2 Kingschapter 6
33 verses · BSB2 Kings book hub →
A Famine in Samaria — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
A.The iron did swimvv. 1-7
1 Now the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “Please take note that the place where we meet with you is too small for us. 2 Please let us go to the Jordan, where each of us can get a log so we can build ourselves a place to live there.” “Go,” said Elisha. 3 Then one of them said, “Please come with your servants.” “I will come,” he replied. 4 So Elisha went with them, and when they came to the Jordan, they began to cut down some trees. 5 As one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron axe head fell into the water. “Oh, my master,” he cried out, “it was borrowed!” 6 “Where did it fall?” asked the man of God. And when he showed him the place, the man of God cut a stick, threw it there, and made the iron float. 7 “Lift it out,” he said, and the man reached out his hand and took it.
B.The prophet who hears what Syria whispers in the bedchambervv. 8-12
8 Now the king of Aram was at war against Israel. After consulting with his servants, he said, “My camp will be in such and such a place.” 9 Then the man of God sent word to the king of Israel: “Be careful passing by this place, for the Arameans are going down there.” 10 So the king of Israel sent word to the place the man of God had pointed out. Time and again Elisha warned the king, so that he was on his guard in such places. 11 For this reason the king of Aram became enraged and called his servants to demand of them, “Tell me, which one of us is on the side of the king of Israel?” 12 But one of his servants replied, “No one, my lord the king. For Elisha, the prophet in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom.”
C.They that are with us are more — horses and chariots of firevv. 13-23
13 So the king said, “Go and see where he is, that I may send men to capture him.” On receiving the report, “Elisha is in Dothan,” 14 the king of Aram sent horses, chariots, and a great army. They went there by night and surrounded the city. 15 When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early in the morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. So he asked Elisha, “Oh, my master, what are we to do?” 16 “Do not be afraid,” Elisha answered, “for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” 17 Then Elisha prayed, “O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see.” And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw that the hills were full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. 18 As the Arameans came down against him, Elisha prayed to the LORD, “Please strike these people with blindness.” So He struck them with blindness, according to the word of Elisha. 19 And Elisha told them, “This is not the way, and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will take you to the man you are seeking.” And he led them to Samaria. 20 When they had entered Samaria, Elisha said, “O LORD, open the eyes of these men that they may see.” Then the LORD opened their eyes, and they looked around and discovered that they were in Samaria. 21 And when the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha, “My father, shall I kill them? Shall I kill them?” 22 “Do not kill them,” he replied. “Would you kill those you have captured with your own sword or bow? Set food and water before them, that they may eat and drink and then return to their master.” 23 So the king prepared a great feast for them, and after they had finished eating and drinking, he sent them away, and they returned to their master. And the Aramean raiders did not come into the land of Israel again.
D.Famine so deep a mother eats her sonvv. 24-33
24 Some time later, Ben-hadad king of Aram assembled his entire army and marched up to besiege Samaria. 25 So there was a great famine in Samaria. Indeed, they besieged the city so long that a donkey’s head sold for eighty shekels of silver, and a quarter cab of dove’s dung sold for five shekels of silver. 26 As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, “Help me, my lord the king!” 27 He answered, “If the LORD does not help you, where can I find help for you? From the threshing floor or the winepress?” 28 Then the king asked her, “What is the matter?” And she answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son, that we may eat him, and tomorrow we will eat my son.’ 29 So we boiled my son and ate him, and the next day I said to her, ‘Give up your son, that we may eat him.’ But she had hidden her son.” 30 When the king heard the words of the woman, he tore his clothes. And as he passed by on the wall, the people saw the sackcloth under his clothes next to his skin. 31 He announced, “May God punish me, and ever so severely, if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders through this day!” 32 Now Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. The king sent a messenger ahead, but before he arrived, Elisha said to the elders, “Do you see how this murderer has sent someone to cut off my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door to keep him out. Is not the sound of his master’s footsteps behind him?” 33 While Elisha was still speaking with them, the messenger came down to him. And the king said, “This calamity is from the LORD. Why should I wait for the LORD any longer?”
Chapter summary
A borrowed axe head falls into the Jordan and iron swims.
Read the rest, the context and the outline ▾Show less ▴
Chapter summary
A borrowed axe head falls into the Jordan and iron swims.
Read the rest, the context and the outline ▾Show less ▴
A borrowed axe head falls into the Jordan and iron swims. Then the Syrian king finds his ambushes betrayed, and his servants tell him Elisha declares in Israel 'the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber.' Horses and chariots surround Dothan by night, and the servant despairs until his eyes are opened and the mountain is full of horses and chariots of fire: 'Fear not; for they that are with us are more than they that are with them.' Elisha prays blindness on the raiders, leads them into Samaria, and feeds them home. Later the mercy is gone: Ben-hadad besieges Samaria until an ass's head sells for eighty pieces of silver and two women agree to eat their sons.
Drawn from Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory, Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary and John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament.
Context
History · Jeremiah — 2 Kings overview
- A. 1–7 The iron did swim
- B. 8–12 The prophet who hears what Syria whispers in the bedchamber
- C. 13–23 They that are with us are more — horses and chariots of fire
- D. 24–33 Famine so deep a mother eats her son
Top cross-references8 chapters ▾
2 Kings 65 verses
- 2 Kings 6:8Now the king of Aram was at war against Israel. After consulting with his servants, he said, “My camp will be in such and such a place.”
- 2 Kings 6:12But one of his servants replied, “No one, my lord the king. For Elisha, the prophet in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom.”
- 2 Kings 6:17Then Elisha prayed, “O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see.” And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw that the hills were full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
- 2 Kings 6:24Some time later, Ben-hadad king of Aram assembled his entire army and marched up to besiege Samaria.
- 2 Kings 6:28Then the king asked her, “What is the matter?” And she answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son, that we may eat him, and tomorrow we will eat my son.’
- Read 2 Kings 6 →
2 Kings 23 verses
- 2 Kings 2:3Then the sons of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and said, “Do you know that the LORD will take your master away from you today?” “Yes, I know,” he replied. “Do not speak of it.”
- 2 Kings 2:12As Elisha watched, he cried out, “My father, my father, the chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And he saw Elijah no more. So taking hold of his own clothes, he tore them in two.
- 2 Kings 2:21and Elisha went out to the spring, cast the salt into it, and said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘I have healed this water. No longer will it cause death or unfruitfulness.’”
- Read 2 Kings 2 →
2 Kings 53 verses
- 2 Kings 5:2At this time the Arameans had gone out in bands and had taken a young girl from the land of Israel, and she was serving Naaman’s wife.
- 2 Kings 5:7When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and asked, “Am I God, killing and giving life, that this man expects me to cure a leper? Surely you can see that he is seeking a quarrel with me!”
- 2 Kings 5:13Naaman’s servants, however, approached him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’?”
- Read 2 Kings 5 →
2 Kings 42 verses
- 2 Kings 4:7She went and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil, and pay your debt. Then you and your sons can live on the remainder.”
- 2 Kings 4:36Elisha summoned Gehazi and said, “Call the Shunammite woman.” So he called her and she came. Then Elisha said, “Pick up your son.”
- Read 2 Kings 4 →
4 more chapters this one speaks with
Daniel 22 verses
- Daniel 2:22He reveals the deep and hidden things; He knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with Him.
- Daniel 2:28But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the latter days. Your dream and the visions that came into your mind as you lay on your bed were these:
- Read Daniel 2 →
John 112 verses
- John 11:47Then the chief priests and Pharisees convened the Sanhedrin and said, “What are we to do? This man is performing many signs.
- John 11:50You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.”
- Read John 11 →
Deuteronomy 282 verses
- Deuteronomy 28:52They will besiege all the cities throughout your land, until the high and fortified walls in which you trust have fallen. They will besiege all your cities throughout the land that the LORD your God has given you.
- Deuteronomy 28:53Then you will eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of the sons and daughters whom the LORD your God has given you, in the siege and distress that your enemy will inflict on you.
- Read Deuteronomy 28 →
2 Samuel 142 verses
- 2 Samuel 14:4When the woman from Tekoa went to the king, she fell facedown in homage and said, “Help me, O king!”
- 2 Samuel 14:5“What troubles you?” the king asked her. “Indeed,” she said, “I am a widow, for my husband is dead.
- Read 2 Samuel 14 →
Cross-references from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and OpenBible.info.