2 Kings 6
2 Kings 6 is the sixth chapter of the second part of the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible or the Second Book of Kings in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The book is a compilation of various annals recording the acts of the kings of Israel and Judah by a Deuteronomic compiler in the seventh century BC, with a supplement added in the sixth century BCE. This chapter records some miraculous deeds of the prophet Elisha.
Text
This chapter was originally written in the Hebrew language. It is divided into 33 verses.Textual witnesses
Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Codex Cairensis, Aleppo Codex, and Codex Leningradensis. A fragment containing a part of this chapter in Hebrew was found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, that is, 6Q4 with the extant verse 32.There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus and Codex Alexandrinus.
The axe head recovered (6:1–7)
The passage shows how Elisha helped his disciples, even for something seemingly trivial. Elisha's followers lost a borrowed axe in the water, and the prophet came to help by using "a kind of analogical magic" on the last spot of the axe, before letting the disciple picked it up out of the water. This episode is tied syntactically to the earlier passage by an 'initial waw-consecutive verb' and thematically by similar emphasis of Elisha's 'divinely granted powers' as well as in its relation to Jordan River.Verse 6
- "Threw it in there": The stick is thrown on the surface of the water and this clear statement. does not fit with the attempted explanations that Elisha actually held a long stick to fish the iron out from the bottom.
Elisha captures Arameans and subsequently ensures their release (6:8–23)
The scene moves to a larger political world, where Aramean troops attacked Israelite territory unhindered, but with the help from the prophet, the Israelite army could avoid falling into their hands several times. The Aramean king could only presume he had been betrayed, until he found out that the Israelite king was guided by a 'clairvoyant prophet', so he sent an 'army regiment with horses and chariots' to Dothan to arrest Elisha. The prophet's servant saw in despair that the city was completely surrounded, yet Elisha could see a heavenly host with horses and chariots of fire guarding him. There was no battle with the Arameans, because God 'struck them with blindness', so that Elisha can mock them that the one they seek was not there, and he led them into his trap, right into the middle of the strongly fortified royal city of Samaria, where the Arameans were now completely surrounded with no escape. However, Elisha prevented the king from simply killing the helpless prisoners, and instead to feed and release the Arameans ; a humane act which might help to reduce tensions and enmities at the time. Initially the narrative refers Elisha as "the man of God" and only later employs his name, emphasizing that the prophet is indeed the man of God.Verse 17
- "Horses and chariots of fire": As fiery chariots and horses separated Elijah from Elisha, now a similar appearance surrounds and protects Elisha.
Ben-Hadad besieges Samaria (6:24–33)
Despite the kind gesture of 2 Kings 6:23, the Arameans who no longer made plundering raids through the country, now directly besieged the capital, Samaria. Such a siege in ancient times could last for months, even years, in order literally to starve out the people in the city. The attacker is identified as Ben-Hadad II whom Ahab foolishly released in the time of Elijah, then later caused Ahab's death and now threatened Ahab's son, Jehoram.The narrative displays the increasingly desperate situation: poor-quality food and fuel became extremely expensive, ravenous hunger drove people to cannibalism, the king was completely powerless and deeply dejected. At last, the prophet Elisha was mentioned—not as a possible helper, but as the king's enemy, because apparently the prophet had encouraged resistance to the enemy and trust in YHWH, and now the king's patience had come to an end and sent messengers to arrest Elisha. The location of Elisha's house was presumably in Samaria, not in Dothan, since Samaria was under siege. The presence of some elders in Elisha's house indicates a consultation session regarding oracles from YHWH. Elisha called the king as "this son of a murderer", likely recalling the acts of Ahab, the father of the present king Jehoram, in murdering the sons of the prophets.