10 And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of, and he was on his guard there. [That took place] not once, nor twice.
He that feared the word of Jehovah among the bondmen of Pharaoh made his bondmen and his cattle flee into the houses. But he that did not regard the word of Jehovah left his bondmen and his cattle in the field.
And he numbered the servants of the princes of the provinces, and they were two hundred and thirty-two; and after them he numbered all the people, all the children of Israel, seven thousand.
Then he went down, and plunged himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God. And his flesh became again like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.
And Elisha fell sick of his sickness in which he died. And Joash the king of Israel came down to him, and wept over his face, and said, My father, my father! the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof!
And they rose early in the morning, and went forth towards the wilderness of Tekoa; and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in Jehovah your God, and ye shall be established; believe his prophets, and ye shall prosper!
A prudent [man] seeth the evil, [and] hideth himself; the simple pass on, [and] are punished.
When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt certainly die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, that he may live: the same wicked [man] shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thy hand. But if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul. And when a righteous [man] doth turn from his righteousness, and do what is wrong, and I lay a stumbling-block before him, he shall die; because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous acts which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thy hand. And if thou warn the righteous [man], that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall certainly live, for he hath taken warning; and thou hast delivered thy soul.
Thus did the Lord Jehovah shew unto me; and behold, he formed locusts in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth, and behold, it was the latter growth after the king's mowings. And it came to pass, when they had wholly eaten the grass of the land, that I said, O Lord Jehovah, forgive, I beseech thee! How shall Jacob arise? for he is small. Jehovah repented for this: It shall not be, said Jehovah. Thus did the Lord Jehovah shew unto me; and behold, the Lord Jehovah called to contend by fire; and it devoured the great deep, and ate up the inheritance. Then said I, O Lord Jehovah, cease, I beseech thee! How shall Jacob arise? for he is small. Jehovah repented for this: This also shall not be, said the Lord Jehovah.
And being divinely instructed in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.
But seeing many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, Offspring of vipers, who has forewarned you to flee from the coming wrath?
When therefore ye shall see the abomination of desolation, which is spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in [what is a] holy place, (he that reads let him understand,) then let those who are in Judaea flee to the mountains; let not him that is on the house come down to take the things out of his house;
saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must stand before Caesar; and behold, God has granted to thee all those that sail with thee.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on 2 Kings 6
Commentary on 2 Kings 6 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 6
2Ki 6:1-7. Elisha Causes Iron to Swim.
1. the place where we dwell with thee—Margin, "sit before thee." The one points to a common residence—the other to a common place of meeting. The tenor of the narrative shows the humble condition of Elisha's pupils. The place was either Beth-el or Jericho, probably the latter. The ministry and miracles of Elisha brought great accessions to his schools.
2. Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan—whose wooded banks would furnish plenty of timber.
5. it was borrowed—literally, "begged." The scholar's distress arose from the consideration that it had been presented to him; and that, owing to his poverty, he could not procure another.
6. cut down a stick, and cast it in thither—Although this means was used, it had no natural adaptation to make the iron swim. Besides, the Jordan is at Jericho so deep and rapid that there were one thousand chances to one against the stick falling into the hole of the axe-head. All attempts to account for the recovery of the lost implement on such a theory must be rejected.
the iron did swim—only by the miraculous exertion of Elisha's power.
2Ki 6:8-17. Discloses the King of Syria's Counsel.
8-12. the king of Syria warred against Israel—This seems to have been a sort of guerrilla warfare, carried on by predatory inroads on different parts of the country. Elisha apprised King Jehoram of the secret purpose of the enemy; so, by adopting precautionary measures, he was always enabled to anticipate and defeat their attacks. The frequency of his disappointments having led the Syrian king to suspect some of his servants of carrying on a treacherous correspondence with the enemy, he was informed about Elisha, whose apprehension he forthwith determined to effect. This resolution was, of course, grounded on the belief that however great the knowledge of Elisha might be, if seized and kept a prisoner, he could no longer give information to the king of Israel.
13. Dothan—or, "Dothaim," a little north of Samaria (see on Ge 37:17).
15. his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do?—When the Syrian detachment surrounded the place by night, for the apprehension of the prophet, his servant was paralyzed with fear. This was a new servant, who had only been with him since Gehazi's dismissal and consequently had little or no experience of his master's powers. His faith was easily shaken by so unexpected an alarm.
17. Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see—The invisible guard of angels that encompass and defend us (Ps 34:7). The opening of the eyes, which Elisha prayed for, were those of the Spirit, not of the body—the eye of faith sees the reality of the divine presence and protection where all is vacancy or darkness to the ordinary eye. The horses and chariots were symbols of the divine power (see on 2Ki 2:12); and their fiery nature denoted their supernatural origin; for fire, the most ethereal of earthly elements, is the most appropriate symbol of the Godhead [Keil].
2Ki 6:18-23. His Army Smitten with Blindness.
18. Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness—not a total and material blindness, for then they could not have followed him, but a mental hallucination (see Ge 19:11) so that they did not perceive or recognize him to be the object of their search.
19-23. This is not the way, neither is this the city—This statement is so far true that, as he had now left the place of his residence, they would not have got him by that road. But the ambiguity of his language was purposely framed to deceive them; and yet the deception must be viewed in the light of a stratagem, which has always been deemed lawful in war.
he led them to Samaria—When they were arrived in the midst of the capital, their eyes, at Elisha's request, were opened, and they then became aware of their defenseless condition, for Jehoram had received private premonition of their arrival. The king, so far from being allowed to slay the enemies who were thus unconsciously put in his power, was recommended to entertain them with liberal hospitality and then dismiss them to their own country. This was humane advice; it was contrary to the usage of war to put war captives to death in cold blood, even when taken by the point of the sword, much more those whom the miraculous power and providence of God had unexpectedly placed at his disposal. In such circumstances, kind and hospitable treatment was every way more becoming in itself, and would be productive of the best effects. It would redound to the credit of the true religion, which inspired such an excellent spirit into its professors; and it would not only prevent the future opposition of the Syrians but make them stand in awe of a people who, they had seen, were so remarkably protected by a prophet of the Lord. The latter clause of 2Ki 6:23 shows that these salutary effects were fully realized. A moral conquest had been gained over the Syrians.
2Ki 6:24-33. Ben-hadad Besieges Samaria.
24. Ben-hadad … besieged Samaria—This was the predicted accomplishment of the result of Ahab's foolish and misplaced kindness (1Ki 20:42).
25. an ass's head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver—Though the ass was deemed unclean food, necessity might warrant their violation of a positive law when mothers, in their extremity, were found violating the law of nature. The head was the worst part of the animal. Eighty pieces of silver, equal to £5 5s.
the fourth part of a cab—A cab was the smallest dry measure. The proportion here stated was nearly half a pint for 12s. 6d.
dove's dung—is thought by Bochart to be a kind of pulse or pea, common in Judea, and still kept in the storehouses of Cairo and Damascus, and other places, for the use of it by pilgrim-caravans; by Linnæus, and other botanists, it is said to be the root or white bulb of the plant Ornithogalum umbellatum, Star of Beth-lehem. The sacred historian does not say that the articles here named were regularly sold at the rates described, but only that instances were known of such high prices being given.
26. as the king was passing—to look at the defenses, or to give some necessary orders for manning the walls.
29. we boiled my son, and did eat him—(See on De 28:53).
30. had sackcloth within upon his flesh—The horrid recital of this domestic tragedy led the king soon after to rend his garment, in consequence of which it was discovered that he wore a penitential shirt of haircloth. It is more than doubtful, however, if he was truly humbled on account of his own and the nation's sins; otherwise he would not have vowed vengeance on the prophet's life. The true explanation seems to be, that Elisha having counselled him not to surrender, with the promise, on condition of deep humiliation, of being delivered, and he having assumed the signs of contrition without receiving the expected relief, regarded Elisha who had proved false and faithless as the cause of all the protracted distress.
32. But Elisha sat in his house, and the elders sat with him—The latter clause of 2Ki 6:33, which contains the king's impatient exclamation, enables us to account for the impetuous order he issued for the beheading of Elisha. Though Jehoram was a wicked king and most of his courtiers would resemble their master, many had been won over, through the prophet's influence, to the true religion. A meeting, probably a prayer-meeting, of those was held in the house where he lodged, for he had none of his own (1Ki 19:20, 21); and them he not only apprised of the king's design against himself, but disclosed to them the proof of a premeditated deliverance.