# 2 Kings 06 📖: Chariots of Fire and Samaria's Siege [[📚 Explore the Bible Books]] [[-2 Kings Overview]] | [[2 Kings 05]] | [[2 Kings 07]] > [!info] Table of Contents > [[#📜 Scripture Text (NET)]] > [[#📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary]] > [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]] > [[#🧠 Chapter Summary]] > [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]] > [[#🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application]] > [[#💬 Discussion Questions]] > [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]] > [[#🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference]] > [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]] > [[#📂 Internal Notes]] ## 📜 Scripture Text (NET) (The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005) ### Elisha Makes an Ax Head Float [[#Verse 01.]] Some of the prophets said to Elisha, “Look, the place where we meet with you is too cramped for us.  [[#Verse 02.]] Let’s go to the Jordan. Each of us will get a log from there, and we will build a meeting place for ourselves there.” He said, “Go.”  [[#Verse 03.]] One of them said, “Please come along with your servants.” He replied, “All right, I’ll come.”  [[#Verse 04.]] So he went with them. When they arrived at the Jordan, they started cutting down trees.  [[#Verse 05.]] As one of them was felling a tree, the ax head dropped into the water. He shouted, “Oh no, my master! It was borrowed!”  [[#Verse 06.]] The prophet asked, “Where did it drop in?” When he showed him the spot, Elisha cut off a branch, threw it in at that spot, and made the ax head float.  [[#Verse 07.]] He said, “Lift it out.” So he reached out his hand and grabbed it. ### Elisha Defeats an Army [[#Verse 08.]] Now the king of Syria was at war with Israel. He consulted his advisers, who said, “Invade at such and such a place.”  [[#Verse 09.]] But the prophet sent this message to the king of Israel, “Make sure you don’t pass through this place because Syria is invading there.”  [[#Verse 10.]] So the king of Israel sent a message to the place the prophet had pointed out, warning it to be on its guard. This happened on several occasions.  [[#Verse 11.]] This made the king of Syria upset. So he summoned his advisers and said to them, “One of us must be helping the king of Israel.”  [[#Verse 12.]] One of his advisers said, “No, my master, O king. The prophet Elisha who lives in Israel keeps telling the king of Israel the things you say in your bedroom.”  [[#Verse 13.]] The king ordered, “Go, find out where he is, so I can send some men to capture him.” The king was told, “He is in Dothan.”  [[#Verse 14.]] So he sent horses and chariots there, along with a good-sized army. They arrived during the night and surrounded the city. [[#Verse 15.]] The prophet’s attendant got up early in the morning. When he went outside there was an army surrounding the city, along with horses and chariots. He said to Elisha, “Oh no, my master! What will we do?”  [[#Verse 16.]] He replied, “Don’t be afraid, for our side outnumbers them.”  [[#Verse 17.]] Then Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes so he can see.” The Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he saw that the hill was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.  [[#Verse 18.]] As the army approached him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, “Strike these people with blindness.” The Lord struck them with blindness as Elisha requested.  [[#Verse 19.]] Then Elisha said to them, “This is not the right road or city. Follow me, and I will lead you to the man you’re looking for.” He led them to Samaria. [[#Verse 20.]] When they had entered Samaria, Elisha said, “O Lord, open their eyes, so they can see.” The Lord opened their eyes, and they saw that they were in the middle of Samaria.  [[#Verse 21.]] When the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha, “Should I strike them down, my master?”  [[#Verse 22.]] He replied, “Do not strike them down! You did not capture them with your sword or bow, so what gives you the right to strike them down? Give them some food and water, so they can eat and drink and then go back to their master.” [[#Verse 23.]] So he threw a big banquet for them and they ate and drank. Then he sent them back to their master. After that no Syrian raiding parties again invaded the land of Israel. ### The Lord Saves Samaria [[#Verse 24.]] Later King Ben Hadad of Syria assembled his entire army and attacked and besieged Samaria.  [[#Verse 25.]] Samaria’s food supply ran out. They laid siege to it so long that a donkey’s head was selling for eighty shekels of silver and a quarter of a kab of dove’s droppings for five shekels of silver. [[#Verse 26.]] While the king of Israel was passing by on the city wall, a woman shouted to him, “Help us, my master, O king!” [[#Verse 27.]] He replied, “No, let the Lord help you. How can I help you? The threshing floor and winepress are empty.”  [[#Verse 28.]] Then the king asked her, “What’s your problem?” She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Hand over your son; we’ll eat him today and then eat my son tomorrow.’  [[#Verse 29.]] So we boiled my son and ate him. Then I said to her the next day, ‘Hand over your son and we’ll eat him.’ But she hid her son!”  [[#Verse 30.]] When the king heard what the woman said, he tore his clothes. As he was passing by on the wall, the people could see he was wearing sackcloth under his clothes.  [[#Verse 31.]] Then he said, “May God judge me severely if Elisha son of Shaphat still has his head by the end of the day!” [[#Verse 32.]] Now Elisha was sitting in his house with the community leaders. The king sent a messenger on ahead, but before he arrived, Elisha said to the leaders, “Do you realize this assassin intends to cut off my head? Look, when the messenger arrives, shut the door and lean against it. His master will certainly be right behind him.” [[#Verse 321]] Now Elisha was sitting in his house with the community leaders. The king sent a messenger on ahead, but before he arrived, Elisha said to the leaders, “Do you realize this assassin intends to cut off my head? Look, when the messenger arrives, shut the door and lean against it. His master will certainly be right behind him.” [[#Verse 33.]] He was still talking to them when the messenger approached and said, “Look, the Lord is responsible for this disaster! Why should I continue to wait for the Lord to help?” ## 📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary ###### Overall. ###### Verse 01. ###### Verse 02. ###### Verse 03. ###### Verse 04. ###### Verse 05. ###### Verse 06. ###### Verse 07. ###### Verse 08. ###### Verse 09. ###### Verse 10. ###### Verse 11. ###### Verse 12. ###### Verse 13. ###### Verse 14. ###### Verse 15. ###### Verse 16. ###### Verse 17. ###### Verse 18. ###### Verse 19. ###### Verse 20. ###### Verse 21. ###### Verse 22. ###### Verse 23. ###### Verse 24. ###### Verse 25. ###### Verse 26. ###### Verse 27. ###### Verse 28. ###### Verse 29. ###### Verse 30. ###### Verse 31. ###### Verse 32. ###### Verse 33. ## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights 1. The man cried out because the axe head was borrowed (6:5). Iron tools were valuable and expensive in that day. 2. The Aramean king suspected a traitor because Elisha kept warning Israel's king of his plans (6:11-12). 3. Dothan (6:13) is the same place where Joseph's brothers sold him (Genesis 37:17). 4. Elisha said those with them outnumbered those with the enemy (6:16). 5. The rare Hebrew word for the blindness in 6:18 appears elsewhere only in Genesis 19:11, when the men of Sodom were struck blind. 6. Elisha led the blinded army about ten miles from Dothan to Samaria (6:19). 7. Feeding enemies instead of killing them (6:22-23) is echoed in Proverbs 25:21 and Romans 12:20. 8. During the siege a donkey's head, an unclean animal, sold for eighty shekels of silver (6:25). 9. The "dove's droppings" sold for food (6:25) may have been a popular name for a cheap plant or seed. Scholars debate what it was. 10. The horror of mothers eating their children (6:28-29) fulfilled the covenant warnings of Deuteronomy 28:53-57. ## 🧠 Chapter Summary > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter Christ is the Lord of heaven's armies who opens blind eyes. Elisha prayed, and his servant saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire (6:17). Jesus said He could call on more than twelve legions of angels (Matthew 26:53). ## 🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## 💬 Discussion Questions 1. Elisha cared enough to recover a borrowed axe head (6:5-7). What does this say about God's care for the small details of our lives? 2. Elisha said, "Those who are with us outnumber those who are with them" (6:16). What fear might look different if God opened your eyes? 3. Elisha told the king to feed his enemies instead of killing them (6:21-23). How does this story challenge the way we treat people who oppose us? ## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember - 📖 verses 5-7: The borrowed axe head floats at Elisha's word. - 📖 verses 16-17: Elisha prays, and the servant sees the hills full of horses and chariots of fire. - 📖 verses 22-23: The enemy soldiers are fed and sent home, and the raids stop. ## 🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference - 🔗 [[Matthew 26#Verse 53.|Matthew 26:53]] - Jesus could call more than twelve legions of angels. - 🔗 [[Psalm 34#Verse 07.|Psalm 34:7]] - The angel of the Lord camps around those who fear Him. - 🔗 [[Hebrews 01#Verse 14.|Hebrews 1:14]] - Angels are sent to serve those who will inherit salvation. - 🔗 [[Romans 12#Verse 20.|Romans 12:20]] - If your enemy is hungry, feed him. - 🔗 [[Deuteronomy 28#Verse 53.|Deuteronomy 28:53]] - The siege curses warned of in the covenant. ## 🙏 Devotional Reflection 📝 SOAP: [[2 Kings 06 - SOAP|There’s More Than You Can See]] ## 📂 Internal Notes