The writer returns here to the series of miracles which Elisha performed for the benefit of the prophetical schools under his care. The connection, in this point of view, is with 2 Kings 4:44. THE PLACE WHERE WE DWELL WITH THEE - literally, “the place where we sit before thee,” i. e. “the place whe... [ Continue Reading ]
TAKE EVERY MAN A BEAM - Trees were rare in most parts of Palestine, but plentiful in the Jordan Valley. Jericho was known in early times as “the city of palms” Deuteronomy 34:3; Judges 1:16.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE AX HEAD - literally, as in the margin. The Jews used iron for the heads of axes at a very early date (see Deuteronomy 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.... [ Continue Reading ]
No doubt there is something startling in the trivial character of this miracle, and of the few others which resemble it. But, inasmuch as we know very little as to the laws which govern the exercise of miraculous powers, it is possible that they may be so much under their possessor’s control that he... [ Continue Reading ]
THE KING OF SYRIA - Probably the great Benhadad (see 2 Kings 6:24).... [ Continue Reading ]
SAVED HIMSELF - Rather, he “was ware.” The verb used is the same which is translated “beware” in the preceding verse.... [ Continue Reading ]
Benhadad supposed that there must be a traitor in his camp. He asks therefore, “Will no one denounce him?”... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THY BEDCHAMBER - literally, “in the secret place of thy bedchamber,” i. e.,” in the greatest possible secrecy.” The seclusion of the harem must be taken into account for the full appreciation of the force of the phrase. Probably the Syrian lord who answered Benhadad had received his intelligence... [ Continue Reading ]
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 2 Kings 6:17), from the foot of which arises a copious fountain.... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY THAT BE WITH US ... - Elisha gave utterance to the conviction of all God’s saints when the world persecutes them (compare marginal references). God - they know - is on their side; they need “not fear what flesh can do unto them.” His angels - an innumerable host - are ever guarding those who lo... [ Continue Reading ]
OPEN HIS EYES THAT HE MAY SEE - Elisha’s servant lacked the faith of his master. Elisha therefore prays that he may be given a vision of the spiritual world, and see, as if with the bodily eye, the angelic host (marginal references) which he himself knows to be present.... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY CAME DOWN TO HIM - The Syrians, who had been encamped on rising ground opposite the hill of Dothan, now descended and drew near to the city. The blindness with which they were smitten was not real - blindness actual loss of sight - but a state of illusion in which a man sees things otherwise t... [ Continue Reading ]
MY FATHER - A term of respect used by Jehoram in his joy at seeing an army of Syrians delivered up to him by the prophet. That the king’s character was not changed appears from 2 Kings 6:31. SHALL I SMITE THEM? SHALL I SMITE THEM? - The repetition of the words mean, “Shall I utterly smite them?” Co... [ Continue Reading ]
WOULDEST THOU SMITE ... - It is doubtful whether this sentence is really interrogative. Others translate - “Smite those whom thou hast taken captive with thy sword,” etc. A contrast is intended between ordinary captives - those made with the sword and bow - and these particular prisoners who have be... [ Continue Reading ]
Jehoram did not merely follow the letter of the prophet’s direction, but understood its spirit and acted accordingly. The plundering bands which had been in the habit of ravaging the territory 2 Kings 5:2 ceased their incursions in consequence either of the miracle, or of the kind treatment which El... [ Continue Reading ]
AFTER THIS - Perhaps some years after - when the miracle and the kind treatment were alike forgotten.... [ Continue Reading ]
As the donkey was “unclean,” it would not be eaten except in the last resort; and its head would be its worst and cheapest part. CAB - This measure is not mentioned elsewhere in Scripture. According to the rabbinical writers it was the smallest of all the dry measures in use among the Jews, being t... [ Continue Reading ]
The walls of fortified towns had a broad space at the top, protected toward the exterior by battlements, along which the bulk of the defenders were disposed, and from which they hurled their missiles and shot their arrows. The king seems to have been going his rounds, to inspect the state of the gar... [ Continue Reading ]
IF THE LORD DO NOT HELP - The translation in the text is decidedly better than the marginal rendering. Some prefer to render - “Nay ... let Jehovah help thee. Whence, shall I help thee?” OUT OF THE BARNFLOOR ... - The king means that both were empty - that he had no longer any food in store; and th... [ Continue Reading ]
The king had assumed that the cry of the woman was for food. Her manner indicated that it was not so. He therefore proceeded to inquire what she wanted of him. THIS WOMAN - Both women, it would seem, were present; and the aggrieved one pointed to the other.... [ Continue Reading ]
The prophecy alluded to in the marginal references was now fulfilled, probably for the first time. It had a second accomplishment when Jerusalem was besieged by Nebuchadnezzar Lamentations 4:10, and a third in the final siege of the same city by Titus.... [ Continue Reading ]
SACKCLOTH - Jehoram hoped perhaps to avert Yahweh’s anger, as his father had done 1 Kings 21:29. But there was no spirit of self-humiliation, or of true pentitence in his heart 2 Kings 5:7. See the next verse.... [ Continue Reading ]
GOD DO SO ... - Jehoram uses almost the very words of his wicked mother, when she sought the life of Elijah (marginal reference). THE HEAD OF ELISHA - Beheading was not an ordinary Jewish punishment. The Law did not sanction it. But in Assyria, Babylonia, and generally through the East, it was the... [ Continue Reading ]
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 for... [ Continue Reading ]
THE MESSENGER - It has been proposed to change “messenger” into “king,” the two words being in Hebrew nearly alike, and the speech with which the chapter ends being considered only suitable in the mouth of the king, whose presence is indicated in 2 Kings 7:2, 2 Kings 7:17. Others think that the word... [ Continue Reading ]