2 Kings 8:6

And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed unto her a certain officer, saying, Restore all that was hers, and all the fruits of the field since the day that she left the land, even until now.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(6) Told.—Related to him, i.e., the story. So in 2Kings 8:4-5.

Officer.—Literally, eunuch (sārîs). (Comp. Note on Genesis 37:36; 1Chronicles 28:1.)

Fruits.—Literally, revenues, produce in kind, which must have been paid out of the royal stores. This seems to imply that her land had been annexed to the royal domains.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

8:1-6 The kindness of the good Shunammite to Elisha, was rewarded by the care taken of her in famine. It is well to foresee an evil, and wisdom, when we foresee it, to hide ourselves if we lawfully may do so. When the famine was over, she returned out of the land of the Philistines; that was no proper place for an Israelite, any longer than there was necessity for it. Time was when she dwelt so securely among her own people, that she had no occasion to be spoken for to the king; but there is much uncertainty in this life, so that things or persons may fail us which we most depend upon, and those befriend us which we think we shall never need. Sometimes events, small in themselves, prove of consequence, as here; for they made the king ready to believe Gehazi's narrative, when thus confirmed. It made him ready to grant her request, and to support a life which was given once and again by miracle.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

A certain officer - literally, "a certain eunuch" (margin). Eunuchs were now in common use at the Samaritan court (compare 2 Kings 9:32). They are ascribed to the court of David in Chronicles 1 Chronicles 28:1; and we may conjecture that they were maintained by Solomon. But otherwise we do not find them in the kingdom of Judah until the time of Hezekiah Isaiah 56:3-4.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

4-6. the king talked with Gehazi—Ceremonial pollution being conveyed by contact alone, there was nothing to prevent a conference being held with this leper at a distance; and although he was excluded from the town of Samaria, this reported conversation may have taken place at the gate or in one of the royal gardens. The providence of God so ordained that King Jehoram had been led to inquire, with great interest, into the miraculous deeds of Elisha, and that the prophet's servant was in the act of relating the marvellous incident of the restoration of the Shunammite's son when she made her appearance to prefer her request. The king was pleased to grant it; and a state officer was charged to afford her every facility in the recovery of her family possession out of the hands of the occupier.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

The king asked the woman concerning the truth of Gehazi’s relation.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And when the king asked the woman, she told him,.... The whole affair; how that she had a son according to the word of Elisha, when she had been barren, and her husband old; that this child was struck with sickness, and died; and that the prophet, through his prayers, restored it to life:

so the king appointed unto her a certain officer; the word signifies an "eunuch": him he ordered to attend upon her, and assist her, and see to it that she was put into the possession of her house and land:

saying, restore all that was her's, and all the fruits of the field, since the day that she left the land, even till now; not only her house and land, but all the rent, profits, and dues arising from thence during the time of her absence: the Jews except the rent of her house.

Geneva Study Bible

And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed unto her a certain officer, saying, Restore all that was hers, and all the {d} fruits of the field since the day that she left the land, even until now.

(d) The king caused that to be justly restored which was wrongfully withheld from her.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

6. she told him] i.e. confirmed the narrative which Gehazi had given, and at the same time took advantage of the king’s interest in Elisha, to press her plea for the restitution of her land.

Restore all that was hers] It would seem from this as if the king himself had been put in possession of the land. Hence he could order all the seven years, produce to be given back to her either in kind or in money from the royal stores.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 6. - And when the king asked the woman, she told him; rather, and the king made inquiry of the woman, and she answered him. The extent of the inquiries is not indicated. They may have included questions concerning the miracle, as well as questions concerning the woman's claim to the land and house, and the evidence which she could produce of proprietorship. So the king appointed unto her a certain officer - literally, a certain eunuch, or chamberlain - an officer of the court, who was in his confidence, and would give effect to his directions saying, Restore all that was hers, and all the fruits of the field since the day that she left the land, even until now. The order was, that not only was the Shunammite to receive back her house and estate, but that she was also to have "the mesne profits" i.e. the full value of all that the land had produced beyond the expense of cultivation during the seven yearn of her absence. English law lays down the same rule in cases of unlawful possession for which there is no valid excuse. 2 Kings 8:6

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

While he was relating this, the woman herself came into invoke the help of the king to recover her property, and was pointed out to the king by Gehazi as the very woman of whom he was speaking, which caused the king to be so interested in her favour, that after hearing her complaint he sent a chamberlain with her (saris as in 1 Kings 22:9), with instructions to procure for her not only the whole of her property, but the produce of the land during her absence. - For עזבה without mappiq, see Ewald, 247, d.