2 Kings 13:19

Syria

¹⁷ And he said, Open the window eastward. And he opened it. Then Elisha said, Shoot. And he shot. And he said, The arrow of the LORD’s deliverance, and the arrow of deliverance from Syria: for thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, till thou have consumed them.

¹⁸ And he said, Take the arrows. And he took them. And he said unto the king of Israel, Smite upon the ground. And he smote thrice, and stayed.

And the man of God was wroth with him, and said, Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times; then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it: whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice.

²⁰ And Elisha died, and they buried him. And the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year.

²¹ And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha: and when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet.

Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: But the man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck the ground five or six times. Then you would have struck down Aram until you had put an end to it. But now you will strike down Aram only three times.”
KJV: And the man of God was wroth with him, and said, Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times; then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it: whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice.
WEB: The man of God was angry with him, and said, “You should have struck five or six times. Then you would have struck Syria until you had consumed it, but now you will strike Syria just three times.”
ASV: And the man of God was wroth with him, and said, Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times: then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it, whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice.
DARBY: And the man of God was wroth with him, and said, Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times; then wouldest thou have smitten the Syrians till thou hadst consumed [them]; whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice.
BLB: And the man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck Aram up to completion. Now three times you will strike Aram.”

ÅB: Da ble den Guds mann vred på ham og sa: Du burde ha slått fem eller seks ganger; da hadde du slått syrerne og gjort ende på dem; men nå skal du bare slå syrerne tre ganger.
OTB: Da ble Guds mann sint på ham og sa, “Du burde ha slått fem eller seks ganger; da ville du ha slått Aram til du hadde gjort ende på det. Men nå skal du bare slå Aram tre ganger.”
B1930: Da blev den Guds mann vred på ham og sa: Du burde ha slått fem eller seks ganger; da hadde du slått syrerne og gjort ende på dem; men nu skal du bare slå syrerne tre ganger.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

2 Kings 13:25
And Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz took again out of the hand of Ben-hadad the son of Hazael the cities, which he had taken out of the hand of Jehoahaz his father by war. Three times did Joash beat him, and recovered the cities of Israel.
Read in context
Leviticus 10:16
And Moses diligently sought the goat of the sin offering, and, behold, it was burnt: and he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron which were left alive, saying,
Read in context
2 Kings 6:9
And the man of God sent unto the king of Israel, saying, Beware that thou pass not such a place; for thither the Syrians are come down.
Read in context
Mark 10:14
But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.
Read in context
2 Kings 4:40
So they poured out for the men to eat. And it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out, and said, O thou man of God, there is death in the pot. And they could not eat thereof.
Read in context
Mark 3:5
And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other.
Read in context
Mark 6:5
And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them.
Read in context
2 Kings 4:16
And he said, About this season, according to the time of life, thou shalt embrace a son. And she said, Nay, my lord, thou man of God, do not lie unto thine handmaid.
Read in context