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2 Kings 13:17

in 2 Kings 13

“Open the east window,” said Elisha. So he opened it and Elisha said, “Shoot!” So he shot. And Elisha declared: “This is the LORD’s arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Aram, for you shall strike the Arameans in Aphek until you have put an end to them.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And he said, Open the window eastward; and he opened it. Then Elisha said, Shoot; and he shot. And he said, Jehovah’s arrow of victory, even the arrow of victory over Syria; for thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, till thou have consumed them.

KJV

And he said, Open the window eastward. And he opened it. Then Elisha said, Shoot. And he shot. And he said, The arrow of the Lord’s deliverance, and the arrow of deliverance from Syria: for thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, till thou have consumed them.

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This verse in 2 Kings 13

Commentary

8 notes on this verse
Eastward - Syria of Damascus lay partly east, but still more north, of the holy land. The arrow was to be shot, eastward, not so much against Syria itself as against the scene of the recent Syrian successes, Gilead 2Ki 10:33, which was also to be the scene of Joash’s victories over them. Aphek is almost due east from Shunem, where it is not unlikely that Elisha now was. The arrow ... - literally, “An arrow of deliverance from the Lord, and an arrow of deliverance against Syria; and thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, even to consuming.”

This site's exposition

Take bow and arrows

on 2 Kings 13:15-19

The prophet's hands over the king's hands on the bow mark the arrow as the LORD's own act worked through a human hand, and the shot east through the open window is named outright, the arrow of the Lord's deliverance against Syria. Smiting the ground was the same kind of act, and Joash stops at three strokes where the man of God expected five or six, a king asked to keep asking and settling instead for a token obedience. Elisha's anger names the cost precisely: thou shouldest have smitten five or six times, then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it, whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice, the measure of the asking returned as the measure of the victory.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Ephrem the Syrian

ON THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS 13:14-19 · Written before 373.

proposed

"Now when Elisha had fallen sick with the illness from which he was to die, King Joash of Israel went down to him and wept before him, crying, "My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!" And Jehu, king of Israel, died, …

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

The arrow of deliverance is his. He shoots out his arrows, and the work is done, Ps. xviii. 14 . " Thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, where they are now encamped, or where they are to have a general rendezvous of their forces, till thou have consumed those of them that are vexatious and oppressive to thee and thy kingdom." (2.) To strike with the arrows,
And he said, open the window eastward,....

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

The particular application of them to Elisha, who, by his counsels and prayer, had obtained many glorious victories for Israel, shows that the king possessed some measure of faith and trust, which, though weak, was accepted, and called forth the prophet's dying benediction.

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

His laying his hands upon the king's hands was to represent the power imparted to the bow shot as coming from the Lord through the medium of the prophet. His shooting the first arrow eastward--to that part of his kingdom which the Syrians had taken and which was east of Samaria--was a declaration of war against them for the invasion.
1 more voice on this verse

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

Open the window eastward - This was towards the country beyond Jordan, which Hazael had taken from the Israelites. The arrow of - deliverance from Syria - That is, As surely as that arrow is shot towards the lands conquered from Israel by the Syrians, so surely shall those lands be reconquered and restored to Israel. It was an ancient custom to shoot an arrow or cast a spear into the country which an army intended to invade. Justin says that, as soon as Alexander the Great had arrived on the coasts of Iona, he threw a dart into the country of the Persians. “Cum delati in continentem essent, primus Alexander jaculum velut in hostilem terram jacit.” - Just. lib. ii. The dart, spear, or arrow thrown, was an emblem of the commencement of hostilities. Virgil (Aen. lib. ix., ver. 51) represents Turnus as giving the signal of attack by throwing a spear: - Ecquis erit mecum, O Juvenes, qui primus in hostem? En, ait: et jaculum intorquens emittit in auras, Principium pugnae; et campo sese arduus infert. “Who, first,” he cried, “with me the foe will dare?” Then hurled a dart, the signal of the war. Pitt. Servius, in his note upon this place, shows that it was a custom to proclaim war in this stay: the pater patratus, or chief of the Feciales, a sort of heralds, went to the confines of the enemy’s country, and, after some solemnities, said with a loud voice, I wage war with you, for such and such reasons; and then threw in a spear. It was then the business of the parties thus defied or warned to take the subject into consideration; and if they did not, within thirty days, come to some accommodation, the war was begun. Thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek - This was a city of Syria, and probably the place of the first battle; and there, it appears, they had a total overthrow. They were, in the language of the text, consumed or exterminated.

The words behind it

22 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַיֹּ֗אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • פְּתַ֧חopen

    petachH6605 →144 times

  • הַחַלּ֛וֹןthe window

    hachalonH2474 →31 times

  • קֵ֖דְמָהeast -ward

    kedemahH6924 →

  • וַיִּפְתָּ֑חand he opened [it]

    vaiyiftachH6605 →144 times

  • וַיֹּ֤אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • אֱלִישָׁ֤עElisha

    ʾelisha'H477 →58 times

  • יְרֵה֙shoot

    yerehH3384 →80 times

  • וַיּ֔וֹרand he shot

    vaiyorH3384 →80 times

  • וַיֹּ֗אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • חֵץ־an arrow of

    chetz-H2671 →53 times

  • תְּשׁוּעָ֤הvictory

    teshuahH8668 →34 times

  • לַֽיהוָה֙of Yahweh

    layahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • וְחֵ֣ץand an arrow of

    vechetzH2671 →53 times

  • תְּשׁוּעָ֣הvictory

    teshuahH8668 →34 times

  • בַֽאֲרָ֔םon Aram

    vaaramH758 →143 times

  • וְהִכִּיתָ֧and you will strike down

    vehikitaH5221 →499 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • אֲרָ֛םAram

    ʾaramH758 →143 times

  • בַּאֲפֵ֖קin Aphek

    baafekH663 →

  • עַד־until

    ʾad-H5704 →1261 times

  • כַּלֵּֽה׃make an end

    kalehH3615 →208 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

12 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

1 Kings 20:26In the spring, Ben-hadad mobilized the Arameans and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel.6 works2 Kings 5:10–14Then Elisha sent him a messenger, who said, “Go and wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored, and you will be clean.”4 worksJohn 11:39–41“Take away the stone,” Jesus said. “Lord, by now he stinks,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man. “It has already been four days.”3 works1 Corinthians 1:18For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.3 works2 Samuel 5:24As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, move quickly, because this will mean that the LORD has marched out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines.”2 worksExodus 4:2And the LORD asked him, “What is that in your hand?” “A staff,” he replied.2 works
The other 6 cross-references, with their words ▾
Exodus 4:17But take this staff in your hand so you can perform signs with it.”2 works1 Samuel 4:1Thus the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now the Israelites went out to meet the Philistines in battle and camped at Ebenezer, while the Philistines camped at Aphek.2 worksJudges 7:9–20That night the LORD said to Gideon, “Get up and go down against the camp, for I have delivered it into your hand.2 worksJohn 2:5–8His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever He tells you.”2 works2 Kings 3:19And you shall attack every fortified city and every city of importance. You shall cut down every good tree, stop up every spring, and ruin every good field with stones.”2 worksAmos 5:9He flashes destruction on the strong, so that fury comes upon the stronghold.2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    1 Corinthians 1:18

    For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

    it leads to

    • 1 Corinthians 2:14

      The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

    • Romans 1:16

      I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, then to the Greek.

    • 2 Thessalonians 2:10

      and with every wicked deception directed against those who are perishing, because they refused the love of the truth that would have saved them.

    • 1 Corinthians 1:23–25

      but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,

    • 2 Corinthians 4:3

      And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.

  • Through

    2 Samuel 5:24

    As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, move quickly, because this will mean that the LORD has marched out before you to strike the camp…

    it leads to

    • 2 Kings 7:6

      For the Lord had caused the Arameans to hear the sound of chariots, horses, and a great army, so that they said to one another, “Look, the king of Israel must have hired the…

    • Judges 4:14

      Then Deborah said to Barak, “Arise, for this is the day that the LORD has delivered Sisera into your hand. Has not the LORD gone before you?” So Barak came down from Mount Tabor…

    • Judges 7:15

      When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship. He returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Get up, for the LORD has delivered the camp of Midian into your…

About 2 Kings

Elijah Ascends to Heaven in a Chariot of Fire, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Elijah Ascends to Heaven in a Chariot of Fire, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
2 Kings: the study guide →Read 2 Kings 13 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Ephrem the Syrian, ON THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS 13:14-19; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in 2 Kings 13 →