Melachim II 8 מלכים ב ח׳

ואלישע דבר אל האשה. זה שבע שנים:

Elisha spoke to the woman. Seven years [before].¹I.e., seven years before the incident described in this chapter. See above, 4:8-37.

כי קרא ה' לרעב. הוא הרעב אשר היה בימי יואל בן פתואל:

For Adonoy has proclaimed a famine. This is the hunger during the days of Yoel the son of Pesuel.²See Yoel Chapter 1 and Maseches Taanis 5a.

אל ביתה ואל שדה. שהחזיקו בה גזלנים:

About her house and her field. Which robbers had occupied.³She had abandoned her estate for seven years and strangers had occupied it in the meantime.

ויבא אלישע דמשק. להחזיר את גיחזי בתשובה (סוטה מז א):

Elisha came to Damesek. To cause Geichazi to repent.⁴Maseches Sotah 47a. See also Rashi in Maseches Sanhedrin 107b.⁵Alternatively, to carry out God’s command stated in I Melochim 19:15—Radak Or, Geichazi went to Damesek to ask Na’amon for help.

חיה תחיה. כלפי חזאל אמר, שיחיה תחת בן הדד למלכות:

‘You will surely live.’ Pertaining to Chazoeil he said that he would live instead of Ben-Hadad [and occupy] the throne.⁶It is read [=קְרִי] as ‘לוֹ’, meaning, “say to him, ‘you will surely recover,’” but it is written [=כְּתִיב] as ‘Gא’, and the meaning is “say, ‘you will surely not recover.’” According to Rashi the קְרִי pertains to Chazoeil, and the כְּתִיב pertains to Ben-Hadad; or Elisha meant that Ben-Hadad would not die of his illness, but he would die by assassination. Alternatively, the כְּתִיב reflects what was on Elisha’s mind and the קְרִי is what he said.—Radak

ויעמד את פניו. פנים של צער שלו שהיה מבקש לבכות, העמיד, שלא יבכה בפני חזאל, וישם לבו לעמוד ולהתאפק:

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.

עד בוש. כמו בושש, ולא יכול להתאפק ויבך:

For a long time. Like “בשש [=delay],”⁷See commentary on 2:17 above. and he could not control himself [any longer] and he wept.

תרטש. לשון ביקוע המעים, ואב לכולן (ישעיהו יג יח): וקשתות נערים תרטשה:

You will dash. An expression of splitting the intestines.⁸Alternatively, תְּרַטֵּשׁ means “dashing against a wall or the ground.”—Radak Or, “you will cause their infants to be abandoned” by killing their parents.—Ralbag The original source⁹I.e., the conclusive evidence for this definition. [for the meaning of תרטש is], “and bows will split [תְּרַטַּשְׁנָה] young men.”¹⁰Yeshayahu 13:18.

והרותיהם. מעוברות שלהם:

And their pregnant women. Their pregnant women.

המכבר. תרגום יונתן: גונבא, וכן (שופטים ד יח): ותכסהו בשמיכה, תרגום: בגונבא, והוא בגד:

A blanket. [Targum] Yonoson renders גּוּנְכָא [=blanket],¹¹Alternatively, “a pillow.”—Radak Or, a thick garment.—Metzudas Tzion and similarly, “and she covered him with a blanket [=[בַּשְּׂמִיכָה,”¹²Shoftim 4:18. he renders, בְּגוּנְכָא [=a blanket], i.e., a garment.

ויפרוש על פניו. להצטנן:

He spread it over his [Ben-Hadad’s] face. To cool off.¹³He told Ben-Hadad that he was doing this to give him some relief of his illness, but actually, Chazoeil intended to kill him.—Radak

ובשנת חמש וגו'. יהושפט המליך את יורם בחייו שתי שנים כשחזרו מן המלחמה שנלחמו במלך מואב, כך שנויה בסדר עולם בשנת חמש ליהורם ויהושפט בשנת חמשים, שנגזרה גזירה על יהושפט ליהרג ברמות גלעד, אלא שתלה לו בשביל שזעק, שבע שנים:

In the fifth year, etc. Yehoshophot crowned Yorom [who reigned] two years during his lifetime, when they returned from the war they had waged with the king of Mo’av;¹⁴See Radak’s commentary pertaining to Rashi’s calculation. so it was taught in Seder Olam. In the fifth year of Yehorom[’s reign], which is the fiftieth¹⁵Perhaps the text should read “the fifth [חָמֵשׁ] year” as it appears in Rashi’s caption. Rashi explains the verse that Yehorom son of Yehoshophot, began his reign in the fifth year since it was decreed on Yehoshophot to be killed in Ramos-Gilod. The decree was reprieved for seven years, so Yorom thus ruled for two years during Yehoshophot’s lifetime. Alternatively, “the fiftieth year” [as our text reads] may refer to the year in which Yehoshophot finished his dual kingship with his son Yehorom. It was in the year 3050. year of Yehoshophot, it was decreed for Yehoshophot to be killed in Ramos-Gilad, but [the decree] was reprieved for seven years because he cried out.¹⁶See above 1:17 and Rashi there.

ניר. ממשלה:

A kingdom. Kingdom.¹⁷Adonoy king shines like a light [=נֵר].—Metzudas Tzion See Targum in Bamidbar 21:30 who renders ‘וַנִּירָם’ as ‘וּמַלְכוּ’[=its kingdom].

וימליכו עליהם מלך. ומימי דוד לא היה להם מלך, כמו שנאמר (מלכים א כב מח): ומלך אין באדום ; (שמואל ב ח יד): וישם באדום נציבים, שמנה מלכים מלכו באדום לפני מלך מלך לישראל, המנוים בספר בראשית (לו לא-מג), כנגדו מלכו בישראל שמנה מלכים, איש בושת, ודוד, ושלמה, ורחבעם, ואבים, ואסא, ויהושפט, ויהורם, ולא היה מלך לאדום, ומה שכתוב למעלה שהלך מלך אדום עם יהורם בן אחאב ועם יהושפט למלחמה על מלך מואב, לא מלך גמור הוא אלא נציב, שאף הוא היה קרוי מלך וכמו שנאמר (מלכים א כב מח): ומלך אין באדום נצב מלך, הנציב היה להם במקום מלך:

And appointed a king over themselves. From the time of Dovid they did not have a king, as it is stated, “There was no king in Edom,.”¹⁸I Melochim 22:48. [and] “And he appointed governors in Edom.”¹⁹II Shmuel 8:14. Eight kings reigned in Edom before a king reigned in Yisroel, they are listed in the Book of Bereishis.²⁰See Bereishis 36:31-43, and Rashi there. The eight kings are listed in Bereishis Rabboh 83:2. However, Bereishis Rabboh lists Shaul as one of the eight and omits Yehorom because during Yehorom’s reign, Edom was ruled by a king. Corresponding to them, eight kings reigned in Yisroel: Ish-Boshes, Dovid, Shlomo, Rechovom, Aviyom, Asa, Yehoshophot, and Yehorom, while Edom had no king.²¹See above 3:9. What is written above that the king of Edom²²I Melochim 22:48. went with Yehorom son of Achov, and with Yehoshophot, to war against the king of Mo’av [can be explained that] he was not a real king, but a governor, who is also referred to as a king, as it is stated, “There was no king in Edom, the governor was king.”²³I.e., Yorom attacked and struck the Edomites who were near the border. The governor served instead of a king.

הסובב אליו. הסמוכים אל הספר:

That were surrounding him. Those near the border.²⁴Alternatively, “הַסֹּבֵיב אֵלָיו” refers to those Edomites who had not rebelled against Yehudah and “וַיַּכֶּה” refers to the King of Edom, i.e., the King of Edom struck and killed the Edomites who had not joined in the rebellion.—Radak

תפשע לבנה. מרדו יושבי לבנה ומרדו במלך, ואיני יודע מאיזה אומה היו, שהרי לבנה מארץ ישראל היא, ואומר אני, שהיו משבט יהודה, ומרדו במלך:

Livnoh rebelled. The inhabitants of Livnoh rebelled, and they rebelled against the king. I do not know from what nation they were, because Livnoh is part of Eretz Yisroel.²⁵Livnoh is listed as one of Yehudah’s cities that were located at the southern extremity of Yehudah’s territory at Edom’s border. See Yehoshua 15:21, 42. But I say that they were of the tribe of Yehudah and they rebelled against the king.²⁶Alternatively, Livnoh was an Edomite town close to the border, but at first did not join in the rebellion with the rest of Edom. However, after the war, Livnoh joined the Edomite rebellion.—Radak

ויקבר עם אבותיו בעיר דוד. ובדברי הימים (ב כא כ) אומר: בעיר דוד ולא בקברות המלכים:

And was buried with his forefathers in the City of Dovid. In Divrei Hayomim it states, “[They buried him] in the City of Dovid, but not in the graves of the kings.”²⁷II Divrei Hayomim 21:20.