2 Kings
Chapter 6
Miracle of the Axe
Now the fellow prophets said to Elisha: “See, the place where we are gathered has become too small for us.
Let us go to the Jordan, and let each of us get a log to build a shed where we can gather.” Elisha answered: “Go.”
Then one of them asked him: “Why do you not come along with us?”
So Elisha went with them. And when they arrived at the Jordan, they began to cut down the trees.
But as one of them was cutting a tree, the iron ax blade fell into the water, and he exclaimed: “Oh, my master, it was borrowed!” The man of God asked him:
“Where did it fall?” And he showed Elisha the place. Elisha cut off a stick, threw it in there, and the iron piece floated.
Elisha said: “Get it.” The man reached out his hand and took it.
War With Syria
At that time, when the king of Aram was raiding Israel, he consulted with his officials and told them: “Let us attack those people.”
But the man of God sent a message to the king of Israel: “Guard this place, for the Arameans shall go there.”
So the king of Israel sent men to the place indicated by the man of God, and they kept watch there. And this happened several times.
The king of Aram was worried because of these things, so he called his officials and told them: “Go and find out who is revealing our plans to the king of Israel.”
One of his officials said: “None of us has betrayed you, my king, but Elisha, the prophet in Israel, makes known to his king even the words you say in your bedroom.”
The king answered them: “Go then and find out where he lives, that I may send people to arrest him.” When they told him that Elisha was in Dothan,
he sent chariots, horses, and a strong troop, who arrived there by night and surrounded the city.
On the following day, when the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning, he went out and saw the Arameans surrounding the city with their chariots and horses. He asked Elisha: “Oh, my master, what shall we do?”
He answered: “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”
Elisha prayed, saying: “Lord, open his eyes that he may see.” The Lord opened the eyes of the servant, and he saw the hill full of horses and chariots of fire around Elisha.
As the Arameans came down to him, Elisha again prayed to the Lord: “Blind them.” So the Lord made them unable to see as Elisha had asked.
Elisha told them: “This is not the way, nor is this the city. Follow me, and I shall bring you to the man you seek.” And he led them to Samaria.
When they entered Samaria, Elisha said: “Lord, open their eyes so that they may see.” The Lord opened their eyes, and they saw they were in Samaria.
When the king of Israel saw them, he said to Elisha: “My father, should I kill them?”
He answered: “If you do not kill those you have captured with your sword and bow, how can you kill these men? Give them bread and water so they may eat and drink, and let them return to their master.”
The king served them a grand banquet, and they ate and drank. Then he sent them away to their master. From that day on, the troops of Aram did not return to invade the territories of Israel anymore.
Siege and Famine in Samaria
Afterwards, Ben-hadad, the king of Aram, gathered all his troops together and laid siege to Samaria.
There was a great famine in Samaria; so great was the misery that the head of an ass was sold for eighty pieces of silver and a half-liter of wild onions for five pieces of silver.
The king of Israel was walking by upon the wall when a woman cried out to him: “Save me, my lord, King!”
The king answered: “In what way can I help you? Where shall I get bread if the Lord does not give you bread?
What is the matter?” She answered: “That woman told me: ‘Give up your son that we may eat him today, and then we will eat my son tomorrow.’
So we cooked my son and ate him. But the next day, when I said to her: ‘Take your son so that we may eat him,’ she had hidden him.”
When the king heard the woman’s words, he tore his clothes. He was upon the wall, and the people saw that he was wearing sackcloth under his tunic.
The king swore: “May God punish me if the head of Elisha, the son of Shaphat, remains on his shoulders today.” And the king sent a guard to Elisha’s house.
Elisha was seated in his house, and the elders sat with him. Before the messenger’s arrival, Elisha said to them: “Do you not know that this murderer has ordered someone to cut my head off? When the messenger comes, shut the door and do not let him in. Behind him, I hear the sound of his master’s footsteps.”
He was still talking to them when the king arrived. The king said: “If all this evil comes from the Lord, why should I still trust him?”
Commentaries
Miracle of the Axe.
The legends surrounding Elisha include one in which the prophet returns to a member of the community of prophets with the iron head of an axe that has fallen into the river, causing something that would never usually happen: the iron floats. Let’s consider the historical circumstances that the Deuteronomist editor is analyzing. We can see in this a symbol that God will bring Israel to the surface, just as Elisha made the heavy metal float.
War With Syria.
The historical conflicts between Syria and Israel set the stage for this new story about Elisha. The king of Syria cannot attack Israel because Elisha warns the king of Israel about his plans. He sends an army to capture the prophet, but with God’s help, the prophet defeats the Syrian army and brings them to Samaria, Israel’s capital. Against all odds, the prophet instructs the king of Israel to feed these men so they can return home, and the king complies. Elisha does not serve the king, but works for peace. While the kings face each other with their armies, the prophet faces them both with one tool: faith, trusting that only through God can conflicts be resolved.
Siege and Famine in Samaria.
This is a variation of the previous story, but the specific situation involves the siege of Syria and its severe consequences: starvation and shortage. The people, represented by the woman who speaks to the king, find themselves in an extreme situation (6:26-29), which leaves the king feeling helpless (6:27). Surprisingly, he blames everything on Elisha, whom he decides to have beheaded (6:31-33). The focus is not on how Elisha escapes the king’s anger and decision, but instead on how Israel is freed from the enemy’s grip. Elisha makes two prophecies that are fulfilled the very next day: the end of the siege will bring an abundance of food and a drop in prices (7:1); the king’s skeptical captain will witness the fulfillment of the prophet’s prediction but will not share in it (7:2). The situation begins to turn in Israel’s favor due to an extraordinary intervention by the Lord. The meaning of this story, like the previous one, is that God cares for the lives of his people, and he accomplishes everything through his prophet.