The Second Book of the Kings, commonly called the Fourth Book of the Kings
2 Kings 6
Chapter VI · Vol. II, pp. 772–775
1 Elisha, giving leave to the young prophets to enlarge their dwellings, causeth iron to swim. 8 He discloseth the king of Syria's counsel. 13 The army which was sent to Dothan to apprehend Elisha is smitten with blindness. 19 Being brought into Samaria, they are dismissed in peace. 24 The famine in Samaria causeth women to eat their own children. 30 The king sendeth to slay Elisha.
1 And the asons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we bdwell with thee is too strait for us.
2 Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan, and take thence every man a beam,1 and clet us make us a place there where we may dwell. And he answered, Go ye.
1 A curious example of the low state to which architecture had fallen by the hostile invasions since the days of Solomon. Permanent buildings were, most probably, confined to towns and castles. The prophets were evidently constructing a log-house like the forest settlers in America.—C.
c 1 Ti.6.6; 5.8. 1 Th.4.11,12.
4 So he went with them. And when they came to Jordan, they cut down wood.
5 But as one was felling a beam, the axe-head2 fell into the water: and he cried, and said, eAlas, master!3 for it was borrowed.
A.M. 3111. B.C. 893.
2 Heb. iron.
e ver.15; ch.3.10. Re.18.10,16,19.
3 In such a state of the arts as is indicated by ver. 2, the loss of an axe would be very great, because nearly irreparable.—C.
6 And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he showed him the place. And he cutf down a stick, and cast it in thither; and the iron did swim.
7 Therefore said he, Take it up to thee. And he put out his hand, and took it.
8 Then the king of Syria warred against Israel, and gtook counsel with his servants, saying, In such and such a place shall be my 4camp.5
9 And the man of God sent unto the king of Israel, saying, hBeware that thou pass not such a place; for thither the Syrians are come down.
10 And the king of Israel isent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of, and saved himself there, not once nor twice.6
11 Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was ksore troubled for this thing; and he called his servants, and said unto them, lWill ye not show me which of us is for the king of Israel?
k Is.57.20. Job 18.7,11; 20.20,22; 15.20.
l 1 Sa.22.8.
12 And one of his servants said, None,7 my lord, O king: but mElisha, the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest nin thy bed-chamber.
13 And he said, Go and ospy where he is, that I may send and fetch him. And it was told him, saying, Behold, he is in pDothan.8
o 1 Sa.23.22. Ps.37.12,14,32; 10.8,9.
p Ge.37.17.
8 Dothan signifies 'two wells;' the town, though only twice mentioned in the Bible, has thrown around it much of romantic interest as having been the scene of Joseph's sale by his brethren, and of Elisha's miraculous deliverance. Among the wooded hills of Ephraim, about eight miles north of Samaria, is a beautiful upland plain. On its southern side is a large mound covered with ruins. This is the site of Dothan, and it is still called by its ancient name. Beside it are several deep wells or cisterns.—P.
14 Therefore sent he thither qhorses, and chariots, and a great9 host: and they came by night, and compassed the city about.
q Is.8.9,10. 1 Sa.23.26. Ps.27.3; 118.10-12.
9 Heb. heavy.
15 And when the rservant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city, both with horses and chariots: and his servant1 said unto him, Alas,s my master! how shall we do?
17 And Elisha uprayed, 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 mountain2 was fullx of horses and chariots3 of fire round about Elisha.
u Ps.50.15; 91.15. Eze.36.37. Is.58.9; 65.24.
2 The 'hill' on which the town was built. The troops of the Syrian king were drawn up in the plain round the site of Dothan, so as to cut off all possibility of escape. The 'horses and chariots of fire' stood in glorious array 'round about Elisha,' between him and the enemy.—P.
x Ps.34.7; 68.17; 91.11. Mat.26.53. ch.2.11. Zec.1.8; 6.1-7. He.1.14.
3 Of the invisible world we know nothing but what God is pleased to discover; but it is a dangerous style of interpretation to resolve all such things into mere assumed appearances. Better to rest upon the letter of the word, and what we are now ignorant of God will, in his own time, reveal.—Note, Providence never wants its visible or invisible agents of deliverance. Our Lord assures us one prayer would have collected around him more than twelve legions of angels, Mat.26.53.—C.
18 And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed unto the LORD, and said, Smite this people, I pray thee, with yblindness.4 And he smote them with blindness, according to the word of Elisha.
19 And Elisha said unto them, This is not the way,5 neither is this the city:6 follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom ye seek. But he led them to Samaria.
5 It is not here that you can see Elisha.
6 'Not the way' where you will find him, nor 'the city' where you will see him. The prophet therefore spoke the literal truth.—C.
20 And 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 zopened their eyes, and they saw; and, behold, they were in the midst of Samaria.
z Mat.7.7. Is.58.9; 45.11; 65.24. Ja.5.16-18.
21 And the king of Israel said unto Elisha, when he saw them, aMy father, shall I smite them? shall I smite them?
a ch.2.12; 8.9; 13.14; 5.13.
22 And he answered, bThou shalt not smite them: wouldest thou smite those whom thou hast taken captive with thy sword and with thy bow? Set bread and water7 before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master.
b Pr.25.21. Ro.12.20. Mat.5.44. 2 Ch.28.11,15. If you would not kill such as you had taken prisoners, how much less those whom God hath made his prisoners.
7 By comparing the phrase 'bread and water,' with ver. 23, it will be seen that it was equivalent to abundant provisions of all kinds.—C.
23 And 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 cbands of Syria8 came no more into the land of Israel.
c ch.5.2; 24.2, but the whole army did, ver.24.
8 The predatory bands, for carrying off cattle and slaves, which, in a difficult country, were of easiest conveyance.—C.
24 And it came to pass after this, that Ben-hadad king of Syria gathered dall his host, and went up,9 and besieged eSamaria.
25 And there was fa great famine in Samaria: and, behold, they besieged it, until an ass's head1 was sold for fourscore pieces of silver,2 and the fourth part of a cab[≈ 300 ml · 0.53 pints]3 of dove's dung4 for five pieces of silver.5
1 This was an unclean animal, Le.11.26; but in a siege, in which mothers devoured their children, ver. 29, and amongst such a people, all law would give way to necessity. Some, however, understand it to be a local name for 'a pile of bread,' or the measure called a homer. But for the first we can see no authority, and in the last no meaning.—C.
2 £9, 7s. 6d.
3 About three gills of vetches.
4 A kind of dried pulse, much used by the Arabs, is still called by this name, and it is largely stored at Cairo and Damascus; and this is the interpretation of Bochart and many others. The literal article is, according to Morier, largely used for manure for melons, and sold at a high price; he concludes, therefore, that it was used for this purpose in the siege. In whatever sense, however, we understand the phrase 'ass's head,' it means certainly an article of food; we can therefore see no reason for supposing the 'doves' dung' to be a manure, and for no other purpose could the literal article be used; we therefore adopt the opinion that it was a kind of dried pea.—C.
5 11s. 5d.
26 And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman unto him, saying, gHelp, my lord, O king!
27 And he said, hIf the LORD do not help thee,6 whence shall I help thee? out of the barn-floor, or out of the wine-press?
h Ps.127.1,2; 60.11; 146.3; 124.1.
6 Or, let not the LORD save thee.
28 And the king said unto her, iWhat aileth thee? And she answered, This woman said unto me, Give thy son, that we may keat him to-day, and we will eat my son to-morrow.
29 So we boiled my son, and did eat him: and I said unto her on the next7 day, Give thy son, that we may eat him:8 and she hath hid her son.
30 And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he lrent his clothes; and he passed by upon the wall, and the people looked, and, behold, he had sackcloth within upon his flesh.9
l ch.5.7; 18.37; 19.1. Ge.37.34. 1 Ki.21.27.
A.M. 3112. B.C. 892.
9 Alas! what trust can be placed in superstitious penances! They may macerate the flesh, but neither rend nor improve the heart. Jehoram has sackcloth on his flesh, the token of deep mourning before God, but (ver. 31) murder in his heart against an innocent godly man.—C.
31 Then he said, mGod do so and more also to me, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stand on him this day.
m 1 Ki.19.2; 18.17. Ac.23.12,14. As he was thought to have brought on, or at least did not remove the famine.
32 But Elisha nsat in his house, and the elders sat with him; and the king sent a man from before him: but oere the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, See ye how this sonp of a murderer1 hath sent to take away mine head? look, when the messenger cometh, shut the door, and hold him fast at the door; is not the qsound of his master's feet behind him?
Notes
Reflections.—It is comfortable to see Christ's disciples increase in the worst of times; but often faithful people are in very poor outward circumstances. Nor in evil times ought a minister to grudge if his own hands must minister to his necessities: but it ill becomes him to be an idle vagabond or slothful loiterer. Things borrowed ought to be carefully preserved. And it is extremely galling to an honest or generous mind to hurt his neighbour. How restless are the enemies of God's people! But it is easy for God, who knows all things, to frustrate their counsels by warning his servants of them; and it is salutary to attend exactly to his admonitions. On the contrary, it is mad impiety for the mightiest to attempt fighting against God and his servants. When there is at best but little faith, the mind is easily overwhelmed with consternation and tempted to despair of divine protection. But they who are strong ought to pray for the weak and bear with their infirmities. Clear views of God's goodness, power, and kindness, and of his angelic guards, can effectually remove our slavish fear of temporal calamities. How often they who fight against God are given up to stupidity and strong delusions; and find themselves conquered or ruined where they hoped to triumph! But if we have our enemies at our mercy it is best to render them good for evil, and thus soften and captivate their hearts. But no kindness will long impress a hardened and obstinate foe. And how dreadful is the scourge of a furious war! It may quickly render us destitute of our necessary food; and raging hunger may prevail against the strongest natural affections. None know what miseries await them before they die. And in our distresses, particularly those of our soul, if God be not our friend, vain is the help of man. Unhumbled sinners are apt to attribute their troubles to any cause but the real one, their sins; and to turn that revenge on the innocent which is due to their sinful self. The sole suspenders of God's judgments are often calumniated and persecuted as if they were the guilty cause thereof: and the most useful are reckoned the very pests of society. But dreadful is the case when disappointments render men desperate with rage against God; the view of whose hand should make them resigned, and whose abundant mercy should encourage their patience and hope.
Measures in square brackets are modern equivalents added for this edition. They are not in the King James text or in Brown’s notes. They use common scholarly estimates: a cubit is about 45.7 cm (18 in), a shekel about 11.4 g (0.4 oz), an ephah about 22 litres. Money values give the worth of the silver or gold at spot prices on 28 October 2026, not what the sum would buy in the ancient world.