II Kings 13, Jehoahaz and Jehoash in Israel

Joash has been assassinated in Jerusalem and his son, Amaziah has become king.  Meanwhile, the son of Jehu is king in the northern kingdom (Samaria/Israel.)

2 Kings 13: 1-6, Jehoahaz king in Israel

In the twenty-third year of Joash son of Ahaziah king of Judah, Jehoahaz son of Jehu became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned seventeen years. He did evil in the eyes of the LORD by following the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit, and he did not turn away from them.

So the LORD's anger burned against Israel, and for a long time he kept them under the power of Hazael king of Aram and Ben-Hadad his son. Then Jehoahaz sought the LORD's favor, and the LORD listened to him, for he saw how severely the king of Aram was oppressing Israel. The LORD provided a deliverer for Israel, and they escaped from the power of Aram. 

So the Israelites lived in their own homes as they had before. But they did not turn away from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, which he had caused Israel to commit; they continued in them. Also, the Asherah pole remained standing in Samaria.

Jehoahaz starts out as an evil king, allowing idols, and YHWH allows Hazael and Hazael's son, another Ben-Hadad, to oppress Israel.  But when Jehoahaz repents, the people are freed from the oppression of Aram/Damascus.

History suggests Jehoahaz reigned from about 819 BC to about 804 BC. The people of Aram/Syria oppressed Israel until about 806 BC, when Assyria began to move into the region and threaten Aram. Assyria will eventually dominate the region.

2 Kings 13: 7-9, Fifty horsemen and ten thousand soldiers

Nothing had been left of the army of Jehoahaz except fifty horsemen, ten chariots and ten thousand foot soldiers, for the king of Aram had destroyed the rest and made them like the dust at threshing time.

As for the other events of the reign of Jehoahaz, all he did and his achievements, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? Jehoahaz rested with his fathers and was buried in Samaria. And Jehoash his son succeeded him as king.

The power and dominion of Israel have been steadily shrinking.

2 Kings 13: 10-13, Jehoash king in Israel

In the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah, Jehoash son of Jehoahaz became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned sixteen years. He did evil in the eyes of the LORD and did not turn away from any of the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit; he continued in them.

As for the other events of the reign of Jehoash, all he did and his achievements, including his war against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel Jehoash rested with his fathers, and Jeroboam succeeded him on the throne. Jehoash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.
 

The next king in Israel is Jehoash, who at one point is at war with Amaziah of Judah. We have a brief summary of Jehoash's reign, including his death, but will then go on to read more about him in the next two chapters. 

Jehoash becomes king "in the thirty-seventh year" of Joash and reigns "sixteen years."  The dates of the kings of the southern and northern kingdoms are given in terms of the opposing kingdom, allowing some basic approximation of dates of ascension. Hubbard says that there are issues with these dates and the lengths of the reigns of kings of Israel and Judah. 

The book of 2 Kings records the ascension of one king in terms of the year of rule of the king of the other kingdom. This allows one to count years across both kingdoms and compare dates. Hubbard says discrepancies occur due to several phenomena: in some reigns, the fractional year at the beginning of the reign was counted as Year 1 when at other times it was Year 0. Also there were coregencies, so that the son's reign began while the father was still on the throne. Eventually, under the influence of Assyria, there was also a change in the date of the New Year. Although this is all mathematics, I've not been inclined to trace these figures down.

2 Kings 13: 14-19, Elisha's last prophecy

Now Elisha was suffering from the illness from which he died. Jehoash king of Israel went down to see him and wept over him. "My father! My father!" he cried. "The chariots and horsemen of Israel!"

Elisha said, "Get a bow and some arrows," and he did so.

"Take the bow in your hands," he said to the king of Israel. When he had taken it, Elisha put his hands on the king's hands.

"Open the east window," he said, and he opened it. "Shoot!" Elisha said, and he shot. 

"The LORD's arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Aram!" Elisha declared. "You will completely destroy the Arameans at Aphek."

Then he said, "Take the arrows," and the king took them. 

Elisha told him, "Strike the ground." He struck it three times and stopped. The man of God was angry with him and said, "You should have struck the ground five or six times; then you would have defeated Aram and completely destroyed it. But now you will defeat it only three times."
 

It has been a while since we have heard of Elisha. He has lived through a number of Israeli kings. As he is dying Jehoash visits him.  Elisha makes a final prophecy, telling the king that he will destroy the Arameans in a battle at Aphek but will only partially defeat Aram, defeating them only three times.

Hubbard says that Aphek is probably modern al-Fiq, in the Golan Heights.

2 Kings 13: 20-22a, One last miracle

Elisha died and was buried. 

Now Moabite raiders used to enter the country every spring. Once while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders; so they threw the man's body into Elisha's tomb. When the body touched Elisha's bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet.

Even in death, Elisha provides a miracle.

2 Kings 13: 22b-25, Recovering land from Aram

Hazael king of Aram oppressed Israel throughout the reign of Jehoahaz. But the LORD was gracious to them and had compassion and showed concern for them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. To this day he has been unwilling to destroy them or banish them from his presence.

Hazael king of Aram died, and Ben-Hadad his son succeeded him as king. Then Jehoash son of Jehoahaz recaptured from Ben-Hadad son of Hazael the towns he had taken in battle from his father Jehoahaz. Three times Jehoash defeated him, and so he recovered the Israelite towns.

YHWH continues to love and protect Israel.  Jehoash, in battle with Ben-Hadad, son of Hazael, wins back the Israelite towns in three victories, as predicted by Elisha.