2 Kings 2:22
in 2 Kings 2And the waters there have been healthy to this day, according to the word spoken by Elisha.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the word of Elisha which he spake.
KJV
So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spake.
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This verse in 2 Kings 2
Commentary
7 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
I have healed these waters
on 2 Kings 2:21-22
Elisha carries the salt to the spring itself rather than treating the stream downstream, and speaks a formula in the Lord's name, I have healed these waters, there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land. Salt elsewhere in Scripture marks judgment, the ground sown with salt after Abimelech's slaughter at Judges 9:45, but here it becomes the vehicle of healing instead, a reversal the commentators note without needing to force one meaning onto every use of the word. The narrator adds his own confirmation, unto this day, dating a healing that was still holding when Kings was written, later travelers identifying the spring as Ain es-Sultan near Jericho's ruins.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
What should we say of the merits of Elisha? This, first of all, is praiseworthy—that he wished to outdo his father in grace, asking that more be given him than he knew that the one who possessed it had. He is, to be sure, covetous …
Let us see what these facts mean, dearly beloved. Elisha, as I have frequently suggested, is the type of our Lord and Savior. That bitter spring seems to signify Adam, from whom the human race has sprung. Before the coming of the true Elisha, that …
"He went up from there to Bethel; and while he was going up on the way, some small boys came out of the city and jeered at him, saying, "Go away, baldhead! Go away, baldhead!" After Elisha had settled the matters concerning his disciples in …
What should we say about the merits of Elisha? His first praiseworthy deed was his wish to surpass his father in grace, expressed when he asked that more grace be given to him than he knew was found in him who possessed such grace. To …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spake.
1 more voice on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Had the abuse done to Elisha been the first offence of that kind, it is probable that it would not have been so severely punished. But mocking the messengers of the Lord, and misusing the prophets, was one of the crying sins of Israel, as we find, 2 Chron. xxxvi.
The words behind it
9 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֵּרָפ֣וּ | vaiyerafu | and they have been healed | H7495 → | 67 times |
| הַמַּ֔יִם | hamayim | the waters | H4325 → | 581 times |
| עַ֖ד | ʾad | until | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| הַיּ֣וֹם | haiyom | the day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| הַזֶּ֑ה | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| כִּדְבַ֥ר | kidvar | according to [the] word of | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| אֱלִישָׁ֖ע | ʾelisha' | Elisha | H477 → | 58 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| דִּבֵּֽר׃ פ | diber | he spoke | H1696 → | 1141 times |
וַיֵּרָפ֣וּand they have been healed
vaiyerafuH7495 →67 times
הַמַּ֔יִםthe waters
hamayimH4325 →581 times
עַ֖דuntil
ʾadH5704 →1261 times
הַיּ֣וֹםthe day
haiyomH3117 →2304 times
הַזֶּ֑ה<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
כִּדְבַ֥רaccording to [the] word of
kidvarH1697 →1440 times
אֱלִישָׁ֖עElisha
ʾelisha'H477 →58 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
דִּבֵּֽר׃ פhe spoke
diberH1696 →1141 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
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About 2 Kings
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Caesarius of Arles, SERMON 126.2-5; Ephrem the Syrian, ON THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS 2:20; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Maximus of Turin, Commentary (church-history corpus) and Maximus of Turin, SERMON 84.3-4.