Discovery Box2 Kings 8:7-10 
Context8:7 Elisha traveled to Damascus while King Ben Hadad of Syria was sick. The king 1 was told, “The prophet 2 has come here.” 8:8 So the king told Hazael, “Take a gift 3 and go visit the prophet. Request from him an oracle from the Lord. Ask him, 4 ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’” 8:9 So Hazael went to visit Elisha. 5 He took along a gift, 6 as well as 7 forty camel loads of all the fine things of Damascus. When he arrived, he stood before him and said, “Your son, 8 King Ben Hadad of Syria, has sent me to you with this question, 9 ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’” 8:10 Elisha said to him, “Go and tell him, ‘You will surely recover,’ 10 but the Lord has revealed to me that he will surely die.”
1 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 tn Heb “man of God” (also a second time in this verse and in v. 11).
3 tn The Hebrew text also has “in your hand.”
4 tn Heb “Inquire of the
5 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
6 tn The Hebrew text also has “in his hand.”
7 tn Heb “and.” It is possible that the conjunction is here explanatory, equivalent to English “that is.” In this case the forty camel loads constitute the “gift” and one should translate, “He took along a gift, consisting of forty camel loads of all the fine things of Damascus.”
8 sn The words “your son” emphasize the king’s respect for the prophet.
9 tn Heb “saying.”
10 tc The consonantal text (Kethib) reads, “Go, say, ‘Surely you will not (לֹא, lo’) recover” In this case the vav beginning the next clause should be translated, “for, because.” The marginal reading (Qere) has, “Go, say to him (לוֹ, lo), ‘You will surely recover.” In this case the vav (ו) beginning the next clause should be translated, “although, but.” The Qere has the support of some medieval Hebrew
