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2 Kings 6:32

in 2 Kings 6

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?”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

But Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him; and the king sent a man from before him: but ere the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, See ye how this son of a murderer hath sent to take away my head? look, when the messenger cometh, shut the door, and hold the door fast against him: is not the sound of his master’s feet behind him?

KJV

But Elisha sat in his house, and the elders sat with him; and the king sent a man from before him: but ere the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, See ye how this son of a murderer 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 sound of his master’s feet behind him?

This verse in 2 Kings 6

Commentary

9 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

This son of a murderer - Jehoram, the son of Ahab and Jezebel. But Ahab is called a murderer because of the murder of Naboth. Shut the door - He was obliged to make use of this method for his personal safety, as the king was highly incensed. The sound of his master’s feet behind him? - That is, King Jehoram is following his messenger, that he may see him take off my head.

This site's exposition

God do so and more also to me

on 2 Kings 6:31-33

The king swears an oath to have Elisha's head before the day ends, naming him son of a murderer rather than prophet, laying blame on the man who warned him rather than on the sin that brought the siege. Elisha, sitting with the elders, already knows the messenger is coming and has the door held against him, telling them to listen for the sound of his master's feet close behind, the king following his own errand in person. When the king himself arrives he speaks the chapter's last line, this evil is of the Lord, what should I wait for the Lord any longer, laying the famine at God's door in the same breath he has just laid the prophet's death at his own hand.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Ephrem the Syrian

ON THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS 6:24 · Written before 373.

proposed

"Some time later King Ben-hadad of Aram mustered his entire army; he marched against Samaria and laid siege to it." This is that Ben-hadad who had been condemned to death by God; and Ahab had received the order to execute him. But he spared his …

The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

The same spirit of prophecy that enabled Elisha to tell him what was done at a distance authorized him to call the king the son of a murderer, which, unless we could produce such an extraordinary commission, it is not for us to initiate; far be it from us to despise dominion and to speak evil of dignities.

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

proposed

This expression may seem very harsh and unfit; nor is it to be drawn into imitation by others: but it must be considered, that he was an extraordinary prophet, intrusted with a power in some sort superior to that of Joram, and had authority to control and rebuke him in the name of the king of kings.
And Elisha sat in his house,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Concerning the sons of the prophets, and their condition and character. The college here spoken of seems to be that at Gilgal, for there Elisha was ( ch. iv. 38 ), and it was near Jordan; and, probably, wherever Elisha resided as many as could of the sons of the prophets flocked to him for the advantage of his instructions, counsels, and prayers.
2 more voices on this verse

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

A meeting, probably a prayer-meeting, of those was held in the house where he lodged, for he had none of his own (1Ki 19:20, 21); and them he not only apprised of the king's design against himself, but disclosed to them the proof of a premeditated deliverance.
But Elisha sat ... - Translate, “And Elisha was sitting in his house, and all the elders were sitting with him, when the king sent, etc.” The “elders,” - either “the elders of the city” or “the elders of the land,” - who may have been in session at Samaria now, as they had been at the time of a former siege 1Ki 20:7 - had gone to Elisha for his advice or assistance. Their imminent peril drove them to acknowledge the power of Yahweh, and to consult with His prophet. This son of a murderer - i. e. of Ahab, the murderer, not only of Naboth, but also of all the prophets of the Lord (marginal reference), whom be allowed Jezebel to slay. Hold him fast at the door - The elders, public officials, not private friends of Elisha, could not have been expected to resist the entrance of the executioner at the mere request of the prophet. He therefore assigns a reason for his request - “the king is coming in person, either to confirm or revoke his order - will they detain the headsman until his arrival?”

The words behind it

39 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.

  • וֶאֱלִישָׁע֙and Elisha

    veelisha'H47758 times

  • יֹשֵׁ֣ב[was] sitting

    yoshevH34271079 times

  • בְּבֵית֔וֹin house his

    beveitoH10042046 times

  • וְהַזְּקֵנִ֖יםand the elders

    vehazekenimH2205178 times

  • יֹשְׁבִ֣ים[were] sitting

    yoshevimH34271079 times

  • אִתּ֑וֹwith him

    ʾitoH854929 times

  • וַיִּשְׁלַ֨חand he sent

    vaiyishlachH7971845 times

  • אִ֜ישׁa man

    ʾishH3761663 times

  • מִלְּפָנָ֗יוfrom to before him

    milefanavH64402123 times

  • בְּטֶ֣רֶם<in> before

    beteremH2962

  • יָבֹא֩he came

    yavo'H9352568 times

  • הַמַּלְאָ֨ךְthe messenger

    hamalakhH4397213 times

  • אֵלָ֜יוto him

    ʾelavH4135510 times

  • וְה֣וּא׀and he

    vehu'H19311879 times

  • אָמַ֣רhe said

    ʾamarH5595305 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H4135510 times

  • הַזְּקֵנִ֗יםthe elders

    hazekenimH2205178 times

  • הַרְּאִיתֶם֙¿ do you see

    hareitemH72001300 times

  • כִּֽי־that

    ki-H35884482 times

  • שָׁלַ֞חhe has sent

    shalachH7971845 times

  • בֶּן־[the] son of

    ben-H11214930 times

  • הַֽמְרַצֵּ֤חַthe murderer

    hamratzeachH7523

  • הַזֶּה֙<the> this

    hazehH20881180 times

  • לְהָסִ֣ירto remove

    lehasirH5493299 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H85310935 times

  • רֹאשִׁ֔יhead my

    roshiH7218599 times

  • רְא֣וּ׀look

    reuH72001300 times

  • כְּבֹ֣אwhen comes

    kevo'H9352568 times

  • הַמַּלְאָ֗ךְthe messenger

    hamalakhH4397213 times

  • סִגְר֤וּshut

    sigruH546291 times

  • הַדֶּ֙לֶת֙the door

    hadeletH181788 times

  • וּלְחַצְתֶּ֤םand you will push

    ulechatztemH390519 times

  • אֹתוֹ֙<obj.> him

    ʾotoH85310935 times

  • בַּדֶּ֔לֶתwith the door

    badeletH181788 times

  • הֲל֗וֹא¿ not

    halo'H38085168 times

  • ק֛וֹל[is] [the] sound of

    kolH6963506 times

  • רַגְלֵ֥י[the] feet of

    ragleiH7272247 times

  • אֲדֹנָ֖יוmaster<s> his

    ʾadonavH113333 times

  • אַחֲרָֽיו׃after him

    ʾacharavH310715 times

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

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

    Ezekiel 20:1

    In the seventh year, on the tenth day of the fifth month, some of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD, and they sat down before me.

    it leads to

    • Ezekiel 8:1

      In the sixth year, on the fifth day of the sixth month, I was sitting in my house, and the elders of Judah were sitting before me; and there the hand of the Lord…

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Ezekiel 32:1

      In the twelfth year, on the first day of the twelfth month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

  • Through

    Ezekiel 8:1

    In the sixth year, on the fifth day of the sixth month, I was sitting in my house, and the elders of Judah were sitting before me; and there the hand of the Lord…

    it leads to

    • Ezekiel 20:1

      In the seventh year, on the tenth day of the fifth month, some of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD, and they sat down before me.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Ezekiel 14:1

      Then some of the elders of Israel came and sat down before me.

    • Ezekiel 1:2–3

      On the fifth day of the month—it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin—

  • Through

    Ezekiel 14:1

    Then some of the elders of Israel came and sat down before me.

    it leads to

    • Ezekiel 33:31

      So My people come to you as usual, sit before you, and hear your words; but they do not put them into practice. Although they express love with their mouths, their hearts pursue dishonest…

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Isaiah 29:13

      Therefore the Lord said: “These people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is but rules taught…

  • Through

    1 Kings 18:4

    for when Jezebel had slaughtered the prophets of the LORD, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty men per cave, providing them with food and water.)

    it leads to

    • 1 Kings 18:13

      Was it not reported to my lord what I did when Jezebel slaughtered the prophets of the LORD? I hid a hundred prophets of the LORD, fifty men per cave, and I provided them…

Where this verse is studied

About 2 Kings

A Famine in Samaria — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
A Famine in Samaria — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ephrem the Syrian, ON THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS 6:24; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil, The Books of the Kings and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.