his countenance steadfastly] Of whom does the author speak? Of Hazael, or of Elisha? Several apply this action to the prophet: he had a murderer before him and he saw the bloody acts he was about to commit, and was greatly distressed; but he endeavoured to conceal his feelings: at last his face reddened with anguish, his feelings overcame him, and he burst out and wept.

The Septuagint, as it stands in the Complutensian and Antwerp Polyglots, makes the text very plain: Και ἑστη Αζαηλ κατα πρωσοπον αυτου, και παρεθηκεν ενωπιον αυτου δωρα, ἑως ῃσχυνετο· και εκλαυσεν ὁ ανθρωπος του Θεου, And Hazael stood before his face, and he presented before him gifts till he was ashamed; and the man of God wept.

The Codex Vaticanus, and the Codex Alexandrinus, are nearly as the Hebrew. The Aldine edition agrees in some respects with the Complutensian; but all the versions follow the Hebrew.

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

(11) And he settled his countenance stedfastly.—Literally, and he (Elisha) made his face stand, and set (it upon Hazael).

Until he was ashamed.—Literally, unto being ashamed. This may mean either in shameless fashion or until Hazael was disconcerted. We prefer the latter. Hazael, conscious that Elisha had read his; thoughts aright, shrank from that piercing gaze. (Comp. 2Ki_2:17.)

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

11. And he settled his countenance stedfastly] The R.V. adds ‘upon him’ in italics. This no doubt is the sense. Elisha fixed a stedfast gaze on the messenger. ‘The seer of God descries more in Hazael than he could see in himself: he fixes his eyes therefore stedfastly in the Syrian’s face, as one that in those lines read the bloody story of his life. Hazael blushes, Elisha weeps. The intention (i.e. the stedfast gaze) of those eyes did not so much amaze Hazael as the tears. As yet he was not guilty to himself of any wrong that might strain out this juice of sorrow’ (Bp Hall).

until he was ashamed] i.e. until Hazael blushed with embarrassment at the searching look.

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.

And he settled his countenance steadfastly,.... Refrained himself as much as possible, that he might not weep, as some Jewish writers interpret it; or, as others, he turned his face on one side, and covered it with his hands, that Hazael might not see him weep; or rather he set his face on Hazael, and looked at him so wistly:

until he was ashamed; that is, Hazael; the prophet looked him out of countenance:

and the man of God wept; at the thought of what calamities the man before him, he looked on, would be the cause of in Israel, as the following words show.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

That is, “And he (Elisha) settled his conntenance, and set it (toward Hazael), until he (Hazael) was ashamed.” Elisha fixed on Hazael a long and meaning look, until the latter’s eyes fell before his, and his cheek flushed. Elisha, it would seem, had detected the guilty thought that was in Hazael’s heart, and Hazael perceived that he had detected it. Hence the “shame.”

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

Blush. This may be referred either to Hazael, who was astonished at the words and looks of the prophet, (Haydock) or to Eliseus. (Menochius) --- Septuagint (Complutensian), "and Hazael stood before his face, and he displayed the presents before him, till he blushed, and the," &c. Though this has the appearance of a gloss, it is perhaps more conformable to the Hebrew and to an ancient Greek version. (Calmet) --- Protestants, "he settled his countenance steadfastly, until he was ashamed."

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).

He settled his countenance stedfastly; the prophet fixed his eyes upon Hazael.

Until he was ashamed; either till the prophet was ashamed to look any longer upon him; or till Hazael was ashamed, as apprehending that the prophet suspected or discerned something extraordinary and of an evil and shameful nature in him. The Hebrew words are ambiguous, and may indifferently be referred to either of them; but they seem more properly to belong to Hazael, because it follows, by way of distinction, the man of God wept.

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

11. He settled his countenance steadfastly — Literally, He made his countenance stand, and fixed it. That is, Elisha composed himself and fastened upon Hazael a deep, steadfast, searching gaze that seemed to read him through and through.

Until he was ashamed — Until Hazael was ashamed. The prophet continued that steadfast, searching gaze, until Hazael blushed with embarrassment, not knowing what to say.

Man of God wept — Here was another manifestation of Elisha’s emotion, greater even than that with which he had answered the question of Hazael.

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

And he settled his countenance steadfastly literally, and he settled his countenance and set it; i.e. Elisha fixed on Hazael a long and meaning lookuntil hei.e. Hazaelwas ashamed; i.e. until Hazael felt embarrassed, and his eyes fell It may be gathered that the ambitious courtier had already formed a murderous design against his master, and understood by the peculiar gaze which the prophet fixed upon him that his design was penetrated. And the man of God wept. There flashed on the prophet"s mind all the long series of calamities which Israel would suffer at the hands of Syria during Hazael"s reign, and he could not but weep at the thought of them (see the next verse).

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

He settled - The prophet fixed his eyes upon Hazael. Until - 'Till Hazael was ashamed, as apprehending the prophet discerned something of an evil and shameful nature in him.

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

Elisha then fixed Hazael for a long time with his eye, and wept. וגו ויּעמד literally, he made his face stand fast, and directed it (upon Hazael) to shaming. עד־בּשׁ as in Jdg 3:25; not in a shameless manner (Thenius), but till Hazael was embarrassed by it.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

He [Elisha] kept his face emotionless. [He held in] his expression of grief, for he wanted to cry; he held it in, so that he would not cry in front of Chazoeil. He made a concentrated effort to stand and control himself.

For a long time. Like “בשש [=delay],” and he could not control himself [any longer] and he wept.

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.