2 Kings 6:5

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!”

BSB

Parallel translations

4 additional translations

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KJV

But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water: and he cried, and said, Alas, master! for it was borrowed.

ASV

But as one was felling a beam, the axe-head fell into the water; and he cried, and said, Alas, my master! for it was borrowed.

YLT

and it cometh to pass, the one is felling the beam, and the iron hath fallen into the water, and he crieth and saith, `Alas! my lord, and it asked!'

DBT

And it came to pass as one was felling a beam, that the iron fell into the water; and he cried and said, Alas, master, and it was borrowed!

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Commentary voices

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Voices4

On this verse

This is a symbol signifying the fall of Adam. For water represents the type of sin. Indeed, through water, sin was redeemed by the deluge at the time of Noah and at the fulfillment of times. It was washed in the water of holy baptism …

Ephrem the Syrian· ON THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS 6:5, 373patristic

Related commentary

Elisha, by casting a stick into the river Jordan, recovered the iron part of the axe with which the sons of the prophets had gone to cut down trees to build the house in which they wished to read and study the law and commandments of God; even as our Christ, by being crucified on the tree, and by purifying us with water, has redeemed us, though plunged in the direst offences which we have committed, and has made us a house of prayer and adoration.

Justin Martyr· Dialogue with Trypho, Chapter LXXXVI, 165patristic

The ax head - literally, as in the margin. The Jews used iron for the heads of axes at a very early date (see Deu 19:5). They probably acquired a knowledge of the smelting process in Egypt, where iron was employed at least from the time of the third Rameses.

Albert Barnes· Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)evangelical

Note, We ought to be as careful of that which is borrowed as of that which is our own, that it receives no damage, because we must love our neighbour as ourselves and do as we would be done by. It is likely this prophet was poor, and had not wherewithal to pay for the axe, which made the loss of it so much the greater trouble.

Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710puritan

Voices on this verse

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Rabbinic commentary

How the Hebraic tradition has read this verse: and Marcus Brown’s own reading of it.

Cross-references

11 linked verses

The verses this one reaches11

Ecclesiastes 10:10
If the axe is dull and the blade unsharpened, more strength must be exerted, but skill produces success.
Revelation 18:10
In fear of her torment, they will stand at a distance and cry out: “Woe, woe to the great city, the mighty city of Babylon! For in a single hour your judgment has come.”
2 Kings 3:10
“Alas,” said the king of Israel, “for the LORD has summoned these three kings to deliver them into the hand of Moab!”
Psalms 37:21
The wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous are gracious and giving.
2 Kings 6:15
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?”
Revelation 18:16
saying: “Woe, woe to the great city, clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls!
Revelation 18:19
Then they will throw dust on their heads as they weep and mourn and cry out: “Woe, woe to the great city, where all who had ships on the sea were enriched by her wealth! For in a single hour she has been destroyed.”
2 Kings 4:7
She 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.”
Deuteronomy 19:5
If he goes into the forest with his neighbor to cut timber and swings his axe to chop down a tree, but the blade flies off the handle and strikes and kills his neighbor, he may flee to one of these cities to save his life.
Exodus 22:14–15
If a man borrows an animal from his neighbor and it is injured or dies while its owner is not present, he must make full restitution.
Isaiah 10:34
He will clear the forest thickets with an axe, and Lebanon will fall before the Mighty One.

Cross-references

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The quotation web

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Original language

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Around this verse

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

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

2 Kings: Two kingdoms on parallel but diverging arcs. Elisha's ministry; Samaria falls to Assyria in 722 BC; Jerusalem falls to Babylon in 586 BC. Prophets interpose; kings refuse; the exile comes: and closes on a whisper of covenant hope.

Canon: Old Testament
Author: Compiler anonymous; Jewish tradition attributes to Jeremiah (same as 1 Kings)
Date: Events c. 852–560 BC; closing coda places composition in the mid-exile, c. 560 BC

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Revelation 18:10
In fear of her torment, they will stand at a distance and cry out: “Woe, woe to the great city, the mighty city of Babylon! For in a single hour your judgment has come.”
leads to
- Revelation 18:19
  Then they will throw dust on their heads as they weep and mourn and cry out: “Woe, woe to the great city, where all who had ships on the sea were enriched by her…
- Revelation 18:8
  Therefore her plagues will come in one day— death and grief and famine— and she will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.”
- Revelation 18:15–17
  The merchants who sold these things and grew their wealth from her will stand at a distance, in fear of her torment. They will weep and mourn,
Through
Ecclesiastes 10:10
If the axe is dull and the blade unsharpened, more strength must be exerted, but skill produces success.
leads to
- James 1:5
  Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
- Colossians 4:5
  Act wisely toward outsiders, redeeming the time.
- Ecclesiastes 10:15
  The toil of a fool wearies him, for he does not know the way to the city.
Through
Psalms 37:21
The wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous are gracious and giving.
leads to
- Hebrews 13:16
  And do not neglect to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
- Psalms 112:5
  It is well with the man who is generous and lends freely, whose affairs are guided by justice.

The whole web at once: see the Arc.

Where the connections lead

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