What Does 2 Kings 8:29 Mean?

(29) **Joram went back.**—With a few personal attendants. He left the army at Ramoth (2Kings 9:14) under the command of the generals, and perhaps of Ahaziah. **In Jezreel.**—The seat of the court at this time. (Comp. 2Kings 10:11; 2Kings 10:13.) To reach *Samaria,* moreover, Joram would have had to cross a mountainous country, while he could be carried to Jezreel by an easier route through the valley of the Jordan. **Which the Syrians had gıven.**—The verb is imperfect. Ewald suggests that the Hebrew letters may indicate a dialectic pronunciation of the perfect. It is more likely that the imperfect is here used in the sense of repetition, implying that Joram was wounded on more than one occasion. **Ramah.**—Height. The same as Ramoth, heights. **And Ahaziah . . . went down.**—Or, *now Ahaziah had gone down—scil*., when the following events happened. The Hebrew construction indicates the beginning of a new paragraph. The division of chapters is again at fault, there being no real break in the narrative between this verse and what follows in chapter 9. Ahaziah went down either from Ramoth or from Jerusalem; probably from the former, as no mention is made of his having left the seat of war and returned to Jerusalem. **Because he was sick.**—The same verb as in 2Kings 1:2. The margin here is wrong. Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission. Bible Hub