1 Kings 19:15,16 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Go, return on thy way The way by which thou camest; for the way from Horeb to Damascus was, in part, the same with that by which he had come. Anoint Hazael to be king over Syria It seems, the word anoint must here be taken figuratively for appoint, or declare, which was done by Elisha, 2 Kings 8:12; for the word is often used of them who were never anointed with oil: Elijah, however, might anoint him, though it be not related; or, as some think, when he understood what scourges he and Jehu would be to Israel, and what destruction they would bring upon them, he perhaps earnestly entreated God, and obtained his request, that the execution of the command should be deferred to another time. And Jehu the son of Nimshi That is, his grandson; for he was the son of Jehoshaphat, 2 Kings 9:2. And Elisha shalt thou anoint Whom he constituted prophet by casting his mantle over him. This was intended as a prediction, that by these persons God would punish the degenerate Israelites, plead his own cause among them, and avenge the quarrel of his covenant.