2 Kings 8:10

“And Elisha said unto him, go, say unto him, thou mayest certainly recover, etc.] That is, of the disease; and there was not only a probability that he might recover of it, it not being a mortal one, but a certainty that he should not die of it, as he did not, but die a violent death, which the prophet predicts in the next clause; though some take these words not as a command, what he should say, but as a prediction of what he would say; that he would go and tell him he should certainly recover, because he would not discourage him, though the prophet assures him in the next clause that he should die: there is a various reading of these words; we follow the marginal reading, but the textual…”

“Go, say . . . Thou mayest certainly recover--There was no contradiction in this message. This part was properly the answer to Ben-hadad's inquiry [Kg2 8:9]. The second part was intended for Hazael, who, like an artful and ambitious courtier, reported only as much of the prophet's statement as suited his own views (compare Kg2 8:14).”

“Translate - “Go, say unto him, Thou shalt certainly live: howbeit the Lord hath showed me that he shall certainly die.” i. e.,” Say to him, what thou hast already determined to say, what a courtier is sure to say (compare 1 Kings 22:15), but know that the fact will be otherwise.” return to 'Top of Page'”

“Howbeit - Here is no contradiction: for the first words contain an answer to Benhadad's question, shall I recover? To which the answer is, thou mayest, notwithstanding thy disease, which is not mortal. The latter words contain the prophet's addition to that answer, which is, that he should die, not by the power of his disease, but by some other cause. 4 Kings (2 Kings) 8:11”

“8:10 Elisha instructed Hazael to tell the king that he would surely recover because his illness was not life-threatening. Yet Elisha knew that Ben-hadad would surely die.”

“Thou mayest: Kg1 22:15 the Lord: Kg2 8:13; Gen 41:39; Jer 38:21; Eze 11:25; Amo 3:7, Amo 7:1, Amo 7:4, Amo 7:7, Amo 8:1; Zac 1:20; Rev 22:1 he shall surely die: Kg2 8:15, Kg2 1:4, Kg2 1:16; Gen 2:17; Eze 18:13 4 Kings (2 Kings) 8:11”

“According to the Chethb חיה לא, Elisha's answer was, "Thou wilt not live, and (for) Jehovah has shown me that he will die;" according to the Keri חיה לו, "tell him: Thou wilt live, but Jehovah," etc. Most of the commentators follow the ancient versions, and the Masoretes, who reckon our לא among the fifteen passages of the O.T. in which it stands for the pronoun לו (vid., Hilleri Arcan. Keri, p. 62f.), and some of the codices, and decide in favour of the Keri. (1) because the conjecture that לו was altered into לא in order that Elisha might not be made to utter an untruth, is a very natural one; and (2) on account of the extreme rarity with which a negative stands before the inf. abs. with…”