(And the LORD gave Israel a saviour, so that they went out from under the hand of the Syrians: and the children of Israel dwelt in their tents, as beforetime.

2 KINGS 13:5KJV
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2 Kings 13:5 (KJV)

What does 2 Kings 13:5 mean?

2 Kings 13:5 describes a change in Israel’s fortunes: the LORD provided someone to deliver the people from Syrian control. The result was a return to settled life, like the one Israel had known before the oppression.

The verse answers the appeal made by King Jehoahaz in the preceding verse. “Under the hand of the Syrians” pictures a people subject to another nation’s power. The mention of living in tents recalls ordinary life at home, rather than life under that control.

The Hebrew behind 2 Kings 13:5

  • “saviour” — מוֹשִׁיעַ (moshiaʿ): This word means a deliverer or rescuer. In this setting, it describes someone who brings a people out from an enemy’s power.
  • “hand” — יָד (yad): The word can mean a physical hand, but it can also picture power or control. Here the Syrians’ “hand” represents their hold over Israel.

Why 2 Kings 13:5 matters

  • The rescue follows a request for help. In verse 4, Jehoahaz seeks the LORD because of the oppression; verse 5 presents the deliverance as the LORD’s response.
  • The deliverer’s identity is a question readers often ask. Verse 5 calls this person “a saviour” without giving a name, so the statement itself does not identify who carried out the rescue.
  • Relief from Syria did not mean that every problem in Israel had ended. Verse 6 says the people continued in the sins associated with the house of Jeroboam, even after the deliverance.

Where else these words appear

“beforetime” Hebrew H8543 · used in 22 verses

  • Genesis 31:2 And Jacob beheld the countenance of Laban, and, behold, it was not toward him as before.
  • Exodus 21:36 Or if it be known that the ox hath used to push in time past, and his owner hath not kept him in; he shall surely pay ox for ox; and the dead shall be his own.
  • Ruth 2:11 And Boaz answered and said unto her, It hath fully been shewed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother in law since the death of thine husband: and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore.

“beforetime” Hebrew H8032 · used in 25 verses

  • Genesis 31:2 And Jacob beheld the countenance of Laban, and, behold, it was not toward him as before.
  • Deuteronomy 4:42 That the slayer might flee thither, which should kill his neighbour unawares, and hated him not in times past; and that fleeing unto one of these cities he might live:
  • 1 Samuel 10:11 And it came to pass, when all that knew him beforetime saw that, behold, he prophesied among the prophets, then the people said one to another, What is this that is come unto the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?

“Syrians” Hebrew H758 · used in 117 verses

  • Genesis 10:22 The children of Shem; Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram.
  • 1 Kings 22:35 And the battle increased that day: and the king was stayed up in his chariot against the Syrians, and died at even: and the blood ran out of the wound into the midst of the chariot.
  • 1 Chronicles 2:23 And he took Geshur, and Aram, with the towns of Jair, from them, with Kenath, and the towns thereof, even threescore cities. All these belonged to the sons of Machir the father of Gilead.