He who escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu will kill; and he who escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill.
Parallel Translations
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He who escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu will kill; and he who escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill.
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And it shall come to pass, that him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay: and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay.
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And it shall come to pass, that him that escapeth from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay; and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay.
Cross-references (13)
Passages linked to 1 Kings 19:17 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 2 Kings 8:12 Hazael said, “Why do you weep, my lord?” He answered, “Because I know the evil that you will do to the children of Israel. You will set their strongholds on fire, and you will kill their young men with the sword, and will dash their little ones in pieces, and rip up their pregnant women.”
- 2 Kings 13:3 Yahweh’s anger burned against Israel, and he delivered them into the hand of Hazael king of Syria, and into the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael, continually.
- 2 Kings 13:22 Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz.
- 2 Kings 10:32 In those days Yahweh began to cut away parts of Israel; and Hazael struck them in all the borders of Israel;
- Hosea 6:5 Therefore I have cut them to pieces with the prophets; I killed them with the words of my mouth. Your judgments are like a flash of lightning.
- 2 Kings 2:23-24 He went up from there to Bethel. As he was going up by the way, some youths came out of the city and mocked him, and said to him, “Go up, you baldy! Go up, you baldy!” He looked behind him and saw them, and cursed them in Yahweh’s name. Then two female bears came out of the woods, and mauled forty-two of those youths.
- 2 Kings 9:14–10:25 So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired against Joram. (Now Joram was keeping Ramoth Gilead, he and all Israel, because of Hazael king of Syria; but king Joram had returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him, when he fought with Hazael king of Syria.) Jehu said, “If this is your thinking, then let no one escape and go out of the city, to go to tell it in Jezreel.” So Jehu rode in a chariot and went to Jezreel, for Joram lay there. Ahaziah king of Judah had come down to see Joram. Now the watchman was standing on the tower in Jezreel, and he spied the company of Jehu as he came, and said, “I see a company.” Joram said, “Take a horseman, and send to meet them, and let him say, ‘Is it peace?’ ” So one went on horseback to meet him, and said, “the king says, ‘Is it peace?’ ” Jehu said, “What do you have to do with peace? Fall in behind me!” The watchman said, “The messenger came to them, but he isn’t coming back.” Then he sent out a second on horseback, who came to them, and said, “The king says, ‘Is it peace?’ ” Jehu answered, “What do you have to do with peace? Fall in behind me!” The watchman said, “He came to them, and isn’t coming back. The driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi, for he drives furiously.” Joram said, “Get ready!” They got his chariot ready. Then Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went out, each in his chariot, and they went out to meet Jehu, and found him on Naboth the Jezreelite’s land. When Joram saw Jehu, he said, “Is it peace, Jehu?” He answered, “What peace, so long as the prostitution of your mother Jezebel and her witchcraft abound?” Joram turned his hands, and fled, and said to Ahaziah, “This is treason, Ahaziah!” Jehu drew his bow with his full strength, and struck Joram between his arms; and the arrow went out at his heart, and he sunk down in his chariot. Then Jehu said to Bidkar his captain, “Pick him up, and throw him in the plot of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite; for remember how, when you and I rode together after Ahab his father, Yahweh laid this burden on him: ‘Surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons,’ says Yahweh; ‘and I will repay you in this plot of ground,’ says Yahweh. Now therefore take and cast him onto the plot of ground, according to Yahweh’s word.” But when Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled by the way of the garden house. Jehu followed after him, and said, “Strike him also in the chariot!” They struck him at the ascent of Gur, which is by Ibleam. He fled to Megiddo, and died there. His servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his tomb with his fathers in David’s city. In the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab, Ahaziah began to reign over Judah. When Jehu had come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her eyes, and adorned her head, and looked out at the window. As Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, “Do you come in peace, Zimri, you murderer of your master?” He lifted up his face to the window, and said, “Who is on my side? Who?” Two or three eunuchs looked out at him. He said, “Throw her down!” So they threw her down; and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses. Then he trampled her under foot. When he had come in, he ate and drank. Then he said, “See now to this cursed woman, and bury her; for she is a king’s daughter.” They went to bury her, but they found no more of her than the skull, the feet, and the palms of her hands. Therefore they came back, and told him. He said, “This is Yahweh’s word, which he spoke by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ‘The dogs will eat the flesh of Jezebel on the plot of Jezreel, and the body of Jezebel will be as dung on the face of the field on Jezreel’s land, so that they won’t say, “This is Jezebel.” ’ ” Now Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. Jehu wrote letters, and sent to Samaria, to the rulers of Jezreel, even the elders, and to those who brought up Ahab’s sons, saying, “Now as soon as this letter comes to you, since your master’s sons are with you, and you have chariots and horses, a fortified city also, and armor, Select the best and fittest of your master’s sons, set him on his father’s throne, and fight for your master’s house.” But they were exceedingly afraid, and said, “Behold, the two kings didn’t stand before him! How then shall we stand?” He who was over the household, and he who was over the city, the elders also, and those who raised the children, sent to Jehu, saying, “We are your servants, and will do all that you ask us. We will not make any man king. You do that which is good in your eyes.” Then he wrote a letter the second time to them, saying, “If you are on my side, and if you will listen to my voice, take the heads of the men who are your master’s sons, and come to me to Jezreel by tomorrow this time.” Now the king’s sons, being seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, who brought them up. When the letter came to them, they took the king’s sons and killed them, even seventy people, and put their heads in baskets, and sent them to him to Jezreel. A messenger came and told him, “They have brought the heads of the king’s sons.” He said, “Lay them in two heaps at the entrance of the gate until the morning.” In the morning, he went out, and stood, and said to all the people, “You are righteous. Behold, I conspired against my master and killed him, but who killed all these? Know now that nothing will fall to the earth of Yahweh’s word, which Yahweh spoke concerning Ahab’s house. For Yahweh has done that which he spoke by his servant Elijah.” So Jehu struck all that remained of Ahab’s house in Jezreel, with all his great men, his familiar friends, and his priests, until he left him no one remaining. He arose and departed, and went to Samaria. As he was at the shearing house of the shepherds on the way, Jehu met with the brothers of Ahaziah king of Judah, and said, “Who are you?” They answered, “We are the brothers of Ahaziah. We are going down to greet the children of the king and the children of the queen.” He said, “Take them alive!” They took them alive, and killed them at the pit of the shearing house, even forty-two men. He didn’t leave any of them. When he had departed from there, he met Jehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him. He greeted him, and said to him, “Is your heart right, as my heart is with your heart?” Jehonadab answered, “It is.” “If it is, give me your hand.” He gave him his hand; and he took him up to him into the chariot. He said, “Come with me, and see my zeal for Yahweh.” So they made him ride in his chariot. When he came to Samaria, he struck all who remained to Ahab in Samaria, until he had destroyed him, according to Yahweh’s word, which he spoke to Elijah. Jehu gathered all the people together, and said to them, “Ahab served Baal a little; but Jehu will serve him much. Now therefore call to me all the prophets of Baal, all of his worshipers, and all of his priests. Let no one be absent; for I have a great sacrifice to Baal. Whoever is absent, he shall not live.” But Jehu did deceptively, intending to destroy the worshipers of Baal. Jehu said, “Sanctify a solemn assembly for Baal!” So they proclaimed it. Jehu sent through all Israel; and all the worshipers of Baal came, so that there was not a man left that didn’t come. They came into the house of Baal; and the house of Baal was filled from one end to another. He said to him who kept the wardrobe, “Bring out robes for all the worshipers of Baal!” So he brought robes out to them. Jehu went with Jehonadab the son of Rechab into the house of Baal. Then he said to the worshipers of Baal, “Search, and see that none of the servants of Yahweh are here with you, but only the worshipers of Baal.” So they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had appointed for himself eighty men outside, and said, “If any of the men whom I bring into your hands escape, he who lets him go, his life shall be for the life of him.” As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, Jehu said to the guard and to the captains, “Go in and kill them! Let no one escape.” So they struck them with the edge of the sword. The guard and the captains threw the bodies out, and went to the inner shrine of the house of Baal.
- Isaiah 11:4 but he will judge the poor with righteousness, and decide with equity for the humble of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; and with the breath of his lips he will kill the wicked.
- Isaiah 24:17-18 Fear, the pit, and the snare, are on you who inhabit the earth. It will happen that he who flees from the noise of the fear will fall into the pit; and he who comes up out of the middle of the pit will be taken in the snare; for the windows on high are opened, and the foundations of the earth tremble.
- Jeremiah 1:10 Behold, I have today set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to uproot and to tear down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.”
- Amos 2:14 Flight will perish from the swift; and the strong won’t strengthen his force; neither shall the mighty deliver himself;
- Amos 5:19 As if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him; Or he went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall, and a snake bit him.
- Revelation 19:21 The rest were killed with the sword of him who sat on the horse, the sword which came out of his mouth. All the birds were filled with their flesh.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 1Ki 19:17 And it shall come to pass, [that]…
1Ki 19:17 And it shall come to pass, [that] him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay: and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay.
Ver. 17. Shall Elisha slay.] Elisha then hath his sword as well as Jehu and Hazael, though of another nature; viz., prayers, {a} threatenings, curses, which did all most certainly and infallibly come to pass. And whensoever Elisha unsheatheth and brandisheth his sword, it is a fair warning that the sword of Jehu and Hazael are at hand. See Hos 6:5 Jer 1:10.
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{a} They that can stand against or escape the power of two kings, shall yet fall by the hand of prayer.
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.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Here the order of times seems to be perverted;…
Here the order of times seems to be perverted; for Elisha was prophet before Jehu or Hazael were kings, and Hazael was king before Jehu. But that is of no moment as to the substance of the thing threatened, which is only this, that one or other of these should infallibly execute God’s judgments upon the apostatical Israelites. Elisha is said to slay them, either because he slew those forty-two children, 2Ki 2:24, besides others whom upon like occasions he might destroy; or because he by God’s appointment inflicted the famine, 2Ki 6:31; or rather, by the sword which came out of his mouth, as Isa 49:2; Rev 1:16; 19:15,21, by his cutting prophecies and threatenings of God’s judgments; the prophets being said to pull down and to destroy what they only declare and foretell shall be pulled down, &c. Hazael began to slay them before Jehu was king, 2Ki 8:28, though his cruelty was much increased afterward, 2Ki 10:32; 13:1-3; and Jehu destroyed those whom Hazael did not, king Joram himself, and Ahaziah, and his forty-two brethren, 2Ki 9:24,27; 10:14, all the near relations of wicked Ahab.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And it shall come to pass, that him that…
And it shall come to pass, that him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay,.... Which suggests that many should be slain in Israel by them both, as were by Hazael, Kg2 10:32 and by Jehu, Kg2 9:24,
and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay; which may be understood either literally of the forty two children cursed by him, in consequence of which they were destroyed by bears, Kg2 2:24 or rather figuratively by his prophecies, see Hos 6:5 who foretold the slaughters made by Hazael and Jehu, as well as others, see Kg2 8:12, these several things were not done in the order in which they are here put; for what Elisha did was before Hazael and Jehu, and Jehu before Hazael; these words therefore do not respect the exact order of time in which they should be done, only that each should do the part appointed and assigned unto him, and what could not be so well done by the other; thus Hazael was to destroy those that came out to war; and Jehu Ahab's family that did not; and Elisha the children of idolatrous parents at Bethel, that came not within the reach of either; though it may be observed, that Hazael began to distress Israel before Jehu appeared, Kg2 8:28 and the prophecies of Elisha might not have their full accomplishment until after Hazael and Jehu had done what was appointed for them.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Shall Elisha slay - One or other of these…
Shall Elisha slay - One or other of these should infallibly execute God's judgments upon the apostate Israelites. Elisha is said to slay them, either, because he slew those forty two children, 2 Kings ii, 24, besides others whom upon like occasions he might destroy; or, because he by God's appointment inflicted the famine, 2 Kings viii, 1, or rather, by the sword which came out of his mouth: the prophets being said to pull down and to destroy what they declare and foretel shall be pulled down. Hazael began to slay them before Jehu was king, though his cruelty was much increased afterward. Jehu destroyed those whom Hazael did not, as king Joram himself, and Ahaziah, and all the near relations of Ahab.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 17. Shall Elisha slay.] We do not find…
Verse 17. Shall Elisha slay.] We do not find that Elisha either used the sword, or commissioned it to be used, though he delivered solemn prophecies against this disobedient people: and this is probably the sense in which this should be understood, as Elisha was prophet before Hazael was king, and Hazael was king before Jehu; and the heavy famine which he brought on the land took place before the reign either of Jehu or Hazael. The meaning of the prophecy may be this: Hazael, Jehu, and Elisha, shall be the ministers of my vengeance against this disobedient and rebellious people. The order of time, here, is not to be regarded.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain 1Ki 19:17. Him that escapeth the sword of Hazael…
1Ki 19:17. Him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay — This is not to be understood, as if the sword of Hazael should do execution before the sword of Jehu, and the sword of Jehu before that of Elisha: it only signifies, that God had appointed these three persons to punish the apostate Israelites for their idolatries, and that one or other of them should infallibly execute his judgments upon them: Hazael, however, began to slay them before Jehu was king, 2Ki 8:28-29; though his cruelty was much increased afterward. Jehu destroyed those, whom Hazael did not, as King Joram himself, and Ahaziah, and all the near relations of Ahab. Elisha is said to slay them, either because he brought down, by his prayers, destruction upon the forty-two children of Beth-el, that idolatrous city, 2Ki 2:24; or because by God’s appointment he inflicted the famine, 2Ki 8:1; or rather, as the prophets are said to pull down and destroy, what they foretel and declare shall be pulled down, because he threatened and predicted destructive judgments to come upon them. He slew them with the sword that came out of his month, the word of God: like the Branch from the stem of Jesse, he smote them with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he slew the wicked, Isa 11:4.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Compare the marginal references.
Compare the marginal references.
Shall Elisha slay - i. e., With a spiritual slaying by the “word of the Lord,” which is “sharper than any two-edged sword,” and may be said to slay those whose doom it pronounces (compare the marginal reference; Jer 1:10). Elisha does not seem, like Elijah, to have executed God’s judgments on the guilty.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Shall be slain by Eliseus. Eliseus did not kill…
Shall be slain by Eliseus. Eliseus did not kill any of the idolaters with the material sword; but he is here joined with Hazael and Jehu, the great instruments of God in punishing the idolatry of Israel, because he foretold to the former his exaltation to the kingdom of Syria, and the vengeance he would execute against Israel, and anointed the latter by one of his disciples to be king of Israel, with commission to extirpate the house of Achab. (Challoner) --- They left nothing imperfect in the vengeance, 4 Kings viii., and ix. Eliseus sent bears to destroy forty-two children of Bethel; (4 Kings ii. 23.; Calmet) and Abulensis (q. 23.) thinks that he might put many false prophets to death, as the Scripture does not mention every thing, (Menochius) and as Elias had done himself. (Haydock) --- Eliseus may also be the name of some general. (Du Hamel)
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).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 17. Hazael… Jehu… Elisha — These are to be…
17. Hazael… Jehu… Elisha — These are to be the ministers of Divine vengeance against the house of Ahab — the swords of a Jew and a Gentile king, and the word of Elijah’s successor. Around these three names cluster the destinies of Israel for a whole generation, and hence their significance in this revelation to Elijah.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 17. shall Elisha slay] Here we come upon evidence…
17. shall Elisha slay] Here we come upon evidence that the language of these verses (15–18) is not to be pressed into a literal interpretation. In the second book of Kings the compiler gives us all that he thought needful of the life of Elisha, and there is nothing in it which accords with a literal acceptance of this verse. We read of none that were slain by the hand of Elijah’s successor. But his voice and his labours for the overthrow of false worship, and for making known, both to Israel and to the nations round about, that there was ‘no God in all the earth but in Israel’ (2Ki_6:15) were constant, and by this ‘sword of his mouth’ he overthrew the foes of Jehovah. In this sense he fulfilled the declaration in the text, his work coming in and being effectual in places and ways where Hazael and Jehu wrought no deliverance.
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.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (17) Him that escapeth the sword of Hazael.—The vengeance…
(17) Him that escapeth the sword of Hazael.—The vengeance wrought by Hazael and Jehu on the faithlessness of Israel speaks for itself; it is marked in bloody letters on the history (2 Kings 10). But Elisha’s mission was obviously not one of such vengeance. He had to destroy enmity, but not to slay the enemies of God. The difficulty, such as it is, is one of the many marks of historic accuracy in the whole passage. Probably Elisha’s mission is here described in the terms in which Elijah would best understand it. His spirit was for war; he could hardly have conceived how the completion of his mission was to be wrought out by the weapons of peace in the hand of his successor. (Comp. 2Co_10:3-6.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain And it Shall come to pass, that him that…
And it Shall come to pass, that him that escapeth the sword of Hazael (See 2Ki_8:12, 28 10:32 13:3, 22) shall Jehu 2Ki_9:24-33 2Ki_9:10. passim: (Cf. Isa_66:16) and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay. Elijah might reasonably interpret the commission to "anoint" Hazael, etc., as a figure, seeing there is an undoubted figure of speech here. Elisha was a man of peace. His sword was the "sword of the Spirit, the word of God." It was by "the breath of his lips he slew the wicked" (Isa_2:4; 2Th_2:8; Hos_6:5) Not only are vers. 16, 17 an interpretation, in some sort, of the vision, but they are an answer to Elijah"s complaint (vers. 10, 14). The "children of Israel" who had forsaken the covenant should be punished by Hazael (cf. 2Ki_8:12, "I know what thou wilt do unto the children of Israel"; the king and queen who had thrown down the altars and slain the prophets should be slain, one by the sword of Syria, the other at the command of Jehu; while to his allegation that the prophets were extinct and he was left alone is opposed the ordination of a successor, and the mention of the "seven thousand" in ver. 18.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 It will happen
It will happen
This phrase is used to introduce what will happen when Elijah does what Yahweh has told him to do. "What will happen is"
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whoever escapes from the sword of Hazael
"Sword" is metonymy for for killing as in battle. AT: "whomever Hazael does not kill with the sword" (See: Metonymy)
I will leave for myself
Here the words "I" and "myself" refer to Yahweh. AT: "I will save from death" (See: Reflexive Pronouns)
seven thousand people
"7,000 people" (See: Numbers)
whose knees have not bent down to Baal, and whose mouths have not kissed him
"Bending down" and "kissing" are metonymies for actions people did to worship idols. They are combined for emphasis. AT: "who have not bowed down and kissed Baal" or "who have not worshiped Baal" (See: Metonymy and Parallelism)
translationWords
sword
kingdom of Israel
Baal
kiss
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.