2nd Kings Chapter 13 verse 4 Holy Bible
And Jehoahaz besought Jehovah, and Jehovah hearkened unto him; for he saw the oppression of Israel, how that the king of Syria oppressed them.
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Then Jehoahaz made prayer to the Lord, and the Lord gave ear to him, for he saw how cruelly Israel was crushed by the king of Aram.
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(And Jehoahaz besought Jehovah, and Jehovah hearkened to him; for he saw the oppression of Israel, because the king of Syria oppressed them.
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And Jehoahaz besought the LORD, and the LORD hearkened unto him: for he saw the oppression of Israel, because the king of Syria oppressed them.
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And Jehoahaz besought the LORD, and the LORD hearkened to him: for he saw the oppression of Israel, because the king of Syria oppressed them.
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Jehoahaz begged Yahweh, and Yahweh listened to him; for he saw the oppression of Israel, how that the king of Syria oppressed them.
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And Jehoahaz appeaseth the face of Jehovah, and Jehovah hearkeneth unto him, for He hath seen the oppression of Israel, for oppressed them hath the king of Aram, --
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Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 4. - And Jehoahaz besought the Lord; literally, besought the face of the Lord (comp. 1 Kings 13:6, and the comment ad loc.). Jehoahaz, as Josephus says, "betook him-serf to prayer and supplication of God, entreating that he would deliver him out of the hands of Hazael, and not suffer him to continue subject" ('Ant. Jud.,' 9:8. ยง 5). He did not turn from his sin of idolatry, perhaps did not suspect that it was this sin which had provoked God's anger; but in a general way he repented, humbled himself, and besought God's mercy and assistance. And the Lord hearkened unto him. God accepted his repentance, all imperfect as it was, so far as to save the people from the entire destruction with which it was threatened by the severe measures of Hazael (ver. 7), to continue the national existence (ver. 23), and ultimately to restore the national prosperity (ver. 25 and 2 Kings 14:25-27). But he did not remove the oppression, as Josephus imagines, in Jehoahaz's time. Ver. 22 makes this fact absolutely certain. For he saw the oppression of Israel, because the King of Syria oppressed them. Oppression is always hateful to God, even when he is using it as his instrument for chastising or punishing a guilty people. He "sees" it, notes it, lays it up in his remembrance for future retribution (camp. Exodus 3:7; Isaiah 10:5-12, etc.). (On the nature and extent of the oppression of this period, see ver. 7, and the comment ad loc.)
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(4) Besought.--Literally, stroked the face of; a metaphor which occurs in Exodus 32:11; 1Kings 13:6).And the Lord hearkened unto him.--Not, however, immediately. (See 2Kings 13:7.) The Syrian invasions, which began under Jehu, were renewed again and again throughout the reign of Jehoahaz (2Kings 13:22), until the tide of conquest began to turn in the time of Joash (2Kings 13:15), whose incomplete victories (2Kings 13:17; 2Kings 13:19; 2Kings 13:25) were followed up by the permanent successes of his son Jeroboam II. (2Kings 14:25-28). . . .
