2 พงศ์กษัตริย์ 6:18 วิจารณ์

In this chapter we have, I. A further account of the wondrous works of Elisha. 1. His making iron to swim (Kg2 6:1-7). 2. His disclosing to the king of Israel the secret counsels of the king of Syria (Kg2 6:8-12). 3. His saving himself out of the hands of those who were sent to apprehend him (Kg2 6:13-23). II. The besieging of Samaria by the Syrians and the great distress the city was reduced to (Kg2 6:24-33). The relief of it is another of the wonders wrought by Elisha's word, which we shall have the story of in the next chapter. Elisha is still a great blessing both to church and state, both to the sons of the prophets and to his prince.

INTRODUCTION TO 2 KINGS 6 In this chapter are recorded other wonders of Elisha, as causing iron to swim, Kg2 6:1 having knowledge of the secret counsels of the king of Syria, which he disclosed to the king of Israel, Kg2 6:8 smiting the Syrian army with blindness sent to take him, and which he led into the midst of Samaria, Kg2 6:13, and the chapter is closed with an account of the siege of Samaria, and a sore famine in it, Kg2 6:24.

And it came to pass, when they were come into Samaria, that Elisha said, Lord, open the eyes of these men, that they may see,.... So as to know where they were: and the Lord opened their eyes, and they saw, and, behold, they were in the midst of Samaria; the gates being thrown open for them, and they led into the very heart of the city; for, no doubt, Elisha sent his servant before, to acquaint the king of Israel with what he was doing; who got a sufficient number of armed men to enclose them, and fall upon them, when put into his hands, as appears by what follows.

Elisha prayed before the Lord and said, “strike this people with blindness.” And he struck them with blindness according to the words of Elisha. Ben-hadad, king of the Arameans, sent a large army to surround the city of Dothan and ordered them to arrest Elisha, who lived there at that time. Now his servant saw the army of the Arameans and was horrified. But Elisha opened the eyes of the young man and showed him the ranks of fire that the Lord had erected around him against the Arameans, and his fear disappeared. At the same time [the enemies] were struck in their eyes and did not know the route of their march. They asked Elisha to be their guide; he led them to Samaria, and they were imprisoned inside walls. Then their eyes opened and they realized the danger into which they had voluntarily thrown themselves. But Elisha ordered that nobody should hurt them, and by his command, king Jehoram warmly received them. After offering them a banquet, he sent them back to their land in peace.This is the symbolic meaning [of this passage]: God had predicted through the prophet Isaiah, “The heart of these people was hardened; they have stopped their ears and have shut their eyes, so that they cannot see with their eyes.” The people of Abraham had been blinded by a just sentence of God, because of their perverse will. They asked that the Savior of the world be killed and tried to delete any memory of him completely, but Christ has converted them from their perversity to good behavior. He has delivered his persecutors from their blindness and has given them the bread of heaven. Then he has scattered them through the earth to announce his wonders. Such were those who came back from the mount of Golgotha, beating their own chest. They said to Simon and the other apostles with contrite hearts, “Brothers, what should we do?” And such was Saul, the persecutor of the church whose eyes were open without seeing and whose eyes God wondrously closed but opened again very soon, and to whom he ordered to bring his name before the nations, the kings and the children of Israel.

But, as many delight in warfare, which is the most glorious, to bring a battle to an end by the strength of a great army or by merits before God alone? Elisha rested in one place while the king of Syria waged a great war against the people of our ancestors, and was adding to its terrors by various treacherous plans and was endeavoring to catch them in an ambush. But the prophet found out all their preparations, and being by the grace of God present everywhere in mental vigor, he told the thoughts of their enemies to his countrymen and warned them of what places to beware. And when this was known to the king of Syria, he sent an army and shut in the prophet. Elisha prayed and caused all of them to be struck with blindness and made those who had come to besiege him enter Samaria as captives.

If, then, justice is binding, even in war, how much more ought we to observe it in time of peace. Such favor the prophet showed to those who came to seize him. We read that the king of Syria had sent his army to lie in wait for him, for he had learned that it was Elisha who had made known to all his plans and consultations. And Gehazi, the prophet’s servant, seeing the army, began to fear that his life was in danger. But the prophet said to him, “Do not fear, for they who are with us are more than they who are with them.” And when the prophet asked that the eyes of his servant might be opened, they were opened. Then Gehazi saw the whole mountain full of horse and chariots round about Elisha. As they came down to him the prophet says, “Strike, O God, the army of Syria with blindness.” And this prayer being granted, he says to the Syrians, “Follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek.” Then they saw Elisha, whom they were endeavoring to lay hold of, and seeing him they could not hold him fast. It is clear from this that faith and justice should be observed even in war; and that it could not but be a disgraceful thing if faith were violated.

Elsewhere, also, that is, in the books of Kings we read that Elisha was in Samaria, and suddenly an army of Syrians surrounded and set on him. Gehazi saw them and said to his master, “O master, what shall we do?” And Elisha the prophet said, “Do not fear, for there are more with us than with them.” And he prayed that the Lord would open the eyes of Gehazi. And his eyes were opened, and he saw the mountain full of horses and chariots around Elisha. And Elisha prayed that God would strike them with blindness. And they were struck, and they entered into the city whither they were going, seeing not at all. Surely, you soldiers who have been surrounded have heard that where there is perfidy, there is blindness. Rightly, therefore, was the army of the unbeliever blind. But where there is faith, there is an army of angels. Good, then, is faith, which often exercises its power among the dead. Hence our adversary [the devil] and his legions are daily hurled back by the virtue of the martyrs.

The sons of the prophets wish to enlarge their dwelling-place, and go to the banks of Jordan to cut down wood, when one of them drops his axe into the water, which Elisha causes to swim, Kg2 6:1-7. Elisha, understanding all the secret designs of the king of Syria against Israel, informs the king of Israel of them, Kg2 6:8-10. The king of Syria, finding that Elisha had thus penetrated his secrets and frustrated his attempts, sends a great host to Dothan, to take the prophet; the Lord strikes them with blindness; and Elisha leads the whole host to Samaria, and delivers them up to the king of Israel, Kg2 6:11-19. The Lord opens their eyes, and they see their danger, Kg2 6:20. But the king of Israel is prevented from destroying them; and, at the order of the prophet, gives them meat and drink, and dismisses them to their master, Kg2 6:21-23. Ben-hadad besieges Samaria, and reduces the city to great distress, of which several instances are given, Kg2 6:24-30. The king of Israel vows the destruction of Elisha, and sends to have him beheaded, Kg2 6:31-33.

Smite this people - with blindness - Confound their sight so that they may not know what they see, and so mistake one place for another.

ELISHA CAUSES IRON TO SWIM. (Kg2 6:1-7) the place where we dwell with thee--Margin, "sit before thee." The one points to a common residence--the other to a common place of meeting. The tenor of the narrative shows the humble condition of Elisha's pupils. The place was either Beth-el or Jericho, probably the latter. The ministry and miracles of Elisha brought great accessions to his schools.

HIS ARMY SMITTEN WITH BLINDNESS. (Kg2 6:18-23) Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness--not a total and material blindness, for then they could not have followed him, but a mental hallucination (see Gen 19:11) so that they did not perceive or recognize him to be the object of their search.

Elisha Causes an Iron Axe to Float. - The following account gives us an insight into the straitened life of the pupils of the prophets. Kg2 6:1-4. As the common dwelling-place had become too small for them, they resolved, with Elisha's consent, to build a new house, and went, accompanied by the prophet, to the woody bank of the Jordan to fell the wood that was required for the building. The place where the common abode had become too small is not given, but most of the commentators suppose it to have been Gilgal, chiefly from the erroneous assumption that the Gilgal mentioned in Kg2 2:1 was in the Jordan valley to the east of Jericho. Thenius only cites in support of this the reference in לפניך ישׁבים (dwell with thee) to Kg2 4:38; but this decides nothing, as the pupils of the prophets sat before Elisha, or gathered together around their master in a common home, not merely in Gilgal, but also in Bethel and Jericho. We might rather think of Jericho, since Bethel and Gilgal (Jiljilia) were so far distant from the Jordan, that there is very little probability that a removal of the meeting-place to the Jordan, such as is indicated by מקום שׁם נעשׂה־לּנוּ, would ever have been thought of from either of these localities.

When the enemy came down to Elisha, he prayed to the Lord that He would smite them with blindness; and when this took place according to his word, he said to them, This is not the way and this is not the city; follow me, and I will lead you to the man whom ye are seeking; and led them to Samaria, which was about four hours' distance from Dothan, where their eyes were opened at Elisha's prayer, so that they saw where they had been led. אליו ויּרדוּ cannot be understood as referring to Elisha and his servant, who went down to the Syrian army, as J. H. Mich., Budd., F. v. Meyer, and Thenius, who wants to alter אליו into אליהם, suppose, but must refer to the Syrians, who went down to the prophet, as is evident from what followed. For the assumption that the Syrians had stationed themselves below and round the mountain on which Dothan stood, and therefore would have had to come up to Elisha, need not occasion an unnatural interpretation of the words. It is true that Dothan stands upon an isolated hill in the midst of the plain; but on the eastern side it is enclosed by a ranger of hills, which project into the plain (see V. de Velde, R. i. p. 273). The Syrians who had been sent against Elisha had posted themselves on this range of hills, and thence they came down towards the town of Dothan, which stood on the hill, whilst Elisha went out of the town to meet them. It is true that Elisha's going out is not expressly mentioned, but in Kg2 6:19 it is clearly presupposed. סנורים is mental blindness here, as in the similar case mentioned in Gen 19:11, that is to say, a state of blindness in which, though a man has eyes that can see, he does not see correctly. Elisha's untruthful statement, "this is not the way," etc., is to be judged in the same manner as every other ruse de guerre, by which the enemy is deceived.