This generation is that of the years between 810 BC and 790 BC.

• About [1] this time
  • The story has just quoted [2] beforehand an event happening in the twenty-third year of the reign of Joash, king of the kingdom of Judah
• Hazael king of Aram went up and attacked Gath and captured it. Then he turned to attack Jerusalem.
• But Joash king of Judah took all the sacred objects dedicated by his predecessors—Jehoshaphat, Jehoram and Ahaziah, the kings of Judah—and the gifts he himself had dedicated and all the gold found in the treasuries of the temple of the Lord and of the royal palace, and he sent them to Hazael king of Aram, who then withdrew from Jerusalem.

• In [3] 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.
  • It should be remembered, however, that because of Jehu’s good attitude, God had pledged to him to maintain his descent to the throne of the kingdom of Israel for four generations. Joachaz is the first generation bound to this promise.
• 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.

(extract of the psalm 7 associated to this generation, verses 1 to 11 )

• A shiggayon of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning Cush the Benjamite.
• O Lord, my God, I have taken refuge in You; save me from all my pursuers and deliver me.
• Lest he tear my soul like a lion, rending it to pieces with no one to save [me].
• O Lord, my God, if I have done this, if there is any injustice in my hands;
• if I repaid the one who did evil to me, and I stripped my adversary into emptiness,
• may the enemy pursue my soul and overtake [me] and trample my life to the ground, and cause my soul to rest in the dust forever.
• Arise, O Lord, with Your wrath; exalt Yourself with anger upon my adversaries, and awaken for me the judgment that You commanded.
• And [if] a congregation of kingdoms surrounds You, return on high over them.
• May the Lord judge the peoples; judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness and according to my innocence, which is upon me.
• May evil destroy the wicked, and may You establish the righteous, for the righteous God tests the hearts and the reins.
• My shield is upon God, Who saves the upright in heart.

Besides, Jehoahaz will also turn to the Lord to obtain his clemency:

• Then [5] 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.

• Now [6] Elisha had been 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.”

(extract of the psalm 7 associated to this generation, verses 12 to 18 )

• God is a righteous judge, and God is incensed every day.
• If he does not repent, He will whet His sword; He has trodden His bow and made it ready.
• And He has prepared deadly weapons for him; He will make arrows for pursuers.
• Behold, he travails with iniquity; he conceives mischief, and gives birth to lies.
• He dug a pit and deepened it, and he fell into the pit that he made.
• His mischief will return upon his head, and his violence will descend upon his crown.
• I will thank the Lord according to His righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.

[1] Melachim II – II Kings – Chapter 12, verses 17 and 18

[2] See: Melachim II – II Kings – Chapter 12, verse 7

[3] Melachim II – II Kings – Chapter 13, verses 1 to 3

[4] See: Melachim II – II Kings – Chapter 10, verse 30

[5] Melachim II – II Kings – Chapter 13, verses 4 and 5

[6] Melachim II – II Kings – Chapter 13, verses 14 to 19