2 Kings 6:21

Elisha

¹⁹ And Elisha told them, “This is not the way, and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will take you to the man you are seeking.” And he led them to Samaria.

²⁰ When they had entered Samaria, Elisha said, “O LORD, open the eyes of these men that they may see.” Then the LORD opened their eyes, and they looked around and discovered that they were in Samaria.

And when the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha, “My father, shall I kill them? Shall I kill them?”

²² “Do not kill them,” he replied. “Would you kill those you have captured with your own sword or bow? Set food and water before them, that they may eat and drink and then return to their master.”

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.

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 when the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha, “My father, shall I kill them? Shall I kill them?”
KJV: And the king of Israel said unto Elisha, when he saw them, My father, shall I smite them? shall I smite them?
WEB: The king of Israel said to Elisha, when he saw them, “My father, shall I strike them? Shall I strike them?”
ASV: And the king of Israel said unto Elisha, when he saw them, My father, shall I smite them? shall I smite them?
DARBY: And the king of Israel said to Elisha, when he saw them, My father, shall I smite? shall I smite [them]?
BLB: And the king of Israel said to Elisha at his seeing them, “Shall I strike? Shall I strike, My father?”

ÅB: Da Israels konge så dem, sa han til Elisa: Skal jeg hugge dem ned, min far, skal jeg hugge dem ned?
OTB: Da Israels konge så dem, sa han til Elisja, "Skal jeg drepe dem? Skal jeg drepe dem, min far?"
B1930: Da Israels konge så dem, sa han til Elisa: Skal jeg hugge dem ned, min far, skal jeg hugge dem ned?

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

2 Kings 5:13
Naaman’s servants, however, approached him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’?”
Read in context
2 Kings 8:9
So Hazael went to meet Elisha, taking with him a gift of forty camel loads of every good thing from Damascus. And he went in and stood before him and said, “Your son Ben-hadad king of Aram has sent me to ask, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’”
Read in context
2 Kings 2:12
As Elisha watched, he cried out, “My father, my father, the chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And he saw Elijah no more. So taking hold of his own clothes, he tore them in two.
Read in context
1 Samuel 24:19
When a man finds his enemy, does he let him go away unharmed? May the LORD reward you with good for what you have done for me this day.
Read in context
1 Samuel 24:4
So David’s men said to him, “This is the day about which the LORD said to you, ‘Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hand, that you may do with him as you wish.’” Then David crept up secretly and cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.
Read in context
2 Kings 13:14
When Elisha had fallen sick with the illness from which he would die, Jehoash king of Israel came down to him and wept over him, saying, “My father, my father, the chariots and horsemen of Israel!”
Read in context
1 Samuel 26:8
Abishai said to David, “Today God has delivered your enemy into your hand. Now, therefore, please let me thrust the spear through him into the ground with one stroke. I will not need to strike him twice!”
Read in context
Luke 9:54–56
When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do You want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?”
Read in context