2 Kings 13:20

Elisha

¹⁸ Then Elisha said, “Take the arrows!” So he took them, and Elisha said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground!” So he struck the ground three times and stopped.

¹⁹ 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.”

And Elisha died and was buried. Now the Moabite raiders used to come into the land every spring.

²¹ Once, as the Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders, so they threw the man’s body into Elisha’s tomb. And as soon as his body touched the bones of Elisha, the man was revived and stood up on his feet.

²² And Hazael king of Aram oppressed Israel throughout the reign of Jehoahaz.

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: And Elisha died and was buried. Now the Moabite raiders used to come into the land every spring.
KJV: And Elisha died, and they buried him. And the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year.
WEB: Elisha died, and they buried him. Now the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year.
ASV: And Elisha died, and they buried him. Now the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year.
DARBY: And Elisha died, and they buried him. And the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year.
BLB: And Elisha died, and they buried him. And the bands from Moab came into the land at the coming in of the year.

ÅB: Så døde Elisa, og de begravde ham. Ved årets begynnelse pleide moabittiske herjeflokker å falle inn i landet.
OTB: Og Elisja døde, og de begravde ham. Nå pleide flokker av moabitter å invadere landet om våren.
B1930: Så døde Elisa, og de begravde ham. Ved årets begynnelse pleide moabittiske herjeflokker å falle inn i landet.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

2 Kings 24:2
And the LORD sent Chaldean, Aramean, Moabite, and Ammonite raiders against Jehoiakim in order to destroy Judah, according to the word that the LORD had spoken through His servants the prophets.
Read in context
2 Kings 3:7
And he sent a message to Jehoshaphat king of Judah: “The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me to fight against Moab?” “I will go,” replied Jehoshaphat. “I am like you, my people are your people, and my horses are your horses.”
Read in context
2 Kings 5:2
At this time the Arameans had gone out in bands and had taken a young girl from the land of Israel, and she was serving Naaman’s wife.
Read in context
2 Kings 3:5
But after the death of Ahab, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.
Read in context
2 Kings 3:24–27
But when the Moabites came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and attacked them, and they fled before them. So the Israelites invaded their land and struck down the Moabites.
Read in context
2 Kings 6:23
So the king prepared a great feast for them, and after they had finished eating and drinking, he sent them away, and they returned to their master. And the Aramean raiders did not come into the land of Israel again.
Read in context
Judges 6:3–6
Whenever the Israelites would plant their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites, and other people of the east would come up and invade them,
Read in context
Acts 8:2
God-fearing men buried Stephen and mourned deeply over him.
Read in context