2 Kings 13:18

Take the arrows By the previous symbolical act, the prophet has directed the king to go eastward with courage against the enemy, assured that the Lord will be with his arrows, and will regard them as His own. He now proceeds to test the zeal of Joash.

Smite upon the ground The Hebrew indicates the directionof the blows -towards the ground". It appears as though the prophet wished blows to be aimed as if intended to strike down a foe. So the sense is equivalent to -strike (some one) down to the ground". It does not seem that there was to be any shooting of the arrows in this second figurative action, but only a series of blows made with them as they were grasped, and aimed at some imaginary enemy who was to be brought down.

And he smote thrice, and stayed On -stayed" in this sense of -ceased" cf. on 2 Kings 4:6 above. The act, which was intended to be an index of his earnestness, is very feebly performed, and so the promise is curtailed: -now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice".