2 Kings 13:17

And he said, Open the window That there might be a free space for the arrow to be shot through. The command must be directed to some attendant, as the king was holding the bow ready to shoot when he was bidden. The windows of this time were merely open gratings, not filled with anything transparent.

eastward Because eastward from Samaria lay the land of Gilead, the country on which the Syrians were so constantly making their attacks, and which they now had to a great degree in their possession.

The arrow of the Lord's deliverance R.V. The Lord's arrow of victory. The R.V. represents more exactly the force of the Hebrew, which describes this arrow of victory as belonging to the Lord, i.e. as being specially directed by Him, and so assured of its result.

and the arrow of deliverance from Syria R.V. even the arrow of victory over Syria. The sentence is in apposition with the previous clause. The former looks to the prompter of the battle, the latter clause to the result.

in Aphek This is probably the place of that name which was on the east of the sea of Galilee. See note on 1 Kings 20:26. The region east of the Jordan was the constant battle-ground between Israel and Syria. See above on 2 Kings 10:32-33.

tillthou have consumedthem] This was the prophet's thought and the purport of his message. The lack of zeal in Joash by the giving of only three strokes when Elisha hoped for five or six, diminished the completeness of the victory which God had promised.