(Therefore the LORD gave Israel a savior, so that they escaped from the hand of the Syrians, and the people of Israel lived in their homes as formerly.
This general account of the reign of Jehoahaz, and of the state of Israel during his seventeen years, though short, is long enough to let us see two things which are very affecting and instructive: - I. The glory of Israel raked up in the ashes, buried and lost, and turned into shame. How unlike does Israel appear here to what it had been and might have been!
Commenting on 2 Kings 13:1-9
And the Lord gave Israel a saviour,.... Not an angel sent by him, nor a captain raised up among them, nor the prophet Elisha, who predicted their deliverance, nor Jehoahaz himself, but his son Joash, Kg2 13:25. so that they went out from under the hand of the Syrians; were not in subjection to them, nor harassed by them, nor in fear of them: and...
a saviour--This refers neither to some patriotic defender nor some signal victory, but to the deliverance obtained for Israel by the two successors of Jehoahaz, namely, Joash, who regained all the cities which the Syrians had taken from his father (Kg2 13:25); and Jeroboam, who restored the former boundaries of Israel (Kg2 14:25).