2 Kings 6:13
in 2 Kings 6So 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,”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he said, Go and see where he is, that I may send and fetch him. And it was told him, saying, Behold, he is in Dothan.
KJV
And he said, Go and spy where he is, that I may send and fetch him. And it was told him, saying, Behold, he is in Dothan.
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This verse in 2 Kings 6
Commentary
4 notes on this verseAnd he said, go, and spy where he is, that I may send and fetch him,.... But how could he expect to take him, who could give the king of Israel such intelligence of his designs against him, that he might escape his snares? and it was told him, saying, behold, he is in Dothan; a city in the tribe of Manasseh, not far from Shechem; see Gen 37:17.
This site's exposition
Go and spy where he is
on 2 Kings 6:13-14
Ben-hadad sends to find one man, and learns he is in Dothan, a small town north of Samaria. The force dispatched against him is horses, chariots and a great host, arriving by night to surround the whole city for a single unarmed prophet. The scale answers its own question: a king who cannot out-hear Elisha tries to out-number him instead.
The record, by era
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Dothan - See the marginal reference note. It was at no great distance from Shechem. Its ancient name still attaches to a Tel or hill of a marked character (compare 2Ki 6:17), from the foot of which arises a copious fountain.
Behold, he is in Dothan - This is supposed to be the same place as that mentioned in Gen 37:17. It lay about twelve miles from Samaria.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Where he is. Where he is. 6 See Shir Hashirim:7 for a similar expression. 7 According to Malbim, this was not a hostile act. The king sent his men to invite Elisha to his court in the hope of winning him over.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֗אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| לְכ֤וּ | lekhu | go | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| וּרְאוּ֙ | ureu | and see | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| אֵיכֹ֣ה | ʾeikhoh | where? | H351 → | |
| ה֔וּא | hu' | [is] he | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| וְאֶשְׁלַ֖ח | veeshlach | so I may send | H7971 → | 845 times |
| וְאֶקָּחֵ֑הוּ | veekachehu | so I may capture him | H3947 → | 966 times |
| וַיֻּגַּד־ | vaiyugad- | and it was told | H5046 → | 370 times |
| ל֥וֹ | lo | to him | ||
| לֵאמֹ֖ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| הִנֵּ֥ה | hineh | there! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| בְדֹתָֽן׃ | vedotan | in Dothan | H1886 → |
וַיֹּ֗אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
לְכ֤וּgo
lekhuH1980 →1546 times
וּרְאוּ֙and see
ureuH7200 →1300 times
אֵיכֹ֣הwhere?
ʾeikhohH351 →
ה֔וּא[is] he
hu'H1931 →1879 times
וְאֶשְׁלַ֖חso I may send
veeshlachH7971 →845 times
וְאֶקָּחֵ֑הוּso I may capture him
veekachehuH3947 →966 times
וַיֻּגַּד־and it was told
vaiyugad-H5046 →370 times
ל֥וֹto him
lo
לֵאמֹ֖ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
הִנֵּ֥הthere!
hinehH2009 →843 times
בְדֹתָֽן׃in Dothan
vedotanH1886 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 stopsEach 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
Jeremiah 36:26Instead, the king commanded Jerahmeel, a son of the king, as well as Seraiah son of Azriel and Shelemiah son of Abdeel, to seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet. But the LORD…
it leads to
- 1 Kings 19:14
“I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of Hosts,” he replied, “but the Israelites have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I am…
- 1 Kings 19:1–3
Now Ahab told Jezebel everything that Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword.
- 1 Kings 19:10
“I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of Hosts,” he replied, “but the Israelites have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I am…
- 1 Kings 17:3
“Leave here, turn eastward, and hide yourself by the Brook of Cherith, east of the Jordan.
- Psalms 91:1
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
- 1 Kings 19:14
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 2 Kings
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); F. W. Farrar, The Second Book of Kings (Expositor's Bible) and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).