2 Kings 8:1 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Then spake Elisha There is nothing in the Hebrew for this particle of time, then. It is literally, And Elisha spake, or, as Houbigant renders it, had spoken. So 2 Kings 8:2, The woman had arisen, and done, &c. He conjectures, from 2 Kings 8:4, that this event happened before Gehazi was struck with the leprosy: this, however, is by no means certain. On the other hand, most commentators seem to be of opinion that it took place in the order in which it is recorded in the history, after the events related in the former chapter, and some think several years after. Unto the woman whose son he had restored to life Manifesting his gratitude for her former kindness, by taking special care for her preservation. Go thou, and sojourn, &c. In any convenient place out of the land of Israel. For the Lord hath called for a famine Hath appointed to bring a famine upon the country, or a great scarcity of provisions. The manner of speaking intimates that all afflictions are sent by God, and come at his call. Seven years A double time to the former famine under Elijah, which was but just, because they were still incorrigible under all the judgments of God, and under the powerful ministry of Elisha, who confirmed his doctrine by so many astonishing miracles.