The sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “See now, the place where we live and meet with you is too small for us. Please let us go to the Jordan, and each man take a beam from there, and let’s make us a place there, where we may live.” He answered, “Go!”
One said, “Please be pleased to go with your servants.” He answered, “I will go.”
So he went with them. When they came to the Jordan, they cut down wood. But as one was cutting down a tree, the ax head fell into the water. Then he cried, and said, “Alas, my master! For it was borrowed.”
The man of God asked, “Where did it fall?” He showed him the place. He cut down a stick, threw it in there, and made the iron float. He said, “Take it.” So he put out his hand and took it.
Now the king of Syria was at war against Israel; and he took counsel with his servants, saying, “My camp will be in such and such a place.”
The man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying, “Beware that you not pass this place; for the Syrians are coming down there.” The king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of; and he saved himself there, not once or twice. The king of Syria’s heart was very troubled about this. He called his servants, and said to them, “Won’t you show me which of us is for the king of Israel?”
One of his servants said, “No, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.”
He said, “Go and see where he is, that I may send and get him.” He was told, “Behold, he is in Dothan.”
Therefore he sent horses, chariots, and a great army there. They came by night, and surrounded the city. When the servant of the man of God had risen early, and gone out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was around the city. His servant said to him, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?”
He answered, “Don’t be afraid; for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Elisha prayed, and said, “Yahweh, please open his eyes, that he may see.” Yahweh opened the young man’s eyes; and he saw: and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire around Elisha. When they came down to him, Elisha prayed to Yahweh, and said, “Please strike this people with blindness.” He struck them with blindness according to Elishah’s word.
Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, neither is this the city. Follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek.” He led them to Samaria. When they had come into Samaria, Elisha said, “Yahweh, open these men’s eyes, that they may see.” Yahweh opened their eyes, and they saw; and behold, they were in the middle of Samaria.
The king of Israel said to Elisha, when he saw them, “My father, shall I strike them? Shall I strike them?”
He answered, “You shall not strike them. Would you strike those whom you have taken captive with your sword and with your bow? Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master.”
He prepared a great feast for them. When they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. So the bands of Syria stopped raiding the land of Israel.
After this, Benhadad king of Syria gathered all his army, and went up and besieged Samaria. There was a great famine in Samaria. Behold, they besieged it, until a donkey’s head was sold for eighty pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a kab of dove’s dung for five pieces of silver. As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried to him, saying, “Help, my lord, O king!”
He said, “If Yahweh doesn’t help you, where could I get help for you? From of the threshing floor, or from the wine press?” The king said to her, “What is your problem?” She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’
So we boiled my son, and ate him: and I said to her on the next day, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him;’ and she has hidden her son.”
When the king heard the words of the woman, he tore his clothes. Now he was passing by on the wall, and the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth underneath on his body. Then he said, “God do so to me, and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat stays on him today.”
But Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. Then the king sent a man from before him; but before the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, “Do you see how this son of a murderer has sent to take away my head? Behold, when the messenger comes, shut the door, and hold the door shut against him. Isn’t the sound of his master’s feet behind him?”
While he was still talking with them, behold, the messenger came down to him. Then he said, “Behold, this evil is from Yahweh. Why should I wait for Yahweh any longer?”
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv2, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 30, 32, 33 Or a piece of wood fit to build with.
Or a piece of wood fit to build with.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv1–33 2Ki 6:1 And the sons of the prophets said…
2Ki 6:1 And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us.
Ver. 1. The place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us.] Our college is so crowded, that unless some course be taken, some of us shall be necessitated to lie out of doors; as bees hang out of the hive’s mouth on heaps, through lack of room within. This access to the number of the young prophets was in the days of idolatrous Jehoram. Plures efficimur quoties metimur, {a} said the old Christians. The Church, like the palm tree, the more it is pressed with weight, the more it fructifieth: like the camomile plant, it flourisheth when most trodden: like the lily, it groweth by its own tears, as Pliny hath it. Fish thrive better in cold and salt waters, than in warm and fresh: the ground is most fruitful that is most harrowed: the walnut tree beareth best when most beaten, &c. Elisha’s fame might draw more resort to him, and, as the Hebrews say, Gehazi’s removal, who grumbled that the young prophets should partake of the provision brought in by good people to his master Elisha, in those hard times.
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{a} Tertullian.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 5, 8, 10, 13, 15, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 The sons of the prophets; either at Beth-el, or…
The sons of the prophets; either at Beth-el, or Jericho or rather, at Gilgal; as may seem from its nearness to the river of Jordan, 2Ki 6:2. With thee, or, before thy face, i.e. under thy inspection and direction; where thou dost frequently dwell with us. Or, to thy face; which may be joined with the following words; and so the sense may be this, It is apparent to thy view that this place is too strait for us. Is too strait for us; the number of the prophets increasing by the gracious providence of God, and by the ministry and miracles of Elijah and Elisha.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On vv1, 8, 13, 24 Several things may be observed here,
Several things may be observed here,
I. Concerning the sons of the prophets, and their condition and character. The college here spoken of seems to be that at Gilgal, for there Elisha was (Kg2 4:38), and it was near Jordan; and, probably, wherever Elisha resided as many as could of the sons of the prophets flocked to him for the advantage of his instructions, counsels, and prayers. Every one would covet to dwell with him and be near him. Those that would be teachers should lay out themselves to get the best advantages for learning. Now observe,
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1. Their number increased so that they wanted room: The place is too strait for us (Kg2 6:1) - a good hearing, for it is a sign many are added to them. Elisha's miracles doubtless drew in many. Perhaps they increased the more now that Gehazi was cashiered, and, it is likely, an honester man put in his room, to take care of their provisions; for it should seem (by that instance, Kg2 4:43) that Naaman's case was not the only one in which he grudged his master's generosity.
2. They were humble men and did not affect that which was gay or great. When they wanted room they did not speak of sending for cedars, and marble stones, and curious artificers, but only of getting every man a beam, to run up a plain hut or cottage with. It becomes the sons of the prophets, who profess to look for great things in the other world, to be content with mean things in this.
3. They were poor men, and men that had no interest in great ones It was a sign that Joram was king, and Jezebel ruled too, or the sons of the prophets, when they wanted room, would have needed only to apply to the government, not to consult among themselves about the enlargement of their buildings. God's prophets have seldom been the world's favourites. Nay, so poor were they that they had not wherewithal to hire workmen (but must leave their studies, and work for themselves), no, nor to buy tools, but must borrow of their neighbours. Poverty then is no bar to prophecy.
4. They were industrious men, and willing to take pains. They desired not to live, like idle drones (idle monks, I might have said), upon the labours of others, but only desired leave of their president to work for themselves. As the sons of the prophets must not be so taken up with contemplation as to render themselves unfit for action, so much less must they so indulge themselves in their ease as to be averse to labour. He that must eat or die must work or starve, Th2 3:8, Th2 3:10. Let no man think an honest employment either a burden or disparagement.
5. They were men that had a great value and veneration for Elisha; though they were themselves prophets, they paid much deference to him. (1.) They would not go about to build at all without his leave, Kg2 6:2. It is good for us all to be suspicious of our own judgment, even when we think we have most reason for it, and to be desirous of the advice of those who are wiser and more experienced; and it is especially commendable in the sons of the prophets to take their fathers along with them, and to act in all things of moment under their direction, permissu superiorum - by permission of their superiors. (2.) They would not willingly go to fell timber without his company: "Go with thy servants (Kg2 6:3), not only to advise us in any exigence, but to keep good order among us, that, being under they eye, we may behave as becomes us." Good disciples desire to be always under good discipline.
6. They were honest men, and men that were in care to give all men their own. When one of them, accidentally fetching too fierce a stroke (as those that work seldom are apt to be violent), threw off his axe-head into the water, he did not say, "It was a mischance, and who can help it? It was the fault of the helve, and the owner deserved to stand to the loss." No, he cries out with deep concern, Alas, master! For it was borrowed, Kg2 6:5. Had the axe been his own, it would only have troubled him that he could not be further serviceable to his brethren; but now, besides that, it troubles him that he cannot be just to the owner, to whom he ought to be not only just but grateful. Note, We ought to be as careful of that which is borrowed as of that which is our own, that it receives no damage, because we must love our neighbour as ourselves and do as we would be done by. It is likely this prophet was poor, and had not wherewithal to pay for the axe, which made the loss of it so much the greater trouble. To those that have an honest mind the sorest grievance of poverty is not so much their own want or disgrace as their being by it rendered unable to pay their just debts.
II. Concerning the father of the prophets, Elisha. 1. That he was a man of great condescension and compassion; he went with the sons of the prophets to the woods, when they desired his company, Kg2 6:3. Let no man, especially no minister, think himself to great to stoop to do good, but be tender to all. 2. That he was a man of great power; he could make iron to swim, contrary to its nature (Kg2 6:6), for the God of nature is not tied up to its laws. He did not throw the helve after the hatchet, but cut down a new stick, and cast it into the river. We need not double the miracle by supposing that the stick sunk to fetch up the iron, it was enough that it was a signal of the divine summons to the iron to rise. God's grace can thus raise the stony iron heart which has sunk into the mud of this world, and raise up affections naturally earthly, to things above.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv1–31 And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha,....…
And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha,.... Or the disciples of the prophets, as the Targum:
behold now, the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us: their numbers were so increased, that there was not room enough for them in the house they dwelt in with the prophet; which increase was owing, the Jews (z) say, to the departure of Gehazi last mentioned, who was a bad man, and used the disciples so ill, that they could not stay in the college; but, when he was gone, they flocked in great numbers; but rather it was owing to the very instructive ministry and wonderful miracles of Elisha: the place where the prophet and his disciples now dwelt seems to be Gilgal, Kg2 4:38.
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(z) T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 107. 2.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 10, 16, 17, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27, 29, 31, 32, 33 Elisha causes iron to swim, ver. 1-7. Discloses to…
Elisha causes iron to swim, ver. 1-7. Discloses to the king of Israel the secret counsels of the king of Syria, ver. 8-12. Saves himself out of the hands of those who were sent to apprehend him, ver. 13-23. Samaria is besieged by the Syrians, and reduced to extremity, ver. 24-33.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 27, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 The sons of the prophets wish to enlarge their…
CHAPTER VI
The sons of the prophets wish to enlarge their dwelling-place,
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and go to the banks of Jordan to cut down wood, when one of
them drops his axe into the water, which Elisha causes to
swim. 1-7.
Elisha, understanding all the secret designs of the king of
Syria against Israel, informs the king of Israel of them,
8-10.
The king of Syria, finding that Elisha had thus penetrated his
secrets and frustrated his attempts, sends a great host to
Dothan, to take the prophet; the Lord strikes them with
blindness; and Elisha leads the whole host to Samaria, and
delivers them up to the king of Israel, 11-19.
The Lord opens their eyes, and they see their danger, 20.
But the king of Israel is prevented from destroying them; and,
at the order of the prophet, gives them meat and drink, and
dismisses them to their master, 21-23.
Ben-hadad besieges Samaria, and reduces the city to great
distress, of which several instances are given, 24-30.
The king of Israel vows the destruction of Elisha, and sends
to have him beheaded, 31-33.
NOTES ON CHAP. VI
Verse 1. The place - is too strait for us.] Notwithstanding the general profligacy of Israel, the schools of the prophets increased. This was no doubt owing to the influence of Elisha.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv1, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 30, 31, 32, 33 2Ki 6:1-2. The sons of the prophet said to…
2Ki 6:1-2. The sons of the prophet said to Elisha — Probably those that were at Gilgal, for that is the place last mentioned where the prophet was, (chap. 2Ki 4:38,) and was also near to Jordan. Let us go — unto Jordan — To the woods near Jordan; and take thence every man a beam — A piece of timber for the building. Hence it may be gathered, that although the sons of the prophets principally devoted themselves to religious exercises, yet they sometimes employed themselves about manual arts.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 16, 17, 18, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 The writer returns here to the series of miracles…
The writer returns here to the series of miracles which Elisha performed for the benefit of the prophetical schools under his care. The connection, in this point of view, is with 2Ki 4:44.
The place where we dwell with thee - literally, “the place where we sit before thee,” i. e. “the place where we assemble and sit to bear thy teaching.” Elisha visited the sons of the prophets in circuit, staying a short time at each place where a “school” was established. Perhaps he was now visiting Jericho. Compare 2Ki 2:5.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv2, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 22, 23, 25, 27, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Timber. Hebrew and Septuagint, "a beam." Salien supposes that…
Timber. Hebrew and Septuagint, "a beam." Salien supposes that these prophets resided at Galgal. (Menochius)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v8 C.—Elisha’s conduct during the Syrian invasion and the siege…
C.—Elisha’s conduct during the Syrian invasion and the siege of Samaria
2Ki_6:8 to 2Ki_7:20
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8Then the king of Syria warred against [was at war with1] Israel, and took counsel with his servants, saying, In such and such a place shall be my camp. 9And the man of God sent unto the king of Israel, saying, Beware that thou pass not such a place; for thither the Syrians are come down.2 10And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God [had] told him and warned him of, and saved [protected3] himself there, not once nor twice [i.e., a great manytimes]. 11Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled for this thing; and he called his servants, and said unto them, Will ye not show me which of us4 is for the king of Israel? 12And one of his servants said, None, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber.
13And he said, Go and spy where he is, that I may send and fetch him. And it was told him, saying, Behold, he is in Dothan. 14Therefore sent he thither horses, and chariots, and a great host: and they came by night, and compassed the city about. 15And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, a host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master, how shall we do? 16And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. 17And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. 18And when they came down to him, [i.e., the Syrian, for, the Syrian army—Bähr] Elisha prayed unto the Lord, and said, Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness. And he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.
19And Elisha said unto them, This is not the way, neither is this the city: follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom ye seek. But [And] he led them to Samaria. 20And it came to pass, when they were come into Samaria, that Elisha said, Lord, open the eyes of these men, that they may see. And the Lord opened their eyes, and they saw; and behold, they were in the midst of Samaria. 21And the king of Israel said unto Elisha, when he saw them, My father, shall I smite them? shall I smite them? 22And he answered, Thou shalt not smite them: wouldst thou smite [if thou shouldst do that, wouldst thou be smiting] those whom thou hast taken captive with thy sword and with thy bow? set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master. 23And he prepared great provision for them: and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. So the [marauding] bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel.
24And it came to pass after this, that Ben-hadad king of Syria gathered all his host, and went up, and besieged Samaria. 25And there was a great famine in Samaria: and, behold, they besieged it, until an ass’s head was sold for [worth] fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cab of dove’s dung 26[was worth—omit for] for five pieces of silver. And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman unto him, saying, Help, my lord, O king. 27And he said, If the Lord do not help thee, whence shall I help thee? out of the barnfloor, or out of the winepress? 28And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, This woman said unto me, Give thy son, that we may eat him to-day, and we will eat my son to-morrow. 29So we boiled my son and did eat him: and I said unto her on the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him: and she hath hid her son.
30And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he rent his clothes; and he passed by upon the wall, and the people looked, and, behold, he had sackcloth within upon his flesh. 31Then he said, God do so and more also to me, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stand on him this day. (32But Elisha sat [was sitting] in his house, and the elders sat [were sitting] with him; [.]) And the king sent a man from before him: but ere the messenger came to him, he [Elisha] said to the elders, See ye how this son of a murderer hath sent to take away mine head? look, when the messenger cometh, shut the door, and hold him fast at [hold him back by means of] the door: is not the sound of his master’s feet behind him? 33And while he yet talked with them, behold, the messenger came down unto him: and he said, Behold, this evil is of the Lord; what should I wait for the Lord any longer [what hope shall I still place in the Lord]?
Chap. 7. 1Then Elisha said, Hear ye the word of the Lord; Thus saith the Lord, To-morrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for [be worth] a shekel, and two measures of barley for [be worth] a shekel, in the gate of Samaria. 2Then a lord [an officer, or adjutant] on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, Behold, if the Lord would make windows in heaven might this thing be? [Verily! Jehovah is going to make windows in heaven! even then could this come to pass?] And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.
3And there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate: and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die? 4If we say, We will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there: and if we sit still here we die also. Now therefore come, and let us fall [away] unto the host of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die. 5And they rose up in the twilight, to go unto the camp of the Syrians: and when they were come to the uttermost part [outskirts, viz., those nearest the city] of the camp of Syria, behold, there was no man there. 6For the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host: and they said one to another, Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us. 7Wherefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and their asses, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life. 8And when these lepers came to the uttermost part of the camp, they went into one tent, and did eat and drink, and carried thence silver, and gold, and raiment, and went and hid it; and came again, and entered into another tent, and carried thence also, and went and hid it. 9Then they said one to another, We do not well: this day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace: if we tarry till the morning light, some mischief [penalty] will come [fall] upon us: now therefore come, that we may go and tell the king’s household. 10So they came and called unto the porter [guard] of the city: and they told them, saying, We came to the camp of the Syrians, and, behold, there was no man there, neither voice [sound] of man [a human being], but horses tied, and asses tied, 11and the tents as they were. And he [one] called the porters [guards]; and they told it to the king’s house within [reported it inside of the king’s house].
12And the king arose in the night, and said unto his servants, I will now shew you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we be hungry; therefore are they gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field,5 saying, When they come out of the city, we shall catch them alive, and get into the city. 13And one of his servants answered and said, Let some take, I pray thee, five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city, (behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel that are left in it: behold, I say, they are even as all the multitude of the Israelites that are consumed [dead6];) and let us send and see. 14They took therefore two chariot horses [two chariot-equipages]; and the king sent after the host of the Syrians [towards the Syrian camp], saying, Go and see. 15And they went after them unto Jordan: and, lo, all the way was full of garments and vessels [utensils], which the Syrians had cast away in their haste 16[hasty flight7]. And the messengers returned, and told the king. And the people went out, and spoiled the tents of the Syrians. So a measure of fine flour was sold for [became worth] a shekel, and two measures of barley for [omit for] a shekel, according to the word of the Lord.
17And the king appointed the lord on whose hand he leaned to have the charge of the gate: and the people trode upon him in the gate, and he died, as the man of God had said, who spake [as he said] when the king came down to him. 18And it came to pass as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, Two measures of barley for a shekel, and a measure of fine flour for a shekel, shall be to-morrow about this time in the gate of Samaria: 19And that lord answered the man of God, and said, Now, behold, if the Lord should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof. 20And so it fell out unto him: for the people trode upon him in the gate, and he died.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
2Ki_6:8. Then the king of Syria, &c. According to Ewald, the story (2Ki_6:8-23) belongs to the time of Jehoahaz (chap 13:1–9). However, the passage immediately following begins, 2Ki_6:24, with the words, “And it came to pass after this,” so that it also would fall in a later time; but, by the words in 2Ki_6:26, “king of Israel,” and by Elisha’s epithet “son of a murderer,” 2Ki_6:32, as Ewald himself admits, we must understand Jehoram, and not either Jehoahaz or any other king of the house of Jehu.—אֶל is used as in 2Ch_20:21 : He brought to them the deliberation [i.e., made them parties to it]. פְּלֹנִי as in Rth_4:1; 1Sa_21:3. “My encamping,” i.e., the encampment of my army. The word תַּחֲנוֹת, occurs only here. It is a derivative from חָנַה, to sit down, to encamp (Gen_26:17; Exo_13:20; Exo_17:1). Ewald proposes to read תַּנְחֹתוּ, and to translate: “shall ye form an ambuscade,” because 2Ki_6:9 says: “for there the Syrians are נְחִתִּים; but נָחַת nowhere has the meaning “to lay an ambuscade,” or “to lie in wait,” but: “to go down” or “sink down” (see Gesen. s. v.), so that it coincides very well with the meaning of חָנַה. The conjecture is therefore unnecessary. The proposal of Thenius to change תַּחֲנוֹתִי into תֵּחָֽבְאוּ, and to translate: “Ye shall conceal yourselves at such and such a place,” is still less admissible. The Vulgate has in 2Ki_6:8 : ponamus insidias, and in 2Ki_6:9, quia ibi Syri in insidiis sunt. The Sept. have in 2Ki_6:8 : παρεμβαλῶ; 2Ki_6:9 : ὅτι ἐκεῖ Συρία ἐνεδρεύουσι. This is correct, however, rather according to the sense than the words, inasmuch as the army, which had encamped behind the mountains, might certainly be said to be lying in ambush. In 2Ki_6:9, Clericus, De Wette, and Keil translate the words of Elisha: “Beware lest thou neglect this place,” i.e., leave it unoccupied, “for there it is the wish of the Syrians to make an incursion;” but עָבַר, which means to pass over, never has the meaning to neglect; certainly not that of: to leave unoccupied. Moreover, this signification does not fit well with הִזְהִירוֹ 2Ki_6:10, to which Keil incorrectly denies the meaning: to warn (cf. Eze_33:3; Eze_4:5; Ecc_4:13). At a time when the Syrians were intending to encamp at a particular spot, and to attack the Israelites when they should pass by, the prophet gave warning to the king: the latter anticipated them, stationed troops in the threatened position, and so frustrated their plan.
2Ki_6:11. Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled, &c. סָעַר means more than: to lose courage (Luther). It is used of the tossing, stormy sea (Jon_1:11). Clericus wants to read מַלְשֶׁנוּ (Cf. Pro_30:10) instead of מִשֶּׁלָּנוּ, because the Vulg. translates: quis proditor mei sit apud regem Israel, and the Sept.: προδίδωσί με. It may be, however, that both only translated according to the sense. At any rate it is not necessary to alter the text. From 2Ki_6:12 we see that Elisha’s reputation at that time extended even to Syria. The old expositors thought indeed that the servant who answered the king was Naaman, or one of his companions. The king learned the dwelling of Elisha by spies. Dothan (Gen_37:17) lay five or six hours’ journey north of Samaria, upon a hill (2Ki_6:17), at a narrow pass in the mountains (Jdg_4:5; Jdg_7:3; Jdg_8:3), in the district of the present Jinin (Van de Velde, Reise, i. s. 273).—The king of Syria wished to get Elisha into his power, not “that he might hold him,” and find out through him “what the king of Israel and other princes were plotting against him in their secret councils” (Cassel), but in order that, for the future, his military plans against Israel might not become known to the king of Israel through Elisha. The phrase חַיִל כָּבֵד, 2Ki_6:14, cannot here be translated: “a great army” (De Wette, and others), as is clear from 2Ki_6:22-23, but it is used exactly as in 1Ki_10:2. The horses and chariots were accompanied by a large body of infantry.
2Ki_6:15. The servant of the man of God, &c. Not Gehazi, who would be mentioned by name, as in all other places (2Ki_4:12; 2Ki_4:25; 2Ki_5:20; 2Ki_8:4); moreover, the expression מְשָׁרֵת is never used of him. Perhaps it was one of the prophet-disciples who had accompanied Elisha to Dothan. That which Elisha says in 2Ki_6:16 is essentially the same as is read Num_14:9; 2Ch_32:7; Psa_3:6; Psa_27:3. He saw already the divine, protecting power, and begged God to allow his attendant also to see it, that he might undertake the journey back to Samaria with him, through the hostile army, fearless and consoled. “The opening of the eyes signifies elevation into an ecstatic state in which the soul sees things which the bodily eye never can see” (Keil, ed. of 1845), Num_22:31; The horses and chariots which Elisha and the servant see (2Ki_6:17), stand over-against the horses and chariots of the Syrians (2Ki_6:15), and they are designated by אֵשׁ, the form of appearance of Jehovah (see above, p. 14), as from God, so that they are symbols of the might of Jehovah, which surpasses all human, earthly might, and is unconquerable. We have not to think of literal chariots and horses of fire here, any more than in 2Ki_2:11. Usually, Gen_32:2 is compared, but there express mention is made of angels, who are not to be identified directly with the horses and chariots of a vision.—The Syrians are usually understood as subject of וַיֵּרְדוּ אֵלָיו in 2Ki_6:18, but in that case we must suppose that they were on a hill from which they descended when they saw Elisha and his companion go out from the city. Keil adopts this supposition, for he says: “Dothan stands upon a hill, which stands by itself on the plain, but it is surrounded or shut in on the east side by a ridge which runs out into the plain (cf. Van de Velde, l. c., s. 273). The Syrians who had been sent out against Elisha had taken up a position on this ridge, and from there they marched down against the city of Dothan, which lay upon the hill, while Elisha, by going out of the city, escaped from them.” This idea is contradicted, however, by the assertion, in 2Ki_6:14, that the Syrians “surrounded the city” in the night. They enclosed it, therefore, and did not simply take up a position on the east side upon a hill, which was, besides, separated from it by the plain. Furthermore, according to 2Ki_6:17, it was not the ridge upon which the Syrians are said to have stood, but the hill upon which Dothan was, which was full of horses and chariots of fire, round about Elisha, under whose mighty protection he and his servant went out of the city and down the hill. The Syrian army surrounded the hill at its base, so that escape seemed impossible; the heavenly army, however, surrounded the city at the top of the hill, and so stood opposed to the Syrian. This is clearly the meaning of the passage. In the immediately following words (2Ki_6:18): “and they went down,” the reference can only be to Elisha and his companion, who are the subjects of the words immediately preceding. If the words are not taken as referring to them, then there is no statement that they left the city, and there is a gap in the narrative. Accordingly אֵלָיו must be taken as referring to the Syrian army. The Syriac version and Josephus take it so (’Ελισσαῖος … παρελθὼν εἰς μέσους τοὺς ἐχθρούς). There is no need of assuming that אֲלֵיהֶם stood in the text originally in the place of אֵלָיו, as Thenius does, for אֲרָם is often used in the singular for the Syrian army (2Ki_6:9; 1Ki_22:35), and is construed with the verb in the singular (1Sa_10:14-15; Isa_7:2).—And he smote them with blindness, i.e., they were put into a state in which, although they had their sight, yet they did not see him (Elisha), i.e., did not recognize him. Jarchi: They saw, but did not know (יודע) what they saw. Cf. Gen_19:11 (Luk_24:16; Isa_6:10).—On 2Ki_6:19 Keil says: “Elisha’s untrue declaration: ‘This is not the way,’ must be judged like every other military stratagem, by means of which the enemy are deceived;” but, as Thenius well replies: “There is no untruth in the words of Elisha; for his home was not in Dothan, where he was only residing temporarily, but in Samaria; and the words ‘to the man’ may well mean: to his house.” Josephus understood the passage correctly; he says: “Elisha asked them whom they had come to seek. When they answered: “The prophet Elisha,” παραδώσειν ὑπέσχετο, εἰ πρὸς τὴν πόλιν, ἐν ᾖ τυγχάνει ὢν (i.e., where he is to be found), ἀκολουθήσειαν αὐτῷ. He certainly used a form of speech which the Syrians might understand otherwise than as he meant it, but he did not pretend in the least to be anything else than what he was. That they did not know him was a divine dispensation, not the result of an untruth uttered by him. How could the “man of God,” after repeated prayers to Jehovah, straightway permit himself a falsehood, and try, by this means, to save himself from danger? If he saw, as his companion did, horses and chariots of fire round about him, and if he was thus assured of the divine protection, then he needed for his deliverance neither a falsehood nor a stratagem. The Syrians wanted to take him captive; instead of that he, by the help of God, captured them all; not, however, as is usually the case in such a ruse, to their harm or ruin, but, after he has shown them that they could not capture him, “the prophet in Israel” (2Ki_6:12), he takes them under his protection, repays evil with good (2Ki_6:22), and shows them by this very means the man whom they are seeking.
2Ki_6:21. And the king of Israel.… when he saw them, &c. The address: “My father,” does not presuppose any filial relationship, but is rather a mere title (Clericus: sic honoris causa dicitur). Even Benhadad is called “thy (Elisha’s) son,” by Hazael (2Ki_8:9). The prophet-disciples called their master “father,” and this because it was the ordinary title of the chief of the prophets, somewhat as the same word is occasionally used now-a-days. The repetition of אַכֶּה expresses the eager desire to smite them. Elisha’s words (2Ki_6:22): האשׁר &c., are taken by many expositors as a question [as in the E. V.], the idea being: if thou dost not even put to death those whom thou hast captured with bow and spear, how canst thou slay these? (Thenius, Keil). Such a question, however, would be very extraordinary; for if Jehoram was not accustomed to put to death even those who had been made captive in battle, why should he ask whether he should kill these, who had fallen into his hands without a combat? It seems more probable, on the contrary, that he was accustomed to put captives to death, in accordance with the prevalent war-usage of the time (Deu_20:13), and he raises the question, in the present extraordinary case, only out of consideration for the prophet, and because he does not trust his own judgment in the unprecedented circumstances. The Vulgate gives the sense correctly: non percuties; neque enim cepisti eos gladio et arcu tuo, ut percutias. The objection that ה, the article, could not have patach before א cannot be held to be decisive against this interpretation; the Massoretes themselves took ה as the article (Gesen. Lex. s. v. ה; De Wette). [I take ה to be the interrogative (Ewald, § 104, b), but agree with the above interpretation. “If thou shouldst put these to death, would it be a case of slaying prisoners of war?” i.e., couldst thou justify it by Deu_20:13?—W. G. S.] No one doubts that כָּרָה כֵּרָה, in 2Ki_6:23, signifies the preparation of a meal. The only disagreement is as to the connection of this signification with the fundamental meaning of the root. According to Thenius the root is כּוּר, which, with its derivatives, always refers to something round; hence, כֵּרָה the circle of guests. According to Keil, כָּרָה, to dig, gradually acquired the meaning: to prepare, make ready, so that it ought here to be rendered: paravit apparatum magnum. According to Dietrich (in Gesen. Lex. s. v.), the cognate dialects lead to the idea of bringing together or uniting, which, he thinks, is the fundamental idea in a banquet. Cf. cœna from κοινή.—The result of Elisha’s act was that, from this time on, the raids of the Syrians ceased, not indeed because the magnanimity of the Israelites shamed them, but because they had found out that they could not accomplish anything by these expeditions, but rather brought themselves into circumstances of great peril.
2Ki_6:24. And it came to pass after this, &c. Josephus correctly states the connection between the passage which begins with 2Ki_6:24, and what precedes, as follows: κρύφα μὲν οὐκέτι διέγνω τῷ τῶν ’Ισραηλιτῶν ἐπιχειρεῖν βασιλεῖ, τὸν ’Ελισαῖον δεδοικώς· φανερῶς δὲ πολεμεῖν ἕκρινε, τῷ πλήθει τῆς στρατιᾶς καὶ τῇ δυνάμει νομίζων περιέσεσθαι τῶν πολεμίων. Nevertheless, an interval of some years must be supposed to have elapsed between the two incidents. Ben-Hadad is not an appellative, like Pharaoh; it is the same king who is mentioned in 1Ki_20:1. In order to show the depth of the distress from the famine, the writer states the price of things which are not ordinarily articles of food. The worst part of an animal, which, at best, was unclean, the head of an ass, sold for 80 shekels, according to Bertheau and Keil, 35 thalers ($25.20), according to Thenius 53 thalers, 20 sgr. ($38.64). In like manner, in a famine among the Cadusians, Plutarch (Artaxerxes, 24.) tells that the head of an ass was scarcely to be bought for 60 drachmæ, whereas, ordinarily, the entire animal only cost 25 or 30 drachmæ). The price of a mouse rose to 200 denarii in Casalinum, when it was besieged by Hannibal (Pliny, Hist. Nat. viii. 57; Valer. Max., vii. 6).—There is no doubt that חרייונים, i.e., חָרֵי יוֹנִים, means “dove’s dung,” and not “dove’s food” (Berleb. and Calw. Bibel); the only question is, whether this is to be taken literally, or whether it is a designation of a very insignificant species of pease. Bochart maintains the latter (Hieroz. ii. 44), and he appeals to the fact that קַב is really a measure of grain: so also Clericus, Dathe, Michaelis, and others. The Arabs call the herba alcali “sparrow’s dung.” Celsius (Hierobot. ii. p. 30), on the contrary, maintains the literal meaning, which is supported by the keri דִּבְיוֹנִים, fluxus, profluvium columbarum (דִּיב from the Chald. דּוּב, to flow), a euphemism for the chetib. So also Ewald and Thenius; the latter says: “If snipe’s dung is eaten as a luxury, necessity may well make dove’s dung (2Ki_18:27; Joseph. Bella. Jud. v. 13, 7) acceptable.” Gesenius and Keil do not decide. We incline to the interpretation which makes it a kind of vegetable. Supposing even that dung was collected for food, as was the case, according to Josephus, at the destruction of Jerusalem, why should dove’s dung be especially used? There is, moreover, no instance of dove’s dung having been used as food, and sold at so high a price. The meanest form of vegetable seems to be here put in contrast with the meanest form of flesh. The vegetable probably took its name from the similarity of color (white) and form, as in the case of the German Teufelsdreck (assafœtida). Cab is the smallest Hebrew dry-measure; according to Bertheau, it is equivalent to 27.58 cubic inches (Paris), and, according to Bunsen, to 56.355. Five shekels are equal to 2 thlr. 2 sgr. ($1.49, Keil), or 3 thlr. 10 sgr. ($2.40, Thenius).
2Ki_6:26. And as the King of Israel was passing by, &c. The wall of the city was very thick; the garrison of the city stood upon it; the king went thither in order to visit the posts, or to observe the movements of the enemy.—If the Lord do not help thee, whence, &c. אַל is taken here, by many, in its ordinary signification, ne: May the Lord not help thee! i.e., perdat te Jehovah (Clericus). If this is correct, the king invokes a curse upon her (Josephus: ὀργισθεὶς ἐπηράσατο αὺτῇ τὸν θεόν). The following words, however, “Whence,” &c., do not coincide with this interpretation. The same is the case if we translate, with Maurer, vereor, ut Deus te servet. Keil’s translation: No! let Jehovah help thee! (i.e., do not ask me, let, &c.) is still more inadmissible, for אַל must not be separated from יוֹשִׁעֵךְ, with which it is connected by a makkeph. It evidently stands here for אִם לֹא (Ew. § 355, b), and the meaning is: “On the general supposition that there is no help for her: ‘If God does not help thee, how can I?’ ” (Thenius). Cassel’s interpretation of the words as a “rebellious invocation of God,” is entirely mistaken: “Let God help thee: why does not the Eternal, whom ye have in Israel, and who has always revealed himself here, help thee? Where is He, then, that he may help us?” They are rather words of despair.—Out of the barn-floor or out of the wine-press? as much as to say: with corn or with wine? (Gen_27:28; Gen_27:37); not, corn and oil, for יֶקֶב is wine-press (Pro_3:10). [The distress has reached a point where God’s interposition alone can provide food. If He does not interpose, how can I satisfy thy hunger? from the threshing-floor or the wine-press—the only human resources in case of hunger? Thou knowest that these are exhausted, and that the limits of my power of relief have been passed. Address thyself, therefore, to God. If He does not help thee, much less can I. The difficulty of the passage is one that is common enough. There is an unexpressed promise, viz., the circumstances of the case, which are vividly present to the mind of both hearer and speaker, and an unexpressed conclusion, viz., the proper inference to be drawn, or the proper conduct to be pursued, in the promises. The first speaker has drawn a false inference from the facts, and the question aims to lead him to a correct judgment. Hence אַל is used, very nearly in the sense of אם לֹא.—W. G. S.] When the woman had, probably, replied to the king that she did not demand food of him, but appealed to him as judge, he asked her: What aileth thee? Thereupon she relates the horrible incident, in which the existing misery had attained its height. The other woman had hidden her child, not in order to consume it alone, but in order to save it. Her act reminds us of 1Ki_3:26.
2Ki_6:30. He rent his clothes, &c., as a sign of horror and of grief. As he stood upon the wall, and therefore could be seen by all, the people observed that he had sackcloth next his body, like Ahab, 1Ki_21:27, under the royal garment, which he tore open. Sackcloth was usually worn next the skin (Isa_20:2-3), only the prophets and preachers of repentance appear to have worn it over the under-garment, because in their case it was an official dress, and so needed to be seen (Winer, R.-W.-B. ii. s. 352). The sentence: He passed by upon the wall, is not, according to Thenius, to be connected with what follows, but, as the athnach shows, with what goes before. Jehoram did not wear sackcloth in order to make a show before the people, for they could not see it before he tore the cloak which was above it; neither did he wear it out of genuine penitent feeling, for, in that case, he could not have sworn, with sackcloth upon his body, to put to death the prophet, whom he had called “Father,” and to whom he was under such deep obligations. He wished, by means of this external action, to turn aside the wrath of God; “He thought that he had done enough, by this external self-chastisement, to satisfy God, and he wished now, in a genuine heathen disposition, to be revenged upon Elisha, since he learned from this story that the famine had not ceased” (Von Gerlach). It is not necessary to understand that Elisha had distinctly demanded that he should put on the garment of penitence (Ewald); perhaps the prophet had only exhorted generally to penitence, and the king, in order to put an end to the distress, had put on sackcloth. He become enraged at the prophet, partly because he believed himself deceived by him, if he, as we may suppose, had given the advice not to surrender the city [“If it had not been for him (Elisha), he (the king) would long before have surrendered the city on conditions,” Ewald], but to rely upon the help of Jehovah, and partly because he thought that the prophet might have put an end to the distress if he had chosen, and thereby might have prevented the horrible crime of the women. The oath reminds one of that of Jezebel against Elijah (1Ki_19:2).
2Ki_6:32. But Elisha sat in his house, &c. The narrative in 2Ki_6:30-33 seems to be somewhat condensed, and to require to be supplemented. This, however, can be done with tolerable certainty from the context. The sentence: Elisha sat in his house, and the elders sat with him, is a parenthesis; the following, and he, namely, the king (not Elisha, as Köster and Cassel suppose), sent, &c., joins directly on to 2Ki_6:31. הַזְּקֵנִים can only refer to the magistrates of the city, not to the prophets or prophet-disciples (Josephus). They had not been sent in order to report to Elisha how far matters had come in the city (Cassel), but had betaken themselves to the prophet, since no one any longer could give counsel, in the great distress, in order to take his advice, and to beg for his assistance. While they were thus assembled the king sent a man, מִלְּפָנָיו, not, before him (Luther and others), but, from his presence, i.e., one of those men who stood before him, and, as servants, waited for his commands (1Ki_10:8; Dan_1:4-5), just as we see in Gen_41:46. This man was to behead Elisha, in fulfilment of the oath which the king had sworn in his excitement. Perceiving in spirit what was being done (as in 2Ki_5:26), the prophet says to the elders: See ye, i.e., do ye know, &c. He applies to Jehoram the significant epithet: son of a murderer; as by descent, so also in disposition, is he a son of Ahab, the murderer of the prophets, and of the innocent Naboth, (1Ki_21:19); filius patrizat. With the words: Is not the sound, &c, Elisha straightway announces that the king will follow upon the heels of the messenger (cf. 1Ki_14:6), and he calls upon the elders not to let in the messenger until the king himself comes.
2Ki_6:33. And while he yet talked with them, &c. The first question is, what is the subject of וַיֹּאמֶר? If we take הַמַּלְאָךְ to be the subject, then we must suppose, as Thenius, Cassel, and others do, that the messenger speaks the words: “This evil is of the Lord,” &c, as the mouthpiece of the king, since they certainly are the words of the latter. This, however, is, in the first place, very forced, because he must have expressed it by saying: The king commands me to say to you, &c, but it is imperatively excluded by the consideration that the king, according to 2Ki_7:17, was present, and so the messenger could not speak in his name, in his presence. Ewald, taking account of 7:17, wishes to read הַמֶּלֶךְ for הַמַּלְאָךְ, but then the affirmation that the messenger, whom the elders were to restrain until the arrival of the king, really came, would be wanting from the text. The simplest course seems to be to supply הַמֶּלֶךְ as the subject of וַיֹּאמֶר (there is an athnach after אֵלָיו) and to supplement the text here by what is stated in 7:17. The sense would then be: And the king, who had followed close upon his messenger, said, &c. Why did the king follow his servant? Certainly not “in order to see what was the result of his command” (Ewald); nor, “in order to be assured that his commands had been executed” (Eisenlohr); but, on the contrary, “in order to restrain the execution of a command which he had giver, in an excess of rage” (Keil). Even Josephus says: “Jehoram repented of the wrath against the prophet, which had overcome him, and, as he feared lest the messenger might have already executed his commands, he hastened to prevent it, if possible.”—Behold, this evil is of the Lord, &c, i.e., Jehovah has brought it to this pass that mothers slay and eat their own children; what further shall I then hope for or expect from Him? By these words, “he means to show the prophet that he no longer refuses to recognize the chastising hand of God in the prevailing distress, and then he desires to learn from him whether the divine wrath will not be turned aside, and whether the distressed city may not hope for aid” (Krummacher). To these verba hominis pene desperantis (Vatablus), Elisha replies in 2Ki_7:1, with a promise of immediate and extraordinary deliverance. The interpretation: The distress is so great that no help can any longer be hoped for, so that nothing remains but to surrender the city; thou, however, who hast prophesied falsely, and hast vainly promised help, and therefore art to blame for the calamity, thou shouldst justly suffer death (Seb. Smith, and similarly Thenius), is entirely mistaken. If this were the sense, Elisha’s solemn promise would seem to have been forced from him by the threat of death, whereas it rather serves to shame the king, who had doubted of Jehovah, and is, therefore, an answer fully worthy of the prophet. Jehoram had already given up his plan of murder when he followed his messenger. [His despair is, to a certain extent, intended as an excuse for his murderous project. It is as if he had said: God sends me only calamity upon calamity. Is it strange that my faith deserts me, and that I can no longer hope or believe that God will ultimately help? This despair produced the blind and senseless rage against thee. I have recovered from that madness, but how can I hope longer? This hope seems only to delay the catastrophe, and to make it worse the longer it is deferred. The prophet answers the despair by a new, definite, and confident prediction.—W. G. S.]
Chap. 7. 2Ki_7:1. Hear ye the word of the Lord, &c. The solemnity and distinctness with which the prophet addresses the king, the elders, and the others who are present, must not be overlooked.—On סְאָה see note on 1Ki_18:32.—In the gate of Samaria, i.e., the place where the market was usually held (Winer, R.-W.-B. ii. s. 616). On הַשָּׁלִישׁ and the following form of speech see note on 1Ki_9:22, and 2Ki_5:18. Instead of לַמֶּלֶךְ, all the versions read הַמֶּלֶךְ, which, according to 2Ki_7:17 and 2Ki_5:18, is the correct reading; the dative gives no sense.—The words of the “lord” in 2Ki_7:2 are the scoff and jest of unbelief; Jehovah will indeed open windows in heaven, and cause it to rain barley and meal! will that come to pass? Thenius connects the two sentences thus: “Supposing even that the Lord should make windows in heaven, will this (viz., the promised cheapness and plenty) even then come to pass?” This interpretation finds in the words only doubt, and not bitter scorn, but, from the threat with which Elisha answers, it seems that the latter must be included. “Windows in heaven” may be an allusion to Gen_7:11.
2Ki_7:3. Four leprous men, cf. Lev_13:46; Num_5:2 sq. No one any longer brought them food from the city, and they were not permitted to enter it. In order to escape death from hunger, they proposed to go over to the camp of the enemy at dusk, when they would not be seen from the city. That בַנֶּשֶׁף (2Ki_7:5) does not mean “early in the morning” (Luther), is clear from 2Ki_7:9; 2Ki_7:12.—קוֹל, in 2Ki_7:6, can only be understood of a continuous and increasing rushing and roaring in the air, by which the Syrians were deceived. There are instances, even now-a-days, that people in certain mountainous regions regard a rushing and roaring sound, such as is sometimes heard there, as a sign of a coming war.—On the kings of the Hittites, see note on 1Ki_10:29. The slight remains of the nations of the Hittites having been subjugated by Solomon (1Ki_9:20), we have to understand that reference is made here not, as Thenius thinks, to “an independent remnant of this people, living near their ancient home (Gen_15:20; Num_13:29), towards the river of Egypt,” but, to an independent Canaanitish tribe, which had withdrawn into the northern part of Palestine. “ ‘The kings of the Egyptians’ must not be understood too literally; they are only involuntarily mentioned for the sake of the balance of the phrases” (Thenius). Both expressions are only meant to convey, in general terms, the idea that people from the north and from the south are on the march to the assistance of the Israelites, so that danger threatens the Syrians upon all sides. [It is worth while to notice also the graphic force which is given to the story by quoting what purport to be the exact speeches of all the parties. We are told just what Elisha said, and what the officer said, and what the lepers said, and finally what the Syrians said, as if the speeches had been recorded at the time they were uttered. But how could any one tell what the Syrians said in their encampment at night? Evidently the writer puts himself in the place of the Syrians, and imagines what their interpretation of any sudden alarm would be. Instead of stating this in the flat and colorless form in which a modern historian would state it: The Syrians thought that some one was coming to help the Israelites—he gives the speech in what purport to be the exact words. The mention of the king of the Hittites is very strange. No such nation as the Hittites any longer existed, and the kings of Egypt did not interfere in Asiatic affairs throughout this entire period. Yet we should expect that the Hebrew writer would ascribe to the Syrians such fears as they would be likely to have under the circumstances.—W. G. S.] On אֶל־נַפְשָׁם see note on 1Ki_19:3.
2Ki_7:9. Then they said one to another, &c. After they had satisfied their hunger and loaded themselves with booty, it occurred to them that officium civium est, ea indicare, quae ad salutem publicam pertinent (Grotius). They were justly anxious lest they might be punished if they should longer conceal the joyful intelligence from the king and the city.—In 2Ki_7:10, Thenius wishes to read, with all the oriental versions, שֹׁעֲרֵי, watchmen, instead of שֹׁעֵר, because לָחֶם follows. Maurer and Keil take the singular collectively for the body of persons who were charged with the guard of the city.—The subject of וַיִּקְרָא, 2Ki_7:11, is not the speaker among the lepers, but the soldier on guard. He could not leave his post, so he called to the other soldiers who were within the gate, and they then gave news of the occurrence to the guards in the palace. The attendants of the mistrustful king (2Ki_7:12) give him very sensible advice, the sum of which is, “However it may turn out, nothing worse can happen to the troops we send out than has already happened to many others, or than will yet happen to the rest” (Berleb. Bibel). “Five” is here as it is in Isa_30:17; 1Co_14:19; Lev_26:8, a general designation of a small number. The origin of this use of language is probably that five, as the half of ten, is opposed to this number, which expresses perfection and completeness, to denote the imperfect and incomplete: so that it means a few horses. According to 2Ki_7:14 (two chariots) there were not five, but four. Two chariots, or equipages, were sent, in order, we may suppose, that if one were captured, the other might quickly bring the news.
2Ki_7:16 sq. And the people went out, &c. We may well imagine with what eagerness. The king had given to his adjutant (2Ki_7:2) command to maintain order, but the people trod him down in the gate. He was not “crushed in the crowd,” as Ewald states, but trodden under foot (רָמַם Isa_41:25). This can hardly have taken place unintentionally, for why should it have happened just to him? Probably the eager and famished people would not listen to his commands, and bore down his attempts to control them. The repetition of the prophet’s prediction (2Ki_7:1-2) in 2Ki_7:18-19, shows what weight the narrative lays upon its fulfilment. It is meant to be, as it were, “a finger of warning to unbelief” (Calwer Bibel), and designates this fulfilment as the object and the main point of the entire narrative.
HISTORICAL AND ETHICAL
1. With the story of these two incidents now, we pass, in this résumé of the prophetical acts of Elisha (see above, Historical on chap. 4), to those which bear upon the political circumstances and fortunes of the nation and of its king. First come those which are connected with its foreign affairs. The especial danger from without was from the Syrians. Benhadad was the chief and bitterest enemy, who was evidently determined to subjugate Israel. He did not succeed in this; he only served as a rod of chastisement to bring back the king and the people from their apostasy to their God. Jehovah rescued them again and again from his hand; not by the hand of the king, nor by mighty armies, nor by great generals, but by the “man of God,” the prophet, in order that all might perceive that salvation from the might of the sworn foe was not a work of human strength or wisdom, but was due to Him alone, the God of Israel, to testify of whom was Elisha’s calling. The two incidents belong together, for one of them shows how his secret plans and cunning plots, and the other, how his open assaults, with the employment of the entire force at his disposal, were brought to naught by the intervention of the prophet. If anything could have done it, these extraordinary proofs of the might, the faithfulness, and the long-suffering of Jehovah, ought to have brought Jehoram to a recognition of his fault, and to reformation (2Ki_3:3). This is the point of view from which both narratives must be considered.
2. In the first incident, Elisha appears in the distinct character of a seer, רֹאֶה, which was the older name for a נָבִיא (1Sa_9:9). He “sees” the place where the Syrians have determined to encamp, not once, only, but as often as they formed a plan, and, when they came to take him captive, he saw the heavenly protecting powers, and, at his prayer, the eyes of his attendant were opened, so that he, too, saw them, whereas the enemy were struck with blindness. This gift of secret sight, while one is in clear possession of all the faculties of consciousness, is similar to that of prophecy. Both are effects of the spirit of Jehovah, which non semper tangit corda prophetarum, nee de omnibus (Syra), nec datur illis per modum habitus, sic ut est in artifice (Sanctius). The prophet only sees what others do not see when Jehovah grants it to him, and his sight does not apply to all things whatsoever, nor to all events, as its legitimate objects, but only to those things which pertain directly or indirectly to the relation to Jehovah and to the guidance of the people of Israel as a nation, or as individuals. [Moreover, it is not in the power of the prophet, by any physical and ever-available means, to bring about this state of the soul at will]. This sight is therefore something entirely different from so-called clairvoyance, which has nothing in common with divine revelation. It may be asked why Elisha, who saw the places where the Syrians would encamp, and would attack Israel, did not also foresee their coming to Dothan, and the danger which threatened him of being captured by them. Cassel (Elisa, s. 116) is of the opinion that “he must have known it; yet he remained at Dothan and awaited the hostile emissaries: he knew that there were more with him than all the enemies together could muster.” This opinion, however, has no foundation in the text. On the contrary, it is clearly declared that the arrival of the Syrians was not observed until the morning, and that it was totally unexpected. If Elisha had known beforehand, by a divine revelation, that they were coming, he would have regarded it as a direction to escape from the threatening danger, and not to remain any longer in Dothan, as Elijah once fled from Jezreel (1Ki_19:3), and Joseph from Bethlehem (Mat_2:14). The great danger which suddenly came upon him, without his knowledge or fault, was a trial of faith for him and for his attendant. While the latter fell into anxiety and terror on account of it, Elisha showed himself a true “man of God” in that he trusted firmly in his Lord and God, and spoke courageously to his companion: “Fear not.” In this firm faith he experienced the truth of what is written in Psa_34:1; Psa_91:11.
3. The conduct of Elisha towards the band of Syrians, which had been sent out against him, is not, as might at first appear, a mere pendant to the similar incident in Elijah’s history (2Ki_1:9-16). It cannot even be compared with it, for the persons and the circumstances are of an entirely different character. The emissaries, who were sent to take Elijah captive, were sent out by a king of Israel, who despised the God of Israel, and sought succor from the Fly-god of the Philistines. They were also themselves Israelites who, being of a like disposition with their king, mocked the prophet of Jehovah. Under these circumstances an act of kindness and forgiveness on the part of the prophet, whose high calling it was to pronounce, by word and deed, the judgment of God upon all apostasy, would have been a renunciation of his calling (see above, p. 6). Benhadad, on the other hand, was a heathen, who did not know the living God of Israel. His troops were blind instruments of his will, who did not know what they were doing, and did not scoff at the God of Israel, or at his prophet. Besides, Elisha’s act was not merely a piece of good-nature and magnanimity, it was rather a prophetical act, in the strict sense of the words, which had no other aim than to glorify the God of Israel. Not for his own sake did Elisha pray Jehovah to smite the Syrians with blindness, but in order that he might lead them to Samaria. The thanks for their surrender into the hands of the king were due, not to him, but to Jehovah. Jehoram was to learn once more to recognize the faithfulness and might of Jehovah, and to be convinced that there was a prophet in Israel (2Ki_5:8), from the fact that these dangerous enemies were delivered into his hands without a blow. On the other hand, Benhadad and the Syrians were to learn that they could not accomplish anything, with all their cunning plots, against the “prophet that is in Israel” (2Ki_6:12), and much less, against Him whose servant and witness this prophet was. From this time on, therefore, they ceased their raids, as is expressly stated in 2Ki_6:23. The release, entertainment, and dismissal of the troops was a deep mortification to them. The slaughter of the captives, on the contrary, would have frustrated the purpose of the prophet’s act.
4. The miraculous features of this story some have attempted to explain, that is, to do away with, in various ways. Knobel (Der Proph. der Hebr., ii. ss. 93, 98 sq.) remarks upon the incident as follows: “Inasmuch as Elisha had extended his journeys as far as Syria (2Ki_8:7), he had gained information of the plans of the Syrians against Israel. This information, as a good patriot, he did not fail to make known to his king. He led the Syrians, who do not appear to have known either him or the locality, to Samaria. The inability to recognize the person as Elisha, or the place as Dothan, was, inasmuch as the safety of a man of God was at stake, caused by God; all the more, seeing that it appeared to be extraordinary and miraculous that they should not see that which was directly before their eyes. The cessation of this inability was then an opening of their eyes by God. Sudden insight into things which have long been before the eyes and yet have not been perceived, the Hebrews regarded as being directly given by God.… The horses and chariots of fire in the narrative are a purely mythical feature.” This explanation is almost more difficult to explain than the narrative itself. Nothing is said anywhere about frequent journeys of Elisha to Syria. Only one such journey is mentioned, and that later (2Ki_8:7). He could only have gained knowledge of Benhadad’s plans from his immediate and most familiar circle of attendants. These attendants, however, reject any hypothesis of treachery, and cannot explain Elisha’s knowledge in any way except on the ground that he is a “prophet,” i.e., himself sees the things which are plotted in the king’s bed-chamber. So far from conspiring with Elisha, these servants of Benhadad find out his place of abode, and so bring about the attempt to capture him. Then, when a company is sent to Dothan, and really arrives there, they must have known where the place was, and that they were there and not elsewhere. Furthermore, how could, not a single individual, but a whole company, allow themselves to be deceived by a man who was unknown to them, and to be led away five hours’ journey without getting “insight into that which was directly before their eyes?” The fiery horses and chariots, finally, are a symbolic but not a mythical feature (see above, p. 14). Ewald’s explanation is much more probable than this rationalistic interpretation. According to him, Elisha proved himself “the most faithful counsellor, and the most reliable defence of the king and people, by pursuing the plans of the Arameans with the sharpest eye, and by frustrating them often single-handed, by means of his sure foresight and tireless watchfulness. The memory of this activity is preserved in 2Ki_6:8 sq., where we have a vigorous sketch of it, as it had taken form in the popular imagination.” If, however, the prophet’s second-sight, which is the central point of the entire story, is a product only of the popular imagination which, at a later time, wrought upon the story, then we no longer have history before us, and the “man of God,” who is especially presented to us as seer and prophet, sinks down into a wise and prudent statesman. It would then be an enigma how he could have “sure forebodings” of the presence of the enemy at this or that place, and could give them out as certain facts. According to Köster, the gift of sight, which was imparted to the companion of Elisha, at the prayer of the latter, is only a “beautiful representation of the idea that the eye of faith sees the sure protection of God where, to the vulgar eye, all is dark.” In like manner Thenius says: “It is a glorious thought, that the veil of earthly nature is here lifted for a moment, for a child of earth, that he may cast a look upon the workings of the divine Providence.” But here we have not an idea, be it ever so beautiful, clothed in history, but an historical fact. The prayer of Elisha does not mean: Give him faith in the sovereignty of divine Providence; or: Strengthen this faith in him; but: Give him power to see that which, in the ordinary course of things, it is not permitted to a man to see. His companion then sees, not the thought-image of his own brain, but that which Jehovah allows him to see in symbolic form. In like manner it was a dispensation of Providence that the Syrians did not see, in spite of their open eyes. [The author vindicates the literal historical accuracy of the record, but his opponents bring out its practical importance. Let us suppose that, as a matter of historical fact, on a certain day, a certain man, under certain, circumstances, looked up and saw in the air “chariots and horses of fire,” or something else, for which “chariots and horses of fire” is a symbolic expression. The practical religious importance of the incident lies in the fact that he was thereby convinced that God protects His own. The prophet’s object in his prayer could be none other than that he might be thus confirmed in the faith, and the edification of the story depends upon these two deductions: God protects His servants; and, to the eye of faith, this protection is evident, when earthly eyes see it not.—W. G. S.]
5. The narrative of the second incident gives us information of the great famine in Samaria during the siege by the Syrians. It is impossible not to perceive the intention of showing, in the description of this siege, how the threats in Lev_26:26-29, and Deu_28:51-53, against transgressions of the covenant, were here fulfilled; for the separate incidents, which are here referred to, correspond literally to those threats. The famine, such as had hardly ever before been experienced, and especially the abominable crimes which it occasioned, referred back to those threats, so that they forced the people to observe the violation of the covenant, and the great guilt of king and people, and, in so far, were the strongest possible warning to return to the God whom they had abandoned. As for the abomination wrought by the two women, nothing like it occurs anywhere but in the history of Israel; at least, no one has yet been able to cite any incident of the kind from profane history. According to Lam_2:20; Lam_4:10 (cf. Jer_19:9; Ezech. 5:10), something similar seems to have occurred during the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings 25; Jeremiah 39); and Josephus (Bell. Jud., vi. 34) relates that, at the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, a noble lady slew her child and ate a part of it, an action which filled even the Romans with horror, and caused Titus to declare that he would not permit “that the sun should shine upon a city on earth in which mothers nourished themselves with such food.” That such abominations were perpetrated precisely among that people which had been thought worthy to be the bearer of the revelation and knowledge of the one living God, only proves that if such a people once falls away from its God, it sinks deeper than another which does not know Him, but adores dumb idols.
6. The deliverance of Samaria, like that of the three kings in the war with the Moabites, did not take place by a miracle, in the accurate sense of the word, but it belongs, nevertheless, as that does, in the rank of the events which bear witness to the special divine governance of Israel (see above, p. 36). Josephus’ opinion that God raised a great tumult in the ears of the Syrians (ἤρχετο ὁ θεὸς κτύπον ἁρμάτων καὶ ὅπλων ταῖς ἀκοαῖς αὐτῶν ἐνηχεῖν) does not agree with the text, which distinctly mentions a real and strong roaring. Still less is קוֹל to be rendered by “rumor” (Knobel: “The Syrians raised the siege suddenly, because they heard a rumor that the Egyptians and Hittites were on the march against them”). The threefold repetition of the word, which, moreover, never means rumor, is against this interpretation. As for the prediction of deliverance, by Elisha, that can never be explained on naturalistic grounds. Knobel leaves it undecided “whether Elisha, who probably had intrigues with the Syrians, succeeded in starting such a report among them, or whether, in reality, an hostile army was advancing upon the Syrians, of which fact Elisha had information.” The first hypothesis falls to the ground when we consider that it was no “rumor” at all, but a rushing and roaring noise, which the Syrians heard. The alternative is just as unfounded, for all the external communications of the city were cut off, and the approaching army, of which, however, history makes no mention, must have been so near already that the noise of its march would be heard, not only in the Syrian camp, but also in Samaria; or, can we conceive that Elisha might have ordered up an Egyptian and Hittite army, over night, and that this might have marched at once? Ewald’s notion that the prophet’s promise of deliverance only shows the “lofty confidence” with which he met “the despairing complaints” of the king, is equally unsatisfactory. It would have been more than foolhardy in the prophet to proclaim, as the word of Jehovah, before the king, his attendants, and the elders, something which he, after all, only guessed, and which was contrary to all probability. If his guess had not been realized, what would have become of him, and how would he have been disgraced in his character of prophet? What is more, he not only promised deliverance, but also foretold to him who scoffed at his promise: “Thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof,” and the threat was fulfilled. The promise and the threat of the prophet form together the central point of the story; they are not mere incidental details, as is clear from the express repetition at the close. The truth of the occurrence, which no one doubts, stands or falls with both together. The object of the story is, to show that there is a prophet in Israel (2Ki_5:8), so that it appears, to say the least, very insipid to hold, with Köster, that “the moral of the story is: God can save by the most unexpected means, but the unbeliever has no share in such salvation.” [2Ki_5:8 cannot, with any justice, be cited as bearing upon the significance of this story. Its lesson is one much more nearly touching the “historical development of the plan of redemption” than chap. 5. It was important that all should know that there were prophets of God in Israel, only to the end that they might believe what follows from this fact, viz., that God has a plan for the redemption of the world in which the Israelitish nation plays a prominent part: that He, therefore, is especially present among them by His prophets, and that their history and fortunes, their calamities and chastisements, their mercies and deliverances, are interpositions of God for the furtherance of His plan. The point of the incident before us is, that God would interpose to arrest a national calamity at the very crisis of its fulfilment, for the instruction, warning, and conversion of His people.—W. G. S.]
7. King Jehoram presents himself, in both narratives, just as he was described above (p. 34). He does not persecute the prophet; he rather listens to his counsel, and addresses him as “father” (2Ki_6:9; 2Ki_6:21); but he never places himself decidedly on his side. “He stands an example of those who often permit themselves to be led, in their worldly affairs, by holy men, who admire them from a distance, who suspect the presence of a higher strength in them, but still hold them aloof and persist in their own ways” (Von Gerlach). When the prophet leads the enemy into his hands without a blow, he becomes violent, and is eager to slaughter them all; then, however, he allows himself to be soothed, gives them entertainment, and permits them to depart in safety. At the siege of Samaria, the great distress of the city touches his heart. He puts on garments which are significant of grief and repentance, but then allows himself to be so overpowered by anger that, instead of seeking the cause of the prevailing misery in his own apostasy and that of the nation, he swears to put to death, without delay, the man [who had endeavored to fix his attention upon the true cause of the calamity, and] whom he had once addressed as “father.” Yet this anger is also of short duration. He repents of his oath, and hastens to prevent the murder, and asks Elisha, trembling and despairing, if there is no further hope. He does not hear the promise of deliverance with scorn, as his officer does, but with hope and confidence. Then again, when the promised deliverance is announced as actually present, he once more becomes doubtful and mistrustful, and his servants have to encourage him, and push him on to a decision. Thus, at one moment elated, at another depressed, now good-natured and now hard and cruel, now angry and again despairing, now trustful and again distrustful, he never rises above a character of indecision, changeableness, and contrasted dispositions. He was indeed better than his father Ahab, but he was still a true son of this father (see 1 Kings 18, Hist. § 6). In one thing only he was firm: “He cleaved unto the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, which made Israel to sin; he departed not therefrom” (2Ki_3:3). Since, not to mention so many other proofs of the divine power, patience, and faithfulness, even the deliverance of Samaria from the greatest peril did not avail to bring him into other courses, judgment now came upon him and his dynasty, and the threat of the Law was fulfilled: “I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation” (Exo_20:5). He was the fourth member of the dynasty of Omri, or, as it is commonly called, from the principal sovereign of the family, the house of Ahab. With him, that dynasty ended (2Ki_9:10).
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
2Ki_6:8-23. The Lord is Hiding-place and Shield (Psa_119:114). (a) He brings to nought the plots of the crafty, so that they cannot accomplish them (Job_5:12), 2Ki_6:8-14. (b) “The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them” (Psa_34:7), 2Ki_6:15-19. (c) “The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made: in the net which they hid is their own foot taken” (Psa_9:15; Psa_35:7), 2Ki_6:20-23.
2Ki_6:8-17. Krummacher: Hints of the Course of Things in Zion. (a) The revealed plot; (b) the military expedition against one man; (c) the peaceful abode; (d) the cry of alarm; (e) the unveiled protection from above.
2Ki_6:8. Cramer: The heart of man plots its courses, but the Lord alone permits them to prosper. “A man’s heart deviseth his way; but the Lord directeth his steps” (Pro_16:9). “There is no wisdom, nor understanding, nor counsel against the Lord” (Pro_21:30).—Let them undertake the enterprise as cunningly as they can, God leads to another end than that they seek (Isa_8:10).—“In such and such a place shall be my camp” (Pro_27:1; Jam_4:13-16).
2Ki_6:9. Osiander: It is no treason to bring crafty and malicious plots to the light. It is a sacred duty (Act_23:16). Beware of going into places where thou wilt be in jeopardy of soul and body. Be on thy guard when the enemy advances, and “put on the whole armor of God” (Ephes. 6:13 sq.).
2Ki_6:10. No one has ever regretted that he followed the advice of a man of God; on the contrary, many have thus been saved from ruin.
2Ki_6:11. Starke: When God brings to naught the plots of the crafty, they become enraged, and, instead of recognizing the hand of God and humbling themselves, they lay the blame upon other men, and become more malicious and obstinate.—He who does not understand the ways of God, thinks that he sees human treason in what is really God’s dispensation. Woe to the ruler who cannot trust his nearest attendants (Psa_101:6-7).
2Ki_6:12. A heathen, in a foreign land, confesses, in regard to Elisha, something which no one in Israel had yet admitted to be true. The same thing also happened when the greatest of all prophets appeared (Mat_8:10; Mat_13:57).—Krummacher: Tremble with fear, ye obstinate sinners, because all is bare and discovered before His eyes, and shudder at the thought that the veil, behind which ye carry on your works, does not exist for Him! All which ye plot in your secret corners to-day, ye will find to-morrow inscribed upon His book, and however secretly and cunningly ye spin your web, not a single thread of it shall escape His eye!
2Ki_6:13. How mad it is to fight against, or to attempt to crush, a cause in which the agency of a higher power is visible (Isa_14:27; Act_5:38-39).
2Ki_6:14. Benhadad sends out an entire army against one, out finds but the truth of the words in Psa_33:18 sq.
2Ki_6:14-23. Elisha during Distress and Danger, (a) (Although enclosed by an entire army, he does not fear or tremble, like his companion, but speaks to him words of encouragement and confidence. This is the effect of a firm faith, which is the substance, &c., Heb_11:1. Faith takes away all fear, and gives true and joyful courage, Psa_23:4; Psa_91:1-4; 2Co_4:8. David speaks with this faith, Psa_3:5-6; Psa_27:1-3; and Hezekiah, 2Ch_32:7; and Luther: Und wenn die Welt voll Teufel wär, und wollt, &c.) (b) His prayer, 2Ki_6:17-18. (“Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes!” So should every true servant of God pray for every soul that is entrusted to him. We all need to use this prayer daily: Lord, open my eyes! for it is the greatest misfortune if one cannot see the fight, even by day (Eph_1:18). Elisha, however, also prays: “Lord, smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness,” for his own protection, and for their salvation, for they were to learn that He is a God who can save marvellously from the greatest distress, and that no craft or skill avails against Him. It is not permitted us to pray for harm to our enemies; but we may pray that God will make them powerless, and show them His might.) (c) His victory, 2Ki_6:19-23. (Those who wish to capture him, he captures; but his victory is no victory of revenge. He causes the captives to be entertained kindly, and allowed to depart in safety, that they may learn that the God, whose prophet Elisha is, is not only a mighty, but also a merciful and gracious God. God is not so much glorified by anything else as by returning good for evil. “For so is the will of God,” &c, Peter 2:15; cf. Rom_12:20. He won the highest victory who said upon the cross: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”)
2Ki_6:15. Our fortune also may change over night; then, how shall we bear it?—Starke: Our feeble flesh cannot do otherwise than despair, when distress comes suddenly upon us, especially if we are young and inexperienced; for experience brings hope (Rom_5:4).
2Ki_6:16-17. Cramer: If we had spiritual eyes, so that we could see the protecting forces of loving, holy angels, it would be impossible for us to fear devils or wicked men (Psa_104:4; Heb_1:14).
2Ki_6:17-18. Berleb. Bibel: In the kingdom of Jesus Christ, which is hidden from the world, blind men every day receive their sight, and men who see are smitten with blindness.
2Ki_6:18. The Lord smites with blindness those who light against Him, not in order that they may remain blind, but in order that they may truly see, after they shall have observed how far they have strayed, and shall have recognized the error of their way (Act_9:8 sq.; Joh_9:39).
2Ki_6:19. It is not a sin to withhold the truth from any one until the proper time for making it known, but, in many cases, it is even the duty of wisdom and love (Joh_13:7; Mat_10:16). “Follow me!” is the call of the only one who can lead us where we shall find that which we are, consciously or unconsciously, seeking, for He is the light of the world, &c. (Joh_8:12).
2Ki_6:20. A time will come for all who are spiritually blind, when their eyes will be opened, and they will learn that they have been walking in the paths of error.—Krummacher: Ye dream of some unknown kind of an Elysium, and ye shall awake at last among those of whom it shall be said: “Bind them hand and foot, and cast them into outer darkness.”
2Ki_6:21-23. “The wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God” (Jam_1:20). God does not give our enemies into our hands in order that we may revenge ourselves upon them, but in order that we may show ourselves to be children of Him who dealeth not with us according to our sins, neither rewardeth us according to our iniquities. He who receives forgiveness from God, must also show forgiveness to others; that is the gratitude which God requires of us, and which we owe to Him.
2Ki_6:23. Starke: True love to one’s enemies is never fruitless (1Sa_24:7; 1Sa_24:17-18).
2Ki_6:24-31. Samaria during the Siege, (a) The great scarcity; (b) the two women; (c) the king.
2Ki_6:24. Evil men wax worse and worse (2Ti_3:13). As Benhadad accomplished nothing by his raids, he made an attack with his entire force. A perverse and stubborn man cannot endure to be frustrated, and when he is, instead of leading him to submissiveness as it ought, it only hurts his pride, and makes him more irritated.
2Ki_6:25. General public calamities are not mere natural events, but visitations of God on account of public guilt. Cf. Jer_2:19; Jer_3:12-13.—Krummacher: Of all the judgments of God in this world, none is more terrible than famine. It is a scourge which draws blood.… It often happens that God takes this scourge in hand when, in spite of manifold warnings, His name is forgotten in the land, and apostasy, rebellion, and unbelief are prevalent.
2Ki_6:26-29. Necessity leads to prayer, wherever there is a spark of the fear of God remaining; but where that fear is wanting, “necessity knows no law” becomes the watchword. The crime of the two women is a proof that, where men fall away from God, they may sink down among the ravenous beasts. Separate sores, which form upon the body, are signs that the body is diseased, and the blood poisoned. Shocking crimes of individuals are proofs that the community is morally rotten.
2Ki_6:26. Starke: Earthly might can help and protect us against the injustice of men, but not against the judgments of God.
2Ki_6:27. How many a one speaks thus who might help if he only earnestly tried. When the prayer: Help me! is addressed to thee, do not refer the suppliant to God for consolation while any means of help, which are in thine own hands, remain untried (1Jn_3:17; Jam_2:15-16).
2Ki_6:30-31. Calw. Bibel: See here a faithful picture of the wrongheadedness of man in misfortune. In the first place, we halfway make up our minds to repent, in the hope of deliverance; but if this is not obtained at once, and in the wished-for way, we burst out in rage either against our fellow men, or against God himself. Observe, moreover, the great ingratitude of men. Jehoram had already, several times, experienced the marvellous interference of God; once it fails, however, and he is enraged. The garment of penitence upon the body is of no avail, if an impenitent heart beats beneath it. Anger and rage and plots of murder cannot spring from the heart which is truly penitent. It is the most dangerous superstition to imagine that we can make satisfaction for our sins, can become reconciled to God, and turn aside His wrath, by external performances, the wearing of sackcloth, fasting, self-chastisement, the repetition of prayers, &c. (Psa_51:16-17). The world is horrified, indeed, at the results of sin; but not at sin itself. Instead of confessing: “We have sinned” (Dan_9:5), Jehoram swears that the man of God shall die (2Co_7:10).—Starke: Whenever God’s judgments fall upon a people, the teachers and preachers must bear the blame (1Ki_18:17; Amo_7:10).
2Ki_6:32 to 2Ki_7:2. Elisha’s Declarations in his own House. (a) To the assembled elders; (b) to the despairing king; (c) to the scoffing officer.
2Ki_6:32. The Lord preserves the souls of His saints; he will save them from the hands of the godless (Psa_97:10). He sends friends at the right moment, who serve us as a defence against wickedness and unrighteous persecution.—Krummacher: It is pleasant to be with brethren in a time of calamity. One feels in union a power against all calamities which threaten him.…. Moreover, especial promises attach to such a union. Where two or three are gathered together in the name of the Lord, there is He in the midst of them.—Cramer: Although the saints of God are unterrified at the possibility of martyrdom, yet they are not permitted to cast themselves into the flames, but may properly make use of all ordinary and just means to preserve themselves for the good of the church of God (Php_1:22).
2Ki_6:33, cf. Pro_21:1. The wrath of the king changes to timidity and hesitation. The heart of the natural man is a rebellious, but, at the same time, wavering thing. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord (Jer_17:7; Jer_17:9; Psa_37:17).—2Ki_7:1. We must still answer “Hear the word of the Lord” to those who, in littleness of faith and in despair, cry out, what more shall I wait for from the Lord? A bruised reed shall he not break, &c. (Mat_12:20). “To-morrow, at this time.” When the need is greatest, God is nearest. If God often unexpectedly helps even apostates out of great need, how much more will He do this for His own, who call to Him day and night. He has roads for every journey; He does not lack for means.
2Ki_7:2. The Sin of Unbelief and its Punishment. The children of this world consider their unbelief to be wisdom and enlightenment, and they seek to put that which is a consolation and an object of reverence to others, in a ridiculous light. The Lord will not leave such wickedness unpunished. It is only too often the case that high-born, and apparently well-bred men, at court, take pleasure in mockeries of the word of God and of its declarations, without reflecting that they thereby bear testimony to their own inner rudeness, vulgarity, and want of breeding. It is a bad sign of the character of a prince, where scoffers form the most intimate circle of his retinue (Psa_1:1-4). Unbelief is folly, because it robs itself of the blessing which is the portion of faith.
2Ki_7:3-16. The Miraculous Deliverance of Samaria. It declares loudly (a) what is written in Dan_2:20 : “Wisdom and might are His.” (He knows how, without chariots or horses, without arms or army, merely by His terror, to put an enemy to flight, Exo_23:27; to feed the hungry, and set the captives at liberty, Psa_147:7, in order that all may confess: “Who is so great a God,” &c., Psa_77:13-14; and: “Let not the wise man glory,” &c., Jer_9:23-24); (b) cf. Psa_103:8 : If ever a deliverance was undeserved, then this was, that all might admit: “It is of the Lord’s mercies,” &c. (Lam_3:22; Rom_2:4-5).
2Ki_7:3-10. The Lepers outside the City. (a) Their conversation (2Ki_7:3-4); (b) their visit to the Syrian camp (2Ki_7:5; 2Ki_7:8); (c) their message to the king (2Ki_7:9-10).
2Ki_7:3-4. Krummacher: How often the same disposition meets us in the dwellings of the poor; instead of a joyful and believing looking up to heaven, a faithless looking for help from human hands; instead of submission to God, a dull discontent—a despair which quarrels with the eternal.… Thence comes the frequent neglect of the household, and decay of the family. And then what language is this: “If they kill us, we shall only die,” as if the grave was the end of men, and the great Beyond were only a dream; or as if it were a matter of course that the pain of death atones for the sins of a wasted life, and must rightfully purchase their pardon, and a reception into heavenly blessedness. Our life lies in the hand of God, who sets its limit, which we may not anticipate. Circumstances may, indeed, arise in which a man wishes for death; it makes a great difference, however, whether this wish comes from weariness of life, or whether we say, with St. Paul: “I long to depart and be with Christ.” Only when Christ has become our life, is death a gain.
2Ki_7:5-7. Starke: The Almighty laughs at the planning of the proud, and brings their schemes to a disgraceful end (Psa_2:1 sq.; Dan_4:33-34).—Würtemb. Summ.: It is only necessary that in the darkness a wind should blow, or that water should splash in free course, or that an echo should resound from the mountains, or that the wind should rustle the dry leaves, to terrify the godless, so that they flee as if pursued by a sword, and fall, though no one pursues them (Lev_26:36). Therefore, we should cling fast to God in the persecution of our enemies, should trust Him, and earnestly cry to Him for help; He has a thousand ways to help us.
2Ki_7:6. Krummacher: It happens to the unconverted man, as it did here to the Syrians. God causes him to hear the rumbling of His anger, the roaring of the death-floods, the thunder of His law, and the trumpet-sounds of the judgmentday. Then he flees from the doomed camp, in which he has dwelt hitherto, and hurls away the dead-weight of his own wisdom, justice, and strength.
2Ki_7:8-9. Würt. Summ.: Many a one gets chances to acquire property dishonestly, to enjoy luxury and debauchery, to gratify fleshly lusts, and to commit other sins, and, if he is secure from human eye, he does not trouble himself about the all-seeing eye of God; but his crime is discovered at last in his own conscience, and, by God’s judgment, it is revealed and punished. Conscience can, indeed, be benumbed for a time; but it will not rest forever; it awakes at last, and stings all the more the longer it has been still. He who conceals what he has found, is not better than a thief.—Pfaffsche Bibel: It is a good action to warn others of wickedness, and to hold them back from sin, still more to encourage them to virtue (Heb_10:24).
2Ki_7:10. Lepers, i.e., outcast and despised men, were destined, according to God’s Providence, to announce to the threatened city, in the crisis of its danger, the great and wonderful act of God. God is wont to use slight and contemptible instruments for his great works, that He may, by the foolish things of the world, confound the wise (1Co_1:27). Fishermen and publicans brought to a lost world the best Good News, the gospel, which is a power to make all blessed who believe in it.
2Ki_7:12-15. Doubt and distrust of God’s promises are deeply inrooted in the human heart. Where it is most necessary to be prudent, there the heart of man is sure and free from care (Psa_53:5), and where there is nothing to fear, there it is anxious. Instead of confessing with joy: Lord, I am unworthy of the least of all thy mercies, when the promised help is offered, it does not trust even yet, until it can see with the eyes and grasp with the hands.
2Ki_7:16. Calw. Bibel: Learn from this that He can lead us, as in a dream, through the gates of death, and, in an instant, set us free.—Würt. Summ.: It is easy for our Lord and God to bring days of plenty close upon days of famine and want. Therefore, we should not despair, but trust in God, and await His blessing in hope and patience, until He “open the windows of heaven” (Mal_3:10).—Starke: God’s word fails not; not a word of His ever fell upon the earth in vain; every one is fulfilled to the uttermost, both promise and threat.
2Ki_7:17-20. The judgment upon the king’s officer proclaims aloud: “Be not deceived: God is not mocked” (Gal_6:7; Pro_13:13).—Krummacher: His corpse became a bloody seal upon the words of Jehovah, and of His prophet.—Berleb. Bibel: In the last days also, when the abundance of the divine grace shall be poured out, like a stream, in the midst of the greatest misery, many despisers of the glorious promises of God will see the beginning thereof, but will not attain to the enjoyment of it; they will be thrust aside by marvellous judgments.
Footnotes:
[2]2Ki_6:9.—[On נְחִתִּים Ges. Thes. s. v. says: “Whoever gave this word its punctuation seems to have derived it from the root חתת (cf. Job_21:13), but the force of descent, going down, is necessary and indubitable.” Sept. κέκρυπται; Vulg. in insidiis sunt. The H.- W.-B. makes it an adj. from נחת, but Ew. casts doubt upon the form, and says it could as well be a part. niphal from חַת, § 187, 6.
[3]2Ki_6:10.—[“He protected himself,” i.e., he occupied the threatened point, and so frustrated the attack. Every time that the Syrians came they found that the Israelites had anticipated them at the point where they proposed to attack.
[4]Ver 11.—[Ewald, Lehrb. § 181, b, and note 2, rejects the form מִשֶּׁלָּנוּ as an incorrect reading. He takes מִכֻּלָּנוּ (as in 2Ki_9:5) to be the true reading. It is clear, however, that in 9:5 Jehu includes himself among those, one of whom the answer is to designate, while the king of Syria asks, “Who of those who belong to us?” naturally enough excluding himself from the number of those who fall under suspicion of treachery. The meaning of the two forms is quite distinct, and each belongs to the place in which it is used. Ewald’s theory of the use of the abbreviated form of אשר must bend to this instance; the instance cannot be thus done away with, in the interest of the theory.
[5]2Ki_7:12.—[The ה in the chetib is that of the article, which, in the later books, is sometimes found even after a preposition. Ew. § 244, a.
[6]2Ki_7:13.—[That is to say: They go to the fate which has already befallen all the people who are gone, and which sooner or later, awaits all who remain.—W. G. S.] We agree with Thenius that the keri המון is to be preferred, because the word occurs immediately afterward without the article.—Bähr. [Ew. explains the article in the chetib as retained in the later or less accurate usage, especially where the article has emphatic force. § 290, d.—W. G. S.]
[7]2Ki_7:15.—Keil: The chetib בְּהֵחָפְזָם is the only possible correct form, for חפז has the meaning, to flee with haste, only in the niphal. Cf. 1Sa_23:26; Psa_48:5.—Bähr.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv2, 5, 6, 8, 13, 15, 17, 18, 19, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 32 Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan--whose wooded…
Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan--whose wooded banks would furnish plenty of timber.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv1, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 THE LOST AXE HEAD RECOVERED, 2Ki_6:1-7.
THE LOST AXE HEAD RECOVERED, 2Ki_6:1-7.
This miracle is recorded immediately after that of Naaman’s cure, not because it followed it in the order of time, but because both events were associated with the Jordan, and especially because the one stands in noticeable contrast with the other. The chief point to be noticed in this miracle is not the mere strange wonder that iron is made to swim, but that a lost instrument of labour is miraculously restored to a poor man who could ill afford to lose it. The miracle of Naaman’s cure shows how the power of God relieves from sore distress one of the great and honourable ones of the world, and an idolater. It was a public display of omnipotence and grace, and served to extol the God of Israel among the nations. But lest any should suppose that Jehovah displays his power and grace only on great occasions, or for the great alone, the record of this other miracle is immediately added, teaching precisely the opposite lesson. A poor and almost unknown prophet of Jericho has a miracle wrought in his behalf in the very sphere of what might be called the most insignificant affairs of private life and toil. But with our God there are no little things. What seem to us the little cares and sorrows of the poor of this world, may have a magnitude in God’s eye as great as the cares of empire and the afflictions of princes. The loss of the axe was, to the poor prophet who had borrowed it, a calamity greater than would have been to Naaman the loss of all the treasures he brought with him from Damascus.
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It should also be observed, that of this class of Elisha’s wonderful works this is the last one recorded, and that it makes a fitting complement to his other miracles of blessing. The healing of the waters of Jericho, the increase of the widow’s oil, the raising of the Shunammite’s son, the healing of the poisoned pottage, the multiplying of the loaves, and the healing of Naaman, all had more direct reference to the wants of families or societies, and did not so much enter into the particular anguish of one single heart, as did this. This relieving era comparatively little loss, and that of a single individual, gives assurance that Divine Providence will work for the comfort of one suffering heart as well as for the interests of societies or families; and shows that sorrows which we may think of little moment, receive great attention from Him who numbers the hairs of our heads.
1. The sons of the prophets — The members of one of the prophetical schools, probably the one at Jericho. Compare 2Ki_2:5.
The place where we dwell — The house we occupy here at Jericho. Gilgal, which many expositors have supposed to be the place here referred to, was too far from the Jordan to meet well the conditions of this narrative, and the Gilgal where the prophets had a school was certainly not the spot where Joshua first pitched his camp after crossing the Jordan. See note on 2Ki_2:1.
Too strait for us — Too small for our accommodation. The numbers of the prophets seem to have increased, both in Judah and Israel, in proportion to the increasing wickedness of the two kingdoms. Here, too, it appears that the prophets dwelt in houses of their own; probably rude huts or booths, which their own hands had made. So in Samuel’s time they had their habitations (Naioth) near Ramah. See note on 1Sa_19:19.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv1–33 Ch. 2Ki_6:1-7. Elisha causeth an axe lost in the…
Ch. 2Ki_6:1-7. Elisha causeth an axe lost in the river to float (Not in Chronicles)
1. And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha] There is nothing to indicate which out of the various prophetic communities is here spoken of. But by the proposal which follows, that they should go to the Jordan, and bring from thence each man his beam, we may conclude that the place was not far from the river. The station nearest to the Jordan of which we are told is Jericho, and it may be that there the company had grown beyond their buildings.
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the place where we dwell with [R.V. before] thee] The R.V. is correct, and gives more truly the picture of Elisha’s relation to these societies. From the other parts of the history we can gather that he made visits to the several settlements from time to time. And when he arrived, and while he remained, the members were about him as scholars around a teacher. They sat before him (2Ki_4:38). Hence the preposition in this verse.
is too strait for us] The religious activity of the prophetic schools must have been very great during the life of Elisha, and must also have produced its effect upon the life of the nation. We cannot regard these societies merely as retreats from the world, where the servants of Jehovah retired in despair. Such families as that at Shunem, spoken of in the last chapter, must have been of frequent occurrence. And the increase of the number of prophets may be taken as a sign that true religion was growing in the land. ‘It is a good hearing that the prophets want elbow-room.’ (Bp Hall.)
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv1–33 (1-7) The prophet causes an iron ax-head to float…
VI.
THE HISTORY OF ELISHA’S MIGHTY WORKS CONTINUED.
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(1-7) The prophet causes an iron ax-head to float ύn the Jordan.
(1) And the sons of the prophets said.—The form of the verb implies connection with the preceding narrative; but as the section refers to Elisha’s activity among the sons of the prophets, it was probably connected originally with 2Ki_4:44. The compiler may have transferred it to its present position in order, as Thenius suggests, to indicate the lapse of some time between the events described here and there; and further, to separate the account of the renewed warfare between Syria and Israel (2Ki_6:8, seq.) from that of Elisha’s good deed to Naaman the Syrian.
The place where we dwell with thee.—Rather, the place where we sit before thee: scil., habitually, for instruction. The phrase occurred in 2Ki_4:38. The common hall is meant; whether that at Gilgal or at Jericho is uncertain. Jericho was close to the Jordan (2Ki_6:2), but that does not prove that it is meant here. The prophet’s disciples did not live in a single building, like a community of monks. Their settlement is called “dwellings” (nâyôth) in the plural (1Sa_19:18); and they could be married (2Ki_4:1).
Too strait.—Their numbers had increased. (Comp. 2Ki_4:43.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv1–33 2Ki_7:20. FURTHER MIRACLES WROUGHT BY ELISHA. The historian relates…
2Ki_7:20. FURTHER MIRACLES WROUGHT BY ELISHA. The historian relates first a (comparatively) private miracle wrought by Elisha in the vicinity of Jericho, for the benefit of one of the "sons of the prophets" (vers. 1-8). He then tells us briefly of a series of public miracles which brought Elisha into much note and prominence. War, it appears, had again broken out in a pronounced form between Israel and Syria, Syria being the aggressor. The Syrian monarch prepared traps for his adversary, encamping in places where he hoped to take him at a disadvantage. But Elisha frustrated these plans, by addressing warnings to the King of Israel, and pointing out to him the various positions occupied (vers. 8-12), which he consequently avoided. When this came to the ears of the King of Syria, he made an attempt to obtain possession of Elisha"s person an attempt which failed signally (vers. 13-23), owing to the miraculous powers of the prophet. Benhadad, some time after this, made a great expedition into the land of Israel, penetrating to the capital, and laying siege to it. The circumstances of the siege, and the escape of the city when at the last gasp, are related partly in the present chapter (vers. 24-33), partly in the next.
And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell with thee literally, before theeis too strait for us. The scene of this miracle is probably the vicinity of Jericho, since both Gilgal and Bethel were remote from the Jordan. The "school of the prophets" at Jericho, whereof we heard in 2Ki_2:5, 2Ki_2:19, had increased so much, that the buildings which hitherto had accommodated it were no longer sufficient. A larger dwelling, or set of dwelling, was thought to be necessary; but the scholars would make no change without the sanction of their master. When he comes on one of his circuits, they make appeal to him.
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Vers. 1-7.
Mutual love and help the best bond of religious communities.
"Behold, how good and joyful a thing it is, brethren, to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down unto the beard, even unto Aaron"s beard, and went down to the skirts of his clothing; like as the dew of Hermon, which fell upon the hill of Zion". (Psa_133:1-3) In religious communities it has been too often the practice to govern by fear. An autocratic authority has been committed to, or assumed by, the head, who has exacted from all the other members an entire, absolute, and unreasoning obedience. Vows of obedience, of the most rigid character, have been taken; and it has been inculcated on all that the sum total of virtue lay in obeying, without a murmur or a question, every order issued by the superior. An iron rule has characterized such institutions, and a cold, unloving temper has prevailed in them. How different is the picture drawn in the beautiful passage before us! How sweet and pleasing is the community-life of Elisha and his prophet-disciples! Though bound by no vow of obedience, they undertake nothing without their master (vers. 2 and 3). They require an enlargement of their dwelling-place, but they will not commence it without his sanction. Even his sanction is not enough; they ask his presence, his superintending eye, his guiding mind. And he complies willingly, cheerfully. No trouble is too much for him. Go ye," he says; but when they object and plead, "Be content, I pray thee, and go with thy servants," he at once consents, and says, "I will go." He goes, he looks on with sympathy, he guides, he aids. At the first touch of misfortune, his sympathy blossoms into help. How charming is the childlike confidence and communicativeness of the disciple, who, on losing his axe-head, immediately reveals his loss to the master, and tells him why it was so especially grievous to him it a borrowed one!" And how admirable the kindness and fellow-feeling, which uttered no reproach, made no suggestion of carelessness or of stupidity in selecting a tree so near the stream, but thought only of finding a remedy. Natural means being unavailing, the prophet deems the occasion no unsuitable one for the exercise of his miraculous powers, which he is as willing to exert on behalf of a humble prophet-student as on that of a great Syrian general. The terms on which Elisha and his disciples live are evidently those of mutual confidence and affection, of protection and fatherly care on the one hand; of appeal, regard, and childlike love on the other; and the result is a community which it is delightful to contemplate, and which increases and flourishes, in spite of the contempt and persecution of the world-lover, so that its place is "too strait for it.
HOMILIES BY C.H. IRWIN. Vers. 1-7.
An early theological college; its life and lessons.
Our theological colleges, where young men are trained for the office of the Christian ministry, do not receive from the Christian public that attention and sympathy, which they deserve, more interest ought to be taken in education generally. The Church should show more interest in Sunday-school work. If office-bearers and parents in every Christian land would visit the Sunday school occasionally, and hear the children repeat their lessons and sing their hymns, it would do themselves good, and it would be a great encouragement to those who are engaged in the important work of Sunday-school teaching. The work of our theological colleges is to a great extent different from that of other places of education. The very nature of the studies is such that the general public could not be expected to take much interest in them. But there are other ways of showing an interest in our colleges besides actually entering a college class-room, or listening to a professor"s lecture. Occasionally, a rich member of the Church leaves a considerable sum to found a scholarship or a bursary; but how little is done by the members of the Church generally! Yet all the members of the Church are interested in having not only a godly, but also a well-educated ministry.
I THERE WAS INDUSTRY IN THAT COLLEGE. These students in Elisha"s college knew how to work, and they were not above doing their own work. They had not reached that high state of civilization when manual labor is considered a disgrace. Their house, which was college and students" residence all in one, had become too small for them. So they said to Elisha one day, "Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell." It was an enactment of the Jewish religion that every boy, no matter what his position, should be taught some handicraft. The Jewish Talmud says, "What is commanded of a father toward his son? To circumcise him, to teach him the Law, and to teach him a trade." Thus we find that the Apostle Paul, who had sat at the feet of Gamaliel, and was a distinguished scholar, was also a tentmaker. Even when a preacher of the gospel, he labored with his own hands for his support. It is not generally the custom now for ministers of the gospel to follow any other calling. It is found more convenient that they should devote themselves entirely to the work of the ministry, for all men have not the genius of the Apostle Paul. It is true that the missionaries of certain Missionary Societies all learn a trade, and most of them support themselves by their own exertions at farming or other work. But this also has been found very undesirable, and it has been under serious consideration to abandon the custom altogether. But whether they engage in manual labor or not, all ministers and all students for the ministry should be, as these students in Elisha"s time were, industrious in their work. In whatever calling we are engaged, let us cultivate habits of industry. Let us remember the apostle"s injunction to be "diligent in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.
II THERE WAS DISCIPLINE IN THAT COLLEGE. These young students, excellent and well-conducted as they no doubt were, did not think they might do as they liked or go where they liked. They came to Elisha, and asked his consent to their proposal. And so it should be in all the relationships of life. "Order is Heaven"s first law." There should be discipline in the family, discipline in the Church, discipline in the Sunday school, discipline in the nation, and regard for constituted authority. Dr. Arnold of Rugby once said to his assembled scholars, when there had been some disorder in the school, and he had expelled several boys, "It is not necessary that this should be a school of three hundred, or of one hundred, or of fifty boys; but it is necessary that it should be a school of Christian gentlemen." No wonder there is disregard for authority in the nation when it is not properly taught or insisted on in the home. The Christian Church should be a model of order. Order should characterize its services, its management, its work. "Let all things be done decently and in order.
III THERE WAS KINDNESS IN THAT COLLEGE. What pleasant and brotherly relations between the prophet and his pupils! He could be stern with the haughty Naaman; he could severely rebuke the covetous, lying Gehazi; but he knew how to unbend among his innocent-hearted students. He had evidently already won their affections. It was a good sign of both him and them they asked him to accompany them. And now he shows his kindly nature once more by going with them at their request. So it ought to be with all Christians. We hardly think enough of Christ"s command that we should love one another. What friendly relations there should be between professors and students, between ministers and their people, between parents and children, between teachers and scholars, between employers and employed, between masters and servants! Authority is never weakened by kindness. Some employers, some teachers, seem to think it adds to their dignity and to their influence to be stern to those beneath them. They make a great mistake. The most respected professors are those who treat their students as brothers, and not as inferiors. The most respected employers are those who are kind and courteous and considerate to those in their employment. Kindness does not weaken influence; it increases it. Oh! to be filled with the spirit of Christ, who made himself of no reputation, and took upon himself the form of a servant. Kindness and humility are twin sisters.
IV THERE WAS GROWTH IN THAT COLLEGE. Under the influence of such a teacher as Elisha, the number of students increased so much that the place became too small for them, and it was necessary for them to build a new school of the prophets. Let me see growth in a Church and I shall believe in its life. A stone does not grow, because it has no life. A tree grows, because there is life in it. If you see that a tree has ceased to grow, to put forth new leaves in the spring-time, you know that it is dead. A Church that is not growing must be a lifeless Church. If you are a living Christian, let the signs of it be manifest in the growth of your Christian graces.
V THE PRESENCE OF GOD WAS THERE. This was shown in the miracle which Elisha wrought of causing the iron to swim. It was not by his own power, he was only the instrument in the hand of God, and God owned his efforts, for he was engaged in God"s work. This last feature of that theological college was the best of all. God"s presence was in the midst of it. Without that, of what use would have been their industry or their discipline? Without that, would there have been such bonds of kindness? Without that, would there have been such evidences of growth? "Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it." Without that, what a mockery it would have been for them to have looked forward to be the teachers of others in the truths of religion! What a mockery for any man to enter a pulpit and speak about the love of Jesus, who is himself a stranger to that love! What a mockery for any man to speak about the grace of God, who has never experienced it in his own heart and life! The late Rev. Dr. Cooke of Belfast once said that "an educated ministry is desirable, but a converted ministry is essential. C.H.I.
HOMILIES BY D. THOMAS Vers. 1-7. A Church-extension enterprise.
the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us," etc. If there were a Church in Israel at all, the schools of the prophets undoubtedly constituted a part of that Church. They were a communion of godly men. The brief narrative, therefore, may fairly be regarded as a record of a Church-extension enterprise, and as such four things are observable things that all who contemplate such enterprises should ponder and imitate.
I This Church-extension enterprise was STIMULATED BY THE PRINCIPLE OF GROWTH. The old sphere had become too narrow for them, they had outgrown it. "And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us." The numbers who came to listen to Elisha and the increase of students required greater accommodation than the whole place could afford. This is a principle on which all Church-extension, should proceed; but in these modern times it is sometimes not only ignored, but outraged. Although statistics show that the churches and chapels in England fall miserably short of the accommodation necessary for the whole population, it is three times greater than is required for the number of attendants. On all sides empty churches and chapels abound, millions of money contributed for religious purposes lie as the "one talent," wrapped in a napkin, unused. And yet still, almost every religious denomination seems to feel that the building of new churches is its grand mission. The fact is that church-building has, in many cases, become a business speculation. One church should grow out of another; the grain of mustard seed will create its own organism, multiply its own branches, and propagate its vitality.
II This Church-extension enterprise was CONDUCTED IN A MANLY MANNER.
1. The best counsel was sought before a step was taken. These sons of the prophets went to Elisha and said, "Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan." Though they were young, perhaps with all the stirring impulses of youth, they were conscious of their need of counsel, end they sought it. In these modern times in England we speak from extensive experience churches and chapels are often built from ignorant zeal and a spirit of rivalry. How unmanly is this!
2. Each man set to honest work in the matter. "Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell." Matthew Henry quaintly says, "When they wanted room they did not speak of sending for cedars, and marble stones, and curious artificers, but only of getting every man a beam, to run up a plain hut or cottage with." Each man, it would seem, felled his beam, carried and adjusted it. How right, manly, and honest all this! They never thought of putting up a grand place at other people"s expense. Ah me! how far we are fallen in spirit from them l To erect modern churches and chapels, what means do we use? Fawning entreaties, addressed to moneyed ignorance and stupidity, bazaars with their questionable procedures, their displays, their raffles, and their flirtations.
III This Church-extension enterprise ENCOUNTERED DIFFICULTIES UNEXPECTED. "And when they came to Jordan, they cut down wood. But as one was felling a beam, the axe-head fell into the water: and he cried, and said, Alas, master! for it was borrowed." Why this distress of the woodman? Was it because the axe was borrowed and he had not the wherewith to pay, or because he was checked in his operation? Perhaps both were reasons for his distress. The former I trow the greater. In all worthy enterprises on this earth difficulties crop up unawares. Perhaps the best enterprises encounter the greatest difficulties. "The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong." But difficulties are in truth blessings in disguise. They challenge the courage and rouse the forces of the worker. They bring out his manhood. They are to the true worker what tempests are to young trees they deepen the roots and strengthen the fibers. Besides, there is no consciousness of virtue in doing that which involves no struggle.
IV This Church-extension enterprise OBTAINED SUPERNATURAL HELP WHEN NEEDED. When the man who had lost his axe was crying out in distress, Elisha, the "man of God said, Where fell it? And he showed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither; and the iron did swim. Therefore said he, Take it up to thee. And he put out his hand, and took it." Elisha here, by raising the axe and making the iron swim, overcame a law of nature the law of gravitation. Up to this point in this enterprise there does not seem to have been any supernatural interposition. They prosecuted their journeying, they cut down the timber, they carried their beams, all by their own natural skill and force. They did not require supernatural aid. But now one of them did, and it came. We must not expect any special power from heaven to do that which we have the natural force to accomplish ourselves. "As thy day, so thy strength shall be. D.T.
HOMILIES BY J. ORR
Vers. 1-7. The borrowed axe.
This is another of Elisha"s miracles of aid. The story belongs to the same class of acts as those related in 2Ki_2:19-22 2Ki_4:1-7, 2Ki_4:38-44.
I THE AXE-HEAD NEEDED. The first verses present us with a picture of expansion and extension. The place where the sons of the prophets" dwelt or sat" before Elisha, at Jericho, had become too strait for them. Elisha"s influence was evidently telling on the nation. The religious movement represented by the prophetic schools was growing in force and volume. It is encouraging to hear of growth and progress in the Church. We note:
1. The prophets faced their situation. "Behold now, the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us." They did not stand still, and endeavor to accommodate their increased numbers to the old conditions. They showed a spirit of enterprise, of advance, in correspondence with their altered needs. This was true wisdom. The Church must adapt herself to new needs, to altered circumstances, to the conditions of progress, if she is to hold her ground. "Enlarge the place of thy tent," etc.. (Isa_54:2)
2. They were willing to put forth needful effort. "Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan, and take thence every man a beam," etc. They were prepared to do what was necessary to bring about the changes required. They had the two conditions of successful work unity of spirit, and individual willingness. They were to work together for a common end, and each man was to do his separate part. The individual wood-cutter could accomplish little. Unitedly, they could easily make a place for their common accommodation.
3. They desired Elisha to go with them. "Be content, I pray thee, and go with thy servants." Elisha was the bond of their community. They desired neither to act without his sanction nor to go where he could not accompany them. The Church, in her changes, must abide by fundamental truth, and do nothing which would exclude the Master.
II THE AXE-HEAD LOST. Elisha"s sanction given, the baud of prophets was soon busy at Jordan, cutting down trees, and preparing for the new building. Then occurred the mishap and loss which gives its name to the story. As one was felling a beam, the axe-head flew off, and fell into the deep part of the river. It was a borrowed axe, and the man"s lamentations were instant and sincere. Mishaps will occur in the best undertakings.
1. He had lost what a neighbor had lent him. The property was not his own. It had been lent him, probably at his own request, and in the spirit of neighborly good will. Such neighborly acts are pleasing to think of. But the more willingly the axe had been lent him, the more did the loser now regret the mishap which had befallen it. It is well that neighbors should be ready to lend; but the incident also shows the danger of borrowing. We should seek to be as independent of others as we can; then, if misfortune does befall us, what we lose is at least only our own.
2. He could not replace the loss. Had he been able to do so, he would not have required to borrow. The "sons of the prophets" were good men, but poor men. An axe-head was a small thing, but it meant much to the user, and perhaps not less to the original owner. It is a spirit of conscientiousness which speaks in the man"s lament. He held the axe as a trust, and desired earnestly to return it. It is good to see men faithful in that which is least". (Luk_16:10)
3. He could no longer do his part of the work. The axe-head was indispensable for the cutting down of his beam. He had the handle, but it was of no use without the iron. This also grieved him. Anything that incapacitates a man for bearing his part in the building work of God"s kingdom will be a sorrow to him.
III THE AXE-HEAD RECOVERED. The indirect appeal made to Elisha in the words, "Alas, master! for it was borrowed," was not in vain. It was a case in which Elisha might be expected to help, and he did so. In the miracle we see:
1. Human agency. There is a remarkable blending of the Divine and the human in the whole transaction. Elisha asked, "Where fell it?" It might have been thought that if he had the power to bring the iron to the surface, he would also be able to tell where it fell. But the man had to show him the place. Then, when the iron swam, Elisha said, "Take it to thee." And the man put out his hand and took it.
2. Expressive symbol. The miracle, as usual, was accompanied by a symbolical action. A stick was cut down, and thrown into the water. The act was only an expressive way of saying, "Let the iron swim as this stick does." Its sole function was to direct attention to the supernatural result.
3. Almighty power. "The iron did swim." There was here, not the alteration of the properties of iron (else it would be iron no longer), but the introduction of a new cause, which counteracted the natural effect of gravity, and raised the iron to the surface. Nature is but an instrument in the hand of God, and can be bent by him to his own purposes. The lesson of the incident is to trust God for help even in what we might be tempted to call the small things of life. The loss of an axe-head may seem a trivial circumstance to call for an interference with the laws of the universe. But with God there is no great and little. We can make known all our wants to him, with assurance of being helped. J.O.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 5, 8, 17, 19, 25 The place where we dwell is too strait for…
2Ki_6:1-6
The place where we dwell is too strait for us.
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A church-extension enterprise
If there was a church in Israel at all, the school of the prophets undoubtedly constituted a part of that church. They were a communion of godly men.
I. This church-extension enterprise was stimulated by the principle of growth. The old sphere had become too narrow for them, they had outgrown it. This is a principle on which all church-extension should proceed, but in these modern times it is not only ignored, but outraged. Although statistics show that the churches and chapels in England fall miserably short of the accommodation necessary for the whole population, it is three times greater than is required for the number of attendants.
II. This church-extension enterprise was conducted in a manly manner.
1. The best counsel was sought before a step was taken.
2. Each man set to honest work in the matter. Take thence every man a beam.
III. This church-extension enterprise encountered difficulties unexpected. And when they came to Jordan, they cut down wood. But as one was felling a beam, the axe-head fell into the water: and he cried and said, Alas, master! for it was borrowed.
IV. This church-extension enterprise obtained supernatural help when needed. When the man who had lost his axe and was crying out in distress, Elisha, the man of God said, Where fell it? And he showed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither; and the iron did swim. Therefore said he, Take it up to thee. And he put out his hand, and took it. (Homilist.)
Age and youth
Few questions are more perplexing than the question as to what should be the character of the relationship between the old and the young. Many of our young people are impatient of the restraints which older people would put upon them, while those who have had long experience of the world are apt to be equally impatient of the impulsive ardour and restlessness of youth.
I. Consider the characteristics of youth. These are well known, and failure to recognise them must mean failure in all dealings with them. Wisdom comes not to the child. We must deal with people as they are, not as we wish them to be. Among the characteristics of youth we select a few:--Dissatisfaction. The sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us. Elisha seems to have been very content; not so the young men. They wanted a larger place. Desire for improvement (2Ki_6:2). This is the outcome of the other. The desire increases, and the young want to measure their strength against the world.
3. Strength. Compared with the old, the young possess a large amount of energy, so much indeed that they cannot rest.
4. Thoughtlessness. As one was felling a beam, the axe-head fell into the water. With the least care on his part that would never have happened. What, then, ought the young to do? Seek the help of those who are older and wiser than themselves.
II. Consider the powers possessed by age.
1. They have knowledge of the world. They know its temptations, how subtle and how persistent they are.
2. They have experience of human life. They have seen lives begun in promise go out in darkness.
3. They know the power of God. They can tell which way victory lies. They have seen Jesus and learned of Him.
(1) Let no one think the time wasted which is spent in cultivating the friendship and love of the young. Some shallow people would have said that the prophet was wasting his time.
(2) What attention we ought to pay to ourselves. Every man is reproducing his own character in others. No man liveth to himself.
(3) To do this, we must become friends of Jesus. Elisha is a type of Christ. (A. Jubb.)
Helping somebody
On one occasion the wife of General Sir Bartle Frere drove to a railway station to meet her husband. She told the footman to go and find his master. The servant, who had been engaged in Sir Bartles absence, asked how he should know the General. Oh, replied Lady Frere, look for a tall gentleman helping somebody. The description was sufficient. The servant went, and found the General helping an old lady out of a railway carriage. How well it is for men and women themselves, as well as for the world they bless, when they are known by God to be persons who are always trying to help somebody! (Quiver.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On vv1, 24 "Now there was found in the city a poor…
ELISHA AND THE SYRIANS
2Ki_6:1-23
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"Now there was found in the city a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city."
- Ecc_9:15
ELISHA, unlike his master Elijah, was, during a great part of his long career, intimately mixed up with the political and military fortunes of his country. The king of Israel who occurs in the following narratives is left nameless-always the sign of later and more vague tradition; but he has usually been identified with Jehoram ben-Ahab, and, though not without some misgivings, we shall assume that the identification is correct.
His dealings with Elisha never seem to have been very cordial, though on one occasion he calls him "my father." The relations between them at times became strained and even stormy.
His reign was rendered miserable by the incessant infestation of Syrian marauders. In these difficulties he was greatly helped by Elisha. The prophet repeatedly frustrated the designs of the Syrian king by revealing to Jeroboam the places of Benhadads ambuscades, so that Jeroboam could change the destination of his hunting parties or other movements, and escape the plots laid to seize his person. Benhadad, finding himself thus frustrated, and suspecting that it was due to treachery, called his servants together in grief and indignation, and asked who was the traitor among them. His officers assured him that they were all faithful, but that the secrets whispered in his bed-chamber were revealed to Jehoram by Elisha the prophet in Israel, whose fame had spread into Syria, perhaps because of the cure of Naaman. The king, unable to take any step while his counsels were thus published to his enemies, thought-not very consistently-that he could surprise and seize Elisha himself, and sent to find out where he was. At that time he was living in Dothan, about twelve miles northeast of Samaria, and Benhadad sent a contingent with horses and chariots by night to surround the city, and prevent any escape from its gates. That he could thus besiege a town so near the capital shows the helplessness to which Israel had been now reduced.
When Elishas servitor rose in the morning he was terrified to see the Syrians encamped round the city, and cried to Elisha, "Alas! my master, what shall we do?"
"Fear not," said the prophet: "they that be with us are more than they that be with them." He prayed God to grant the youth the same open eyes, the same spiritual vision which he himself enjoyed; and the youth saw the mountain full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.
This incident has been full of comfort to millions, as a beautiful illustration of the truth that-
"The hosts of God encamp around
The dwellings of the just;
Deliverance He affords to all
Who on His promise trust."
"Oh, make but trial of His love,
Experience will decide,
How blest are they, and only they,
Who in His truth confide."
The youths affectionate alarm had not been shared by his master. He knew that to every true servant of God the promise will be fulfilled, "He shall defend thee under His wings; thou shalt be safe under His feathers; His righteousness and truth shall be thy shield and buckler." {Psa_91:4}
Were our eyes similarly opened, we too should see the reality of the Divine protection and providence, whether under the visible form of angelic ministrants or not. Scripture in general, and the Psalms in particular, are full of the serenity inspired by this conviction. The story of Elisha is a picture-commentary on the Psalmists words: "The angel of the Lord encampeth round them that fear Him, and delivereth them." {Psa_34:7} "He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways." {Psa_91:11} "And I will encamp about Mine house because of the army, because of him that passeth by, and because of him that returneth: and no oppressor shall pass through them any more: for now have I seen with Mine eyes." {Zec_9:8} "The angel of His presence saved them: in His love and in His pity He redeemed them; and He bare them, and carried them all the days of old." {Isa_63:9}
But what is the exact meaning of all these lovely promises? They do not mean that Gods children and saints will always be shielded from anguish or defeat, from the triumph of their enemies, or even from apparently hopeless and final failure, or miserable death. The lesson is not that their persons shall be inviolable, or that the enemies who advance against them to eat up their flesh shall always stumble and fall. The experiences of tens of thousands of troubled lives and martyred ends instantly prove the futility of any such reading of these assurances. The saints of God, the prophets of God, have died in exile and in prison, have been tortured on the rack and broken on the wheel, and burnt to ashes at innumerable stakes; they have been destitute, afflicted, tormented, in their lives-stoned, beheaded, sawn asunder, in every form of hideous death; they have rotted in miry dungeons, have starved on desolate shores, have sighed out their souls into the agonizing flame. The Cross of Christ stands as the emblem and the explanation of their lives, which fools count to be madness, and their end without honor. On earth they have, far more often than not, been crushed by the hatred and been delivered over to the will of their enemies. Where, then, have been those horses and chariots of fire?
They have been there no less than around Elisha at Dothan. The eyes spiritually opened have seen them, even when the sword flashed, or the flames wrapped them in indescribable torment. The sense of Gods protection has least deserted His saints when to the worlds eyes they seemed to have been most utterly abandoned. There has been a joy in prisons and at stakes, it has been said, far exceeding the joy of harvest. "Pray for me," said a poor boy of fifteen, who was being burned at Smithfield in the fierce days of Mary Tudor. "I would as soon pray for a dog as for a heretic like thee," answered one of the spectators. "Then, Son of God, shine Thou upon me!" cried the boy-martyr; and instantly, upon a dull and cloudy day, the sun shone out, and bathed his young face in glory; whereat, says the martyrologist, men greatly marveled. But is there one deathbed of a saint on which that glory has not shone?
The presence of those horses and chariots of fire, unseen by the carnal eye-the promises which, if they be taken literally, all experience seems to frustrate-mean two things, which they who are the heirs of such promises, and who would without them be of all men most miserable, have clearly understood.
They mean, first, that as long as a child of God is on the path of duty, and until that duty has been fulfilled, he is inviolable and invulnerable. He shall tread upon the lion and the adder; the young lion and the dragon shall he trample under his feet. He shall take up the serpent in his hands; and if he drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt him. He shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flieth by day; of the pestilence that walketh in darkness, nor of the demon that destroyeth in the noonday. A thousand shall fall at his right hand, and ten thousand beside him; but it shall not come nigh him. The histories and the legends of numberless marvelous deliverances all confirm the truth that, when a man fears the Lord, He will keep him in all his ways, and give His angels charge over him, lest at any time he dash his foot against a stone. God will not permit any mortal force, or any combination of forces, to hinder the accomplishment of the task entrusted to His servant. It is the sense of this truth which, under circumstances however menacing, should enable us to
"bate no jot of heart or hope, but still bear up, and steer uphillward."
It is this conviction which has nerved men to face insuperable difficulties, and achieve impossible and unhoped-for ends. It works in the spirit of the cry, "Who art thou, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel be thou changed into a plain!" It inspires the faith as a grain of mustard seed which is able to say to this mountain, "Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea,"-and it shall obey. It stands unmoved upon the pinnacle of the Temple whereon it has been placed, while the enemy and the tempter, smitten by amazement, falls. In the hour of difficulty it can cry, -
"Rescue me, O Lord, in this mine evil hour,
As of old so many by Thy mighty power,
Enoch and Elias from the common doom;
Noe from the waters in a saving home;
Abraham from the abounding guilt of heathenesse;
Job from all his multiform and fell distress"
"Isaac when his fathers knife was raised to slay;
Lot from burning Sodom on the judgment day;
Moses from the land of bondage and despair;
Daniel from the hungry lions in their lair;
And the children three amid the furnace flame;
Chaste Susanna from the slander and the shame;
David from Golia, and the wrath of Saul;
And the two Apostles from their prison-thrall."
The strangeness, the unexpectedness, the apparently inadequate source of the deliverance, have deepened the trust that it has not been due to accident. Once, when Felix of Nola was flying from his enemies, he took refuge in a cave, and he had scarcely entered it before a spider began to spin its web over the fissure. The pursuer, passing by, saw the spiders web, and did not look into the cave; and the saint, as he came out into safety, remarked: "Ubi Deus est, ibi aranea taurus, ubi non est ibi taurus aranea" ("Where God is, a spiders web is as a wall; where He is not, a wall is but as a spiders web").
This is one lesson conveyed in the words of Christ when the Pharisees told Him that Herod desired to kill Him. He knew that Herod could not kill Him till He had done His Fathers will and finished His work. "Go ye," He said "and tell this fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected. Nevertheless, I must walk today, and tomorrow, and the day following."
But had all this been otherwise-had Felix been seized by his pursuers and perished, as has been the common lot of Gods prophets and heroes-he would not therefore have felt himself mocked by these exceeding great and precious promises. The chariots and horses of fire are still mere ant are there to work a deliverance yet greater and more eternal. Their office is not to deliver the perishing body, but to carry into Gods glory the immortal soul. This is indicated in the death-scene of Elijah. This was the vision of the dying Stephen. This was what Christian legend meant when it embellished with beautiful incidents such scenes as the death of Polycarp. This was what led Bunyan to write, when he describes the death of Christian, that "all the trumpets sounded for him on the other side." When poor Captain Allan Gardiner lay starving to death in that Antarctic isle with his wretched companions, he yet painted on the entrance of the cave which had sheltered them, and near to which his remains were found, a hand pointing downward at the words, "Though He slay me, yet will I put my trust in Him."
There was a touch of almost joyful humor in the way in which Elisha proceeded to use, in the present emergency, the power of Divine deliverance. He seems to have gone out of the town and down the hill to the Syrian captains, and prayed God to send them illusion (ajbleya), so that they might be misled. Then he boldly said to them, "You are being deceived: you have come the wrong way, and to the wrong city. I will take you to the man whom ye seek." The incident reminds us of the story of Athanasius, who, when he was being pursued on the Nile, took the opportunity of a bend of the river boldly to turn back his boat towards Alexandria. "Do you know where Athanasius is?" shouted the pursuers. "He is not far off!" answered the disguised Archbishop; and the emissaries of Constantius went on in the opposite direction from that in which he made his escape.
Elisha led the Syrians in their delusion straight into the city of Samaria, where they suddenly found themselves at the mercy of the king and his troops. Delighted at so great a chance of vengeance, Jehoram eagerly exclaimed, "My father, shall I smite, shall I smite?"
Certainly the request cannot be regarded as unnatural, when we remember that in the Book of Deuteronomy, which did not come to light till after this period, we read the rule that, when the Israelites had taken a besieged city, "thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword," {Deu_20:13} and that when Israel defeated the Midianites; {Num_31:7} they slew all the males, and Moses was wroth with the officers of the host because they had not also slain all the women. He then (as we are told) ordered them to slay all except the virgins, and also-horrible to relate-"every male among the little ones." The spirit of Elisha on this occasion was larger and more merciful. It almost rose to the spirit of Him who said, "It was said to them of old time, Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy; but I say unto you, Love your enemies; forgive them that hate you; do good unto them that despitefully use you and persecute you." He asked Jehoram reproachfully whether he would even have smitten those whom he had taken captive with sword and bow. He not only bade the king to spare them, but to set food before them, and send them home. Jehoram did so at great expense, and the narrative ends by telling us that the example of such merciful generosity produced so favorable an impression that "the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel."
It is difficult, however, to see where this statement can be chronologically fitted in. The very next chapter-so loosely is the compilation put together, so completely is the sequence of events here neglected-begins with telling us that Benhadad with all his host went up and besieged Samaria. Any peace or respite gained by Elishas compassionate magnanimity must, in any case, have been exceedingly short-lived. Josephus tries to get over the difficulty by drawing a sufficiently futile distinction between marauding bands and a direct invasion, and he says that King Benhadad gave up his forays through fear of Elisha. But, in the first place, the encompassing of Dothan had been carried out by "a great host with horses and chariots," which is hardly consistent with the notion of a foray, though it creates new difficulties as to the numbers whom Elisha led to Samaria; secondly, the substitution of a direct invasion for predatory incursions would have been no gain to Israel, but a more deadly peril; and, thirdly, if it was fear of Elisha which stopped the kings raids, it is strange that it had no effect in preventing his invasions. We have, however, no data for any final solution of these problems, and it is useless to meet them with a network of idle conjectures. Such difficulties naturally occur in narratives so vague and unchronological as those presented to us in the documents from the story of Elisha which the compiler wove into his history of Israel and Judah.
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On vv1, 8, 24 2Ki_6:2. Take thence every man a beam—The wooded banks…
ELISHA AND THE SYRIAN INVASION
CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES.—
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2Ki_6:2. Take thence every man a beam—The wooded banks of the Jordan would furnish timber readily; probably Bethel or Jericho. Although, evidently, the students of Elisha were of a humble character, and he offered them but few indulgences and delicacies, yet their number grew so as to need a larger home, or a more commodious lecture-hall. 2Ki_6:8-9. In such a place shall be my camp, i.e., shall ye hide yourselves—Probably the word here is from the same root as in 2Ki_6:9, where it is rendered, For thither the Syrians are come down, i.e., there the Syrians hide themselves; or the two words may have as their roots respectively חָנַה and נָחַת; but the word in 2Ki_6:8 occurs only there in that form throughout the Bible.
HOMILETICS OF 2Ki_6:1-7
THE DIVINE SYMPATHY FOR LITTLE SORROWS
The miracle recorded in this paragraph presents a striking contrast to that which was wrought on behalf of Naaman. In the case of the great Syrian captain his cure was a public display of Divine power and mercy, and served to extol the God of Israel among the nations. It was a great work, wrought upon a great personage, and would become the talk and marvel of a great and populous nation. The miracle we are now considering was of a humbler character, and taught a different lesson. An obscure and nameless prophet of Jericho is the subject of Divine compassion, and the Divine power is put forth in connection with the humblest and most insignificant affairs of human life and toil. The omnipotence which startles a world with its wonders is also available, in the most modest and unobtrusive form, for the relief of genuine distress. Of this class of Elisha’s wonderful works, this is the last one recorded, and makes a fitting conplement to his other miracles of blessing. The healing of the waters of Jericho, the increase of the widow’s oil, the raising of the Shunammite’s son, the healing of the poisoned pottage, the multiplying of the loaves, and the healing of Naaman, all had more direct reference to the wants of families or societies, and did not so much enter into the particular anguish of one single heart as did this. This receiving of a comparatively little loss and that of a single individual, give assurance that Divine providence will work for the comfort of one suffering heart as well as for the interests of societies or families; and shows that sorrows which we may think of little moment receive great attention from Him who numbers the hairs of our head. It presents a touching and suggestive picture of the Divine sympathy for little sorrows. Note—
I. That the Divine sympathy is interested in the temporal comfort of the good (2Ki_6:1-4). The school of the prophets had outgrown its accommodation, and Elisha was consulted as to a more commodious dwelling. The disciples, not content with simply gaining the consent of their revered teacher to the undertaking, prevailed upon him to accompany them. Elisha represented the Divine interest and intention in the work. God is not indifferent to the temporal welfare and happiness of His people. He looks down sympathizingly on a good man, struggling with straitened circumstances, or upon a church making efforts for extension in the midst of poverty and persecution. He ensures the comfort of the good irrespective of external surroundings. Riches and poverty are more in the heart than in the hand; he is wealthy who is contented, while the disconted millionnaire is poor indeed. The Lord bestows upon His people the unpurchasable blessing of contentment which fills up all the chinks of desire as the molten metal fills up the minutest cavity in the mould.
II. That the Divine sympathy does not overlook the individual in the many (2Ki_6:5). There was a number of workers in the forest, all engaged in the same occupation—felling timber for the house of the prophets; but there was one only of the number who specially arrested the Divine notice, and called forth the Divine power, and he was unfortunate and distressed. Man often loses sight of the individual in the multitude, but Jehovah never. It is easy for us to sympathize with a nation, and shed tears over its sufferings and sorrows, while we have no particular interest in any one member of the nation. Jehovah cares for the whole human race, by caring for every individual member of it. And if there is one who more quickly than another attracts the Divine sympathy, it is the unfortunate and suffering. The tramp and bustle of the crowd could not deafen the ear of Jesus to the cry of blind Bartimeus. The unseen touch by trembling, but believing fingers, of the fringe of his robe, awoke a sympathetic response in the Saviour’s heart, and the sufferer for years was in a moment healed. Amid the thousands of warlike Syrians who surrounded the city of Dothan (2Ki_6:14), the Lord did not forget the solitary Elisha, but provided for his rescue and safety. It is with significant emphasis the psalmist declares a truth which is being constantly exemplified: “This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles” (Psa_34:6).
III. That the Divine sympathy does not hesitate to exert miraculous power to alleviate what may seem the little sorrows of life (2Ki_6:6-7). It might appear a trifling matter to lose the iron head of an axe, but to this poor prophet it was a real and serious loss. It was not only that he was prevented taking his share in helping his fellow-workers, but it was the loss of borrowed property which he had no possible means of replacing. This to a conscientious mind would be torture enough, and would exalt what might seem a small trouble into a great one. But with our God these are no little things. What we regard as the little cares and sorrows of the poor may have a magnitude in God’s eye as great as the cares of empire and the afflictions of princes. The loss of the axe was to the hapless borrower a calamity greater than would have been to Naaman the loss of all the treasures he had brought from Damascus. The sorrow was not too insignificant to evoke the Divine sympathy, and the exertion, through the prophet Elisha, of miraculous power for its assuagement. The greatness of God appears in the minute attention and finish that he gives to little things. The tiniest flower, the smoothly-rounded pebble, the geometrically-shaped snowflake, the delicately-tinted ocean-shell, each bears witness to the infinite care and artistic touch of the Divine hand. The smallest troubles of humanity are not unnoticed. The tear quickly dashed away, the half-suppressed sigh, the silent hidden anguish of the heart, bring down the helping arm of God to the soul that appeals to Him—the arm which is as gentle in its soothing ministrations as it is mighty in its terrible vengeance.
LESSONS:—
1. There is nothing too insignificant for the Divine notice.
2. What may seem little sorrows to others are great enough to the sufferer.
3. We should carry every trouble, however minute, to God.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES
2Ki_6:1-7. The prosperity of the Church. 1. Advances, notwithstanding abounding wickedness and persecution.
2. Often results from the earnestness and diligence of one good man.
3. Demands harmonious co-operation among all Christian workers.
4. Receives the divine sanction and blessing.
2Ki_6:1. There was no loss of Gehazi; when he was gone the prophets increased. An ill man in the Church is but like some shrubby tree in a garden, whose shape keeps better plants from growing. The kings of Israel had succeeded in idolatry and hate of sincere religion, yet the prophets multiply. Persecution enlarges the bounds of the Church. These tempestuous showers bring up flowers in abundance. The Church, like the palm tree, the more it is pressed with weight, the more it fructifies; like camomile, it flourishes when most trodden; like the lily, it grows by its own tears.
2Ki_6:5-7. The borrowed axe. I. The loan.
1. Kindly lent to men in need; probably with many promises on the one side, and many injunctions on the other.
2. A very valuable loan at that time. Manufacture of metals imperfectly understood then; manufactured articles were, therefore, more expensive, and more difficult to obtain,
3. A willingness to lend shows a kind heart; sympathy with the object and purposes of the borrower should not, therefore, be abused. A willingness to lend, but never to borrow, which is the proud boast of some, is a pitiful spirit. Sometimes to give one the opportunity of lending, is to do him good by exercising his benevolence and goodwill. II. The loss.
1. Accidental. Not altogether void of thoughtlessness. Should have taken care that the head was more firmly united to the haft, or that the blow was delivered in another direction.
2. Serious. Could not be easily replaced. Axe heads scarce and expensive, and the borrower poor; but the most serious part of the loss was the moral effect of it. The non-return of loans makes lenders chary of assisting those who need such help. People who are remiss in returning, in due time and undamaged, borrowed property, little think what injury they do to benevolent and neighbourly feeling, or what damage they inflict upon others. III. The recovery.
1. He who had lost it did not treat the matter as of no importance. His concern a good sign. Would there were more of it in the world.
2. He noticed where it fell, looked anxiously at the water, probably sounded it, found it deep and turbid. Could not find or recover it. He went in dismay to the prophet.
3. Elisha comprehended the situation at once. The axe must be recovered for monetary, and, above all, moral reasons. He was not the man to work miracles on every pretext. This was no slight matter; no one should have reason to regret he had aided, even by a loan, in the building of the prophets’ college. Confidence in the prophets should not be damaged by the loss of the axe. LEARN:—
1. To be conscientious in the matter of borrowing and lending.
2. To be more anxious concerning the safety of borrowed articles than even of our own.—The Class and Desk.
2Ki_6:5. Genuine honesty. 1 An evidence of true religion.
2. Is found among the poorest.
3. Is scrupulous in caring for and returning that which is borrowed.
4. Is deeply distressed in losing what belongs to another.
5. Will use all possible means to restore what is lost.
2Ki_6:6. O God! how easy it is for thee, when this hard and heavy heart of mine is sunk down into the mud of the world, to fetch it up again by thy mighty word, and cause it to float upon the streams of life, and to see the face of heaven again.—Bishop Hall.
2Ki_6:7. God’s might and goodness are revealed in the smallest detail, as well as in the greatest combination. He helps in what are, apparently, the smallest interests of the individual, as well as in the greatest affairs of entire nations; and He rules with His grace especially over those who keep His covenant, and turn to Him in all the necessities of life. That is the great truth which this little story proclaims, and, just for the sake of this truth, it was thought worthy to be inserted in the history of the theocracy. The restoration of the axe, whereby aid was given to the prophet-disciple in his need, strengthened all the others in the faith that the God in whose honour they were erecting the building was with them, and would accompany their work with his blessing. They worked now the more zealously and gladly.—Lange.
—It often happens that the Lord takes from us some possession, or appears to do so, only with the purpose of returning it after a longer or shorter time in some unexpected way, that it may thus come to us as a gift of Divine love, and a pledge of His grace.—Krummacher.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Sermon Bible 1900 · Public Domain On v1 2Ki 6:1-2
2Ki 6:1-2
There are two conditions of real personal power in the world. One is the power of insight, and it is that which redeems life from being regarded as commonplace. Everything is tinged with heavenliness for those who see heaven’s light above all, and the possession of this power gives that dignity of conception to life which is one of the secrets of power. The other condition is the strength of personal assertiveness, the power of personal action. These two gifts Elisha possessed.
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But there is a third qualification still which is needed in order that these two powers may be brought into contact with life. Great men are men who are in touch with their own age. A man may have insight and energy of character; but if he have no power of adjusting his capacities in language understood of the men amongst whom he lives, all that power will be thrown away. The scene before us explains that Elisha was largely possessed of this gift. He identifies himself with the men of progress; he allies himself to their individual life. He allows the freest scope of individual activity, but yet preserves them in the great unification of their work. The scene is the type of all great movements, and Elisha shows us the fitting attitude of those who would direct and control such movements.
I. It is not the cry of the Jewish Church only, it is the cry of all ages, "The place is too strait." The history of the Church of Christ is the history of a thousand regrets. The spirit of prejudice surrounds every aspect with which we regard life and Church movement. It is difficult for a man bred in one communion to believe in the types of saintship which have become the favourites of another.
II. Whenever a new doctrine or a new truth has come up in the history of the Church, it has been held in the first instance by men who lived by it and tied their own lives to it. No power of that axe-head slipped off into life’s stream. Truth is not a thing of the intellect only; it descends into our moral nature; it grafts upon our affections and conscience. The natural history of a doctrine is this: when men are taking it rightly, using it as for God, rightly handling it, it is a power in their hands. Taken up for its own purposes, for the purpose of evading the claims of God which other truths may be making upon their minds, it then becomes evacuated of its power; it is impotent; it is buried underneath the stream of constantly changing time. When men believed in the inspiration of God and the Bible, it was a power to them; but when this dropped down into a belief that every jot and tittle was part and parcel of God’s inspiration, then they merely crystallised into a dogma what was a great and living truth.
III. You are surrounded by workers. Your mind is often disturbed among the many cries and many sounds; but believe it, each of you has your own beam, and God can put into your hand the weapon which you are to use in hewing it down. Go forward, and be not afraid.
Bishop Boyd-Carpenter, Anglican Pulpit of To-Day, p. 157 (see also Contemporary Pulpit, vol. ii., p. 317).
References: 2Ki 6:1, 2Ki 6:2.—J. Menzies, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xx., p. 276. 2Ki 6:1-7.—A. Edersheim, Elisha the Prophet, p. 185. 2Ki 6:1-23.—Parker, vol. viii., p. 156. 2Ki 6:5.—W. Meller, Village Homilies, p. 23; T. Kelly, Pulpit Trees, p. 49.
2Ki 6:6
These words describe something that happened for the servants of God. Iron does not swim for the servants of evil. No such skill has their master, much as he boasts. But in how many instances has the "impossible" been accomplished by faith and prayer.
I. Notice that these sons of the prophets were industrious. "Take every man a beam." This building had to be put up, and they felt they should like to work at it themselves.
II. They were self-reliant. They did not ask for subscriptions towards building them a larger place. They believed God would bless them if they were bent on doing their utmost.
III. Though self-reliant, these men were not bumptious. They said to the prophet, "I pray thee, be content, and go with thy servants." Do you wonder that he said, "I will go"? Old age likes to be thought fit to go with youth. The men of today have something to learn from the men of the past. The same thing holds good about books and old-fashioned ideas.
IV. These sons of the prophets were honest, if poor. It would be well for Christianity if all its professors felt about debt as the loser of the axe did. It is well for us and a sign of grace when the word "borrowed" calls up a sigh and "Alas!"
V. This story teaches us the danger of loose things. The axe-head was loose, and so flew off; and the wonder is, it did not kill somebody. Loose habits, like our old clothes, fit us easily, but they are dangerous.
VI. What a great deal of trouble is home-made! Many so-called accidents are the result of carelessness.
VII. Notice how the axe was got up again. "He cut down a stick, and cast it in thither; and the iron did swim." Example is better than precept. He did not tell it to swim; he showed it how.
T. Champness, New Coins from Old Gold, p. 222.
References: 2Ki 6:6.—J. M. Neale, Sermons in Sackville College, vol. iii., p. 93; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. vi., p. no. 2Ki 6:8-23.—Parker, Fountain, April 12th, 1877.
2Ki 6:15-17
I. The first remark which this incident suggests is as to the heavy pressure of outward and visible things upon us who are still in the body. The young man could see the Syrian host compassing the city to take his master, but nothing besides. Is not this a true parable for us? We talk of living by faith, not by sight, but what truth has it for us? Take the life of any one day; would it be very different if this world were all, if there were no judgment and no eternity? (1) There is the business of life. (2) There are the pleasures of life. (3) There are the trials of life. All these are real things. Engrossed in them, a man will live hemmed in and blocked up by the present and blind to all the realities which are not of earth, and sense, and time.
II. And yet the history before us is designed to show how very near all the while lies another world and another life, altogether of spirit and heaven, and God. It needed just the opening of the eyes, and nothing more, to show this young man a whole concourse of existences and agencies unseen and unsuspected till that moment. If the word of God is true, we are inmates of two worlds: a world seen and a world unseen; a world of time and a world of eternity. We may be walking blindfold in the midst of truths and realities.
III. Such a truth is the revelation of God’s providence. If we could see the spiritual world as we see the natural, we should find that every life is held in God’s hand, every faculty kept for us by God’s keeping, every step taken, every word spoken, and every work done in virtue of a power not our own.
IV. A man passes out of the life of sight into the life of faith by that opening of the eyes of which the text tells. Prayer is the means of passing from a life of sight to a life of faith.
C. J. Vaughan, Contemporary Pulpit, vol. iv., p. no (see also Good Words, 1864, p. 916).
References: 2Ki 6:16.—R. Heber, Sermons Preached in England, pp. 18, 42. 2Ki 6:16, 2Ki 6:17.—Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. ix., p. 84; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. iv., p. 149.
2Ki 6:17
The young man looking abroad and seeing nothing but the hills, and the fields, and the Syrian army is a picture of a man without faith. But the same young man looking abroad and seeing not only the hills, and fields, and enemies which everybody saw, but also the flaming host—the symbol of God’s presence, love, and power—is a picture of a man with faith. I wish to make you look at three wide prospects: nature, providence, the Bible. And as you look at each, we will put up the prayer, "Lord, open Thou mine eyes."
I. Our eyes need to be opened to see God in nature—God, with His love, and wisdom, and power. One man looks abroad over a piece of God’s world and sees neither its beauty nor its Maker in it. A second looks over the same scene and sees the beauty which the first did not see, but yet does not see the Maker. But a third looks, and he is like Elisha’s servant: his eyes are opened, and he sees what neither of the others has seen—he sees God passing His hand over all and dropping beauty on it from His fingers.
II. We need to have our eyes opened on providence, that in all we undertake and suffer we may see God as our Guide, and trust Him, so that, whatever fortune we may be led into, we may never feel ourselves alone. This will give us courage and comfort such as nothing else can give.
III. We need to have our eyes opened on the Bible. It is a moment never to be forgotten when the truth which has been known and handled like a dry piece of wood for years suddenly flares forth into bright flame; when over the meadows of the Bible, where nothing but ordinary grass appeared before, there start up suddenly the horses and chariots of fire; when this truth, for instance, "My soul is infinitely precious and immortal," thrills through me, and all the world seems as nothing compared with my soul.
J. Stalker, The New Song, p. 75.
References: 2Ki 6:17.—A. W. Momerie, The Origin of Evil, p. 248; J. Thain Davidson, Talks with Young Men, p. 119; H. P. Liddon, Penny Pulpit, No. 599, and Old Testament Outlines, p. 77; Spurgeon, My Sermon Notes, 1884, p. 91; Husband, Church Sermons, vol. ii., p. 74. 2Ki 6:17-23.—A. Edersheim, Elisha the Prophet, p. 208. 2Ki 6:18.—Bennett, Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. vii., p. 85; J. M. Neale, Sermons in Sackville College, vol. iii., p. 100. 2Ki 6:24-31 and 2Ki 6:32—vii. 2.—A. Edersheim, Elisha the Prophet, pp. 219, 230. 2Ki 6:24-33 and vii.—Parker, vol. viii., p. 169. 2Ki 6:26.—Homiletic Magazine, vol. xv., p. 163. 2Ki 6—Parker, Fountain, May 24th, 1877. 2Ki 7:2.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxi., No. 1238; J. M. Neale, Sermons in Sackville College, vol. iii., p. 108. 2Ki 7:3.—Spurgeon, Morning by Morning, p. 73. 2Ki 7:3-7.—Ibid., Sermons, vol. xxxii., No. 1903. 2Ki 7:3-9.—A. Edersheim, Elisha the Prophet, p. 242.
The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On v8 2 Kings
2 Kings
SIGHT AND BLINDNESS
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2Ki 6:8 - 2Ki 6:18.
The revelation of the angel guard around Elisha is the important part of this incident, but the preliminaries to it may yield some instruction. The first point to be noted is the friendly relations between the king and the prophet. The king was probably Joram, who had given up Baal worship, though still retaining the calves at Bethel and Dan {2Ki 3:2}. The whole tone of things is changed from the stormy days of Elijah. The prophet is frequently an inhabitant of the capital, and a trusted counsellor. No doubt much of this improvement was owing to Elijah’s undaunted denunciation, but much, too, was due to Elisha’s gentle persuasion. We are often tempted to do injustice to the sterner predecessors when we see how the gentler ways of their followers seem to accomplish more than theirs did. Unless winter storms had come first, spring sunshine would draw forth few flowers. All honour to the heroes who begin the fight, and do not see the victory.
The Syrian king’s way of warfare was not by a regular continued invasion, but by dashes across the border on undefended places; and time after time he found himself out in his calculations, and troops enough to beat him off massed where he meant to strike. No wonder that he suspected treachery. The prompt answer of his servants implies that Elisha’s intervention was well known by them, and measures the reputation in which he stood. Let no one suppose that thwarting Syria was an unworthy use of a supernatural gift. The preservation of Israel and the revelation of God were worthy ends, and all that is accessory to a worthy end is worthy. It is foolish to call anything a trifle which serves a great purpose.
Joram had learned to obey the prophet, and his people and their enemies had learned that Elisha was a prophet. That was much. He had no great revelations of the deep things of God to give to his generation or to posterity, but he gave directions as to practical life which bore on the wellbeing of the state; and that office was not less divinely conferred. It is a good thing when God’s servants are not afraid to make their voices heard in politics, and a safeguard for a nation when their counsels are taken. The quiet prophet was more to Israel than an army.
The ‘great host’ sent to capture Elisha shows the terror which he had inspired, and the importance attached to getting possession of him. It is, too, an odd instance of the inconsistency of godless men, in that it never occurs to the Syrian king that Elisha, who knew all his schemes, might know this one too, or that horses and chariots were of little use against a man who had Heaven to back him. Dothan lay on an isolated hill in a wide plain, and could easily be surrounded. A night-march offered the chance of a surprise, which seems to have been prevented by the unusually early rising of Elisha’s servant, the young successor of Gehazi. Apparently he had gone out of the little city before he discovered the besiegers, and then rushed back in terror. Note the strongly contrasted pictures of the lad and his master,-the one representing the despair of sense, the other the confidence of faith. The lad’s passionate exclamation was most natural, and fear darkening to bewildered helplessness is reasonable to men who only see the material and visible dangers and enemies that beset every life. The wonder is, not that we should sometimes be afraid, but that we should ever be free from fear, if we look only at visible facts. Worse foes ring us round than those whose armour glittered in the morning sunshine at Dothan, and we are as helpless to cope with them as that frightened youth was. Any man who calmly reflects on the possibilities and certainties of his life will find abundant reason for a sinking heart. So much that is dreadful and sad may come, and so much must come, that the boldest may well shrink, and the most resourceful cry ‘Alas! how shall we do?’ It is not courage, but blindness, which enables godless men to front life so unconcernedly.
How nobly the calmness of Elisha shows beside the lad’s alarm! Probably both were now outside the city, as the immediately following verse speaks of the mountain as the scene. If so, Elisha had gone forth to meet the enemy, and that must have brought fresh terror to his servant. The quiet ‘Fear not!’ was of little use without the assurance of the next clause; for there is no more idle expenditure of breath than in telling a man not to be afraid, and doing nothing to remove the grounds of his fear. That is all that the world can do to comfort or hearten. ‘Fear not?’ the youth might well have said. ‘It is all very easy to say that; but look there! How can I help being afraid?’ There is only one way to help it, and that is to believe that ‘they that be with us are more than they that be with them.’ The true and only conqueror of reasonable fear is still more reasonable trust. The two parts played by the servant and the prophet are united in the man who cleaves to Jesus Christ as his defence. He would not cling so close to Him but for the fear that tightens his grip. He would tremble far more but for that grip. He who says in his heart, ‘What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee,’ will presently get to saying, ‘I will trust, and not be afraid.’
Note, further, the sight seen by opened eyes. Elisha did not pray that the heavenly guards might come; for they were there already. Nor does it appear that he saw them; for he did not need that heightened condition of spiritual perception which appears to be meant by the opening of the eyes. And what a sight the trembling young man saw! Where he had seen only barren rock or sparse vegetation, he saw that same fiery host that had attended Elijah in his translation, now enclosing the unarmed prophet and himself within a flaming ring. The manifestation, not the presence, of the angel guards was the miracle. It was a momentary unveiling of what always was, and would be after the curtain was drawn again. I suppose that no reverent reader of Scripture can doubt the existence of angelic beings, or their office to ‘minister to the heirs of salvation.’ To us, indeed, who know Him who is the ‘Head of all principalities and powers,’ the doctrine of angelic ministration is of less importance than that of Christ’s divine help; but the latter truth does not supersede the former, though its brightness throws the other, about which we know so much less, into comparative shadow. But we may still learn from this transient disclosure of ‘the things that are,’ the permanent truth of the ever-active presence of divinely sent helps and guards, with all who trust in Him.
This manifestation has several features of resemblance to that given to Jacob, in his most defenceless hour, when he saw beside his unprotected camp of women and children ‘God’s host,’ and, in a rapture of thankful wonder, named the place ‘Mahanaim,’-’Two Camps.’ The sight teaches us that God’s messengers are ever near, and then most near when needed most. It tells us, too, that they come in the form needed. They are warriors when we are ringed about by foes, counsellors when we are perplexed, comforters when we mourn. Their shapes are as varied as our needs, and ever correspond to ‘the present distress.’ They come in power sufficient to conquer. There was force enough circling the prophet to have annihilated all the Syrians. True, they did not draw their celestial swords, but they were there, and their presence was enough for the triumphant faith of the guarded men. What living thing could come through that wall of fire?
Our eyes are blinded and we need to have them cleared, if not in the same manner as this lad’s, yet in an analogous way. We look so constantly at the things seen that we have no sight for the unseen. Worldliness, sin, unbelief, sense and its trifles, time and its transitoriness, blind the eyes of our mind; and we need those of sense to be closed, that these may open. The truest vision is the vision of faith. It is certain, direct, and conclusive. The world says, ‘Seeing is believing’; the gospel says, ‘Believing is seeing.’ If we would but live near to Jesus Christ, pray to Him to touch our blind eyeballs, and turn away from the dazzling unrealities which sense brings, we should find Him ‘the master-light of all our seeing,’ and be sure of the eternal, invisible things, with an assurance superior to that given by the keenest sight in the brightest sunshine. When we are blind to earth, we see earth glorified by angel presences, and fear and despair and helplessness and sorrow flee away from our tranquil hearts. If, on the other hand, we fix our gaze on earth and its trifles, there will generally be more to alarm than to encourage, and we shall do well to be afraid, if we do not see, as in such a case we shall certainly not see, the fiery wall around us, behind which God keeps His people safe.
Note, finally, the blindness. Elisha’s dealing with the advancing host of Syria can only be rightly estimated by looking beyond the limits of the text. His object was to carry the whole army into Samaria, that they might there be won by giving them bread to eat and water to drink, and so heaping coals of fire on their head. The prophet, who was in so many points a foreshadowing of the gospel type of excellence, was the first to show the right way to conquer. Nineteen centuries of so-called Christianity have not brought ‘Christendom’ to practise Elisha’s recipe for finishing a war. It succeeded in his hands; for, after that feast and liberation of a captured army, ‘the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel.’ How could they, as long as the remembrance of that kindness lasted? Pity that the same sort of treatment were not tried to-day!
The blindness which fell on the Syrians does not seem to have been total loss of sight,-for, if so, they could not have followed Elisha to Samaria, nearly fifteen miles off,-but rather an ocular affection which prevented them from recognising what they saw. It was a supernatural impediment in any case, however far it extended. God did ‘according to the word of Elisha,’ a wonderful inversion of the ordinary formula. But that was because Elisha was doing according to the word of the Lord. The prayers which are ‘according to His will’ are the answered prayers.
They who see not the angels, see nothing clearly. There is a mist over every eye that beholds only the things of time, which prevents it from seeing these as they are, and from recognising a prophet when he is before them. If we would rightly estimate the objects of sense, we must discern, shining through them, the far loftier and greater things of eternity. That flaming background is needed to supply a scale by which to measure the others. The flat plain of Lombardy is most beautiful when its flatness is seen girdled by the giant Alps, where lies the purity of the snow which feeds the rivers that fertilise the levels below.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 Elisha and the Siege of Samaria
Elisha and the Siege of Samaria
1. The place where we dwell] The mention of the Jordan (2Ki_6:2) suggests that these sons of the prophets dwelt near Jericho: cp. 2Ki_2:5. Probably Elisha did not permanently abide with them, but visited them occasionally for supervision and instruction.
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6. The iron did swim] The prophet's powers were exerted to help one who was honest enough to be the more concerned for his loss because the axe was not his own.
8. The king of Syria] perhaps the Benhadad of 2Ki_6:24 and 1Ki_20:1.
13. Dothan] commanding a pass which crossed the ridge of Carmel (the mountain of 2Ki_6:17).
17. Round about Elisha] cp. Psa_34:7; Psa_91:4; God's servants often experience providential succour in times of danger, though they cannot confidently reckon upon protection from earthly peril. What alone is assured to them, if they continue loyal, is spiritual security.
22. Wouldest thou smite, etc.] If the king would not smite captives whom he had taken by his own valour, much less could he expect to be allowed to smite those who had been delivered into his hands by another. The prophet by preserving their lives, secured that information respecting his wonderful powers was conveyed to the Syrian king.
24. And it came to pass, etc.] This section obviously has no close connexion with the preceding, as the inconsistency between this v. and 2Ki_6:23 shows, though Josephus explains that the king of Syria, out of fear of Elisha, abandoned his secret designs against the Israelites in favour of more open war.
25. An ass's head] The ass being an unclean animal, its flesh would not be eaten except in times of great scarcity. Cab] a little less than 2 quarts, so that a fourth part would be about a pint. Dove's dung] Though this is usually supposed to be a kind of pulse, yet pigeon's dung was eaten in a siege that took place in the year 1316 a.d., probably because of the seeds it contained.
29. Boiled my son] The same kind of incident occurred in connexion with the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, Lam_4:10 : cp. also Lev_26:29; Deu_28:52-55
31. The head of Elisha] Possibly the prophet had held out promises of relief which had not yet been realised.
32. This son of a murderer] i.e. this murderer: cp. Isa_1:4. Hold.. door] RV 'hold the door fast against him.' Is not.. feet] The king, after giving orders to execute Elisha, had changed his purpose, and was hastening after the messenger to countermand his directions.
33. And he said] These words are spoken by the Icing, which should be substituted for the messenger in the first part of the v.: cp. 2Ki_7:17. Wait] i.e. hold out in the hope of God's intervention.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v1 5. Elisha and the Syrians
5. Elisha and the Syrians
CHAPTER 6
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1. The lost axe-head recovered (2Ki 6:1-7)
2. Elisha makes known Ben-hadad’s plans (2Ki 6:8-12)
3. Elisha’s arrest planned (2Ki 6:13-17)
4. The blinded Syrians led to Samaria (2Ki 6:18-23)
5. Samaria besieged (2Ki 6:24-30)
6. The king’s wrath against Elisha (2Ki 6:31-33)
It has been truly said that the miracle of the swimming axe-head reveals the condescension of divine power and the grace of benevolence. We see the great man of God in fellowship with the sons of the prophets. He goes with them and when they are in distress the power of God is manifested through him. Rationalistic critics have always ridiculed the miracle of the swimming iron. “The story is perhaps an imaginative reproduction of some unwonted incident,” saith Farrar, the higher critic. Then he adds, all the eternal laws of nature are here superseded at a word, as though it were an every day matter, without even any recorded invocation of Jehovah, to restore an axe-head, which could obviously have been recovered or resupplied in some less stupendous way than by making iron swim on the surface of a swift-flowing river” (Expositor’s Bible). And Ewald, the German critic, explains, “he threw on to the spot where it had sunk a piece of wood cut to fit it, which caught it up”! These men all aim at the denial of miracles of any kind. They delight in making an omnipotent God, in whom they profess to believe, a helpless slave to the laws of nature, a God who has neither power nor inclination to set aside these laws in behalf of His trusting people. We say it again, the rationalistic critic is an unbeliever of the worst type.
There is much comfort for God’s trusting children in the miracle of the swimming iron. The mighty power of God condescends to help those who trust even in the smallest things of life. Our Lord fills the throne in glory and is the upholder of all things, yet as the sympathizing priest, He enters into the lives of His people. His power answers faith, if we but learn to bring our little troubles to Him as the man came in distress to Elisha.
When war broke out between Ben-hadad and the King of Israel, Elisha made known the secret counsels of the King of Syria. The man of God, walking in constant fellowship with Jehovah, received this supernatural information, and thereby an additional evidence was given to apostate Israel that the Lord is for His people and a very present help in time of trouble. Then one of Ben-hadad’s servants suggested that it was Elisha’s work, and the king in his blindness sent a great host to capture Elisha. (Certainly not Naaman as some have surmised. Yet the knowledge that Elisha had been the instrument of healing the Syrian captain moved some unknown servant of Ben-hadad to suggest that Elisha was responsible for the revelation of the king’s plans.) What Ahaziah attempted with Elijah (chapter 1), Ben-hadad now undertakes with Elisha. But Elisha, who acts in grace, does not call down fire from heaven to devour the men who compassed Dothan. Elisha’s servant (not Gehazi) is terror stricken when he beheld the besieging host. Elisha knows no fear, for he knows “they that are with us are more than they that be with them.” He had seen the chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof before (2:12). He knew that the Lord’s hosts compassed him about. He did not need to pray for himself, that he might see, for he saw, because he believed. He prayed for his servant that his eyes might be opened. Then the servant saw, “and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots round about Elisha.” Angelic ministry and protection may be termed one of the lost comforts which God’s people have. They are still “ministering spirits to minister unto the heirs of salvation.”
“I doubt not, a host or constellation of angels, those heavenly creatures, which, excelling in strength, stand in the presence of God, or go forth to minister on account of those who are heirs of salvation. For of them we read that ‘God maketh His angels spirits (winds) and His ministers a flame of fire’; and again, ‘The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels.’ At the divine behest, they get ready to serve in whatever the exigency of the saint, or the occasion under the throne of God, may require. They formed a travelling chariot to convey Elijah to heaven, and to carry Lazarus to Abraham’s bosom. They now form chariots of war, when Elisha is beleaguered by the hostile bands of Syria. Either singly or in company they visit the elect on earth, and either alone or in concert celebrate the joy of heaven in the audience of the earth. They have drawn the sword to smite a guilty city, or with the strong hand of love dragged the too reluctant one forth from the doomed city. They are either as winds or as fire. They are messengers of mercy, and executors of judgment, as ‘the Lord’ who ‘is among them’ may command. They attended on Mount Sinai when the law was published, and they hovered over the fields of Bethlehem when Jesus was born. And here, in their order and strength, they are as a wall of fire, a wall of salvation, round about the prophet.
Very blessed all this is. And still more blessed to know, that ere long, the hidden glories, which are now only known to such faith as Elisha’s, will become the manifested things; and the threatenings of the enemy, the noise and the din and clang of arms, which are the present apparent things, all of fears and sorrows for the heart, shall have rolled by, like the past thunder-storm, but to leave the sunshine the brighter (Meditations on Elisha).
Elisha then prayed that the besieging host should be smitten with blindness. The prayer was at once answered. He led on the Syrian forces into Samaria. But was it not deception when the man of God said to the blinded enemies, “I will bring you to the man whom ye seek,” leading them into Samaria? It was not. Samaria was the home of the prophet and he was then on his way there. His object was to demonstrate to the Syrians, as well as to the King of Israel, that Jehovah is the God and all-sufficient helper of His people. What mercy he then showed to his captives. Jehoram would have smitten them, but Elisha fed them and had them sent away in peace. In this he is a type of Him who taught, “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you” (Mat 5:43-44).
Some time after Ben-hadad besieged Samaria and a great famine followed, and there was such a distress that women ate their own offspring. It was but a fulfilment of the threatened judgments upon an apostate people (Lev 26:29; Deu 28:53). The same horror occurred during the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar (Lam 4:10) and also, according to Josephus, during the siege by Titus 70 A.D. The wicked nature of the king asserted itself in blaming Elisha for the misfortune which had fallen upon his kingdom. He seeks to slay the man of God. After all the mighty miracles God had wrought by the hands of Elisha, the representative of Israel, wants to kill the prophet. This also foreshadows our Lord, when they sought to kill Him after His gracious ministry. But Elisha knew the murderous purpose of the long ere the messengers came. He called the king by the right name “this son of a murderer,” for such Ahab was. And when the king appeared in person he said, “Behold this evil is of the LORD, what should I wait for the LORD any longer?” He realizes the impending judgment on account of Israel’s sin.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv1, 8, 24 The Swimming of the Ax-Head. —
The Swimming of the Ax-Head. —
v. 1. And the sons of the prophets, probably those living at Jericho, said unto Elisha, Behold, now, the place where we dwell with thee, literally, "before thy face," under his supervision, is too strait for us, the present buildings no longer offered sufficient room for their increasing number.
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v. 2. Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan and take thence every man a beam, by cutting down some of the large trees near the river and preparing them for the walls of the new building, and let us make us a place there where we may dwell. And he answered, Go ye, he gladly gave his consent.
v. 3. And one said, Be content, let it please thee, I pray thee, and go with thy servants, they believed that the presence of the prophet would bring blessing and success to their labor. And he answered, I will go.
v. 4. So he went with them. And when they came to Jordan, they cut down wood, felling some of the trees which grew along its banks.
v. 5. But as one was felling a beam, the ax-head, slipping its helve, fell into the water; and he cried and said, Alas, master, for it was borrowed! He had begged its use for the work at hand, since he was too poor to buy an ax.
v. 6. And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he showed him the place. And he, Elisha, cut down a stick and cast it in thither, where the iron had sunk to the bottom; and the iron did swim, lifted up by the water against the course of nature, it floated on the surface.
v. 7. Therefore said he, Take it up to thee. And he put out his hand and took it. We see here that the Lord is willing to help even in small things, in the little embarrassments of life.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 17, 20, 22, 24, 27, 30, 32 The sons of the prophets
The sons of the prophets
This does not mean that they were the sons of prophets, but rather, that they were a group of prophets. See how you translated this phrase in 2 Kings 2:3. AT: "The group of prophets" (See: Idiom)
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let us go to the Jordan
This refers to the area by the Jordan River. AT: "let us go beside the Jordan River" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
your servants
Here one of the prophet refers to the of the sons of the prophets as Elisha's servants to show him honor.
translationWords
prophet
Elisha
life
Jordan River
servant
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 5, 8, 11, 15, 16, 21, 23, 24, 26, 30, 31, 32, 33 6:1-2 logs . . . new place for us…
6:1-2 logs . . . new place for us to meet: The forest areas of the Jordan Valley near Jericho and Gilgal (see 2:1, 4) provided several types of wood for building.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.