2 Kings 13:19

Verse

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.”

American Standard Version (1901)

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.

Bible in Basic English

Then the man of God was angry with him and said, If you had done it five or six times, then you would have overcome Aram completely; but now you will only overcome them three times.

Douay-Rheims 1899

And the man of God was angry with him, and said: If thou hadst smitten five or six or seven times, thou hadst smitten Syria even to utter destruction: but now three times shalt thou smite it.

Free Bible Version

The man of God got angry with him, telling him, “You should have hit the ground five or six times. Then you would have attacked the Arameans until you had completely destroyed them. But now you will only attack the Arameans three times.”

Geneva Bible 1599

Then the man of God was angry with him, and sayde, Thou shouldest haue smitten fiue or sixe times, so thou shouldest haue smitten Aram, till thou haddest consumed it, where nowe thou shalt smite Aram but thrise.

King James (Authorized) Version

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.

Translation for Translators

But Elisha was angry with him. He exclaimed, “You should have struck the ground five or six times! If you had done that, your army would have defeated the Syrian army until they were completely wiped out! But now, because you struck the ground only three times, your army will defeat them only three times!”

Unlocked Literal Bible

But the man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have hit the ground five or six times. Then you would have attacked Aram until you annihilated it, but now you will attack Aram only three times.”

Noah Webster Bible

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

World English Bible

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.”

Young's Literal Translation

And the man of God is wroth against him, and saith, 'By smiting five or six times then thou hadst smitten Aram till consuming; and now, three times thou dost smite Aram.'

Context

Elisha’s Final Prophecy

¹⁸Then 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.¹⁹But 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.”

Summary

This verse depicts the prophet Elisha instructing King Joash to strike the ground with arrows as a symbol of defeating the enemy Aram. However, the king only strikes the ground three times and stops, which angers Elisha because Joash's lack of faith limits the victory God intended to give him. The passage highlights the importance of wholehearted obedience and faith in God's promises to experience His full blessings and deliverance. It serves as a reminder that our actions and faithfulness play a role in God's work in our lives, and that half-hearted efforts may hinder the fulfillment of His plans.

Commentary

John Gill

John Gill Bible Commentary

And it came to pass, as they were burying a man,.... That is, as they were going to bury him; for as yet they were not come to the place they designed to bury him at, as appears by what follows: that, behold, they spied a band of men; one of the bands of the Moabites, which came to rob and plunder, and which was about the place where they intended to bury the man; or they supposed would be there by that time they got to it, or at least before they could bury him, and therefore being frightened stopped: and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha; that being nearest, they opened it, or rather rolled away the stone from it, and threw the body in great haste: and when the man was let down, and touched the bone's of Elisha; or "went and touched" (r); that is, as Kimchi interprets it, being cast in, he rolled till he came to the body of the prophet, and touched it: he revived, and stood upon his feet; which might serve to confirm the faith of Joash in the predictions of the prophet concerning his victories; is a proof of the resurrection of the dead, and of eternal life, and an emblem of our being quickened through the death of Christ. The Jews say (s) this man was Shallum the son of Tikvah, and husband of Huldah the prophetess, and was a good man, much given to alms, for which he was rewarded; and they further say, he went to his own house, and lived many years, and begat children, and particularly Hananeel, mentioned in Jer 32:7, which is not likely; though others say (t) he was a wicked man, Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah, Kg1 22:24 and therefore not suffered to continue in the prophet's grave; but the former is more probable; and, according to Josephus (u), it was the band of robbers that left this man, whom they had murdered, in the grave of Elisha. This grave seems to have been in the field, where the Jews of old, and in later times, buried, as in the field of Hebron, the potter's field, &c. so the Greeks, as Pausanias relates (w), and the Romans also (x), buried by the wayside. (r) "abit et tetigit", Pagninus, Montanus. (s) Pirke Eliezer, c. 33. (t) T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol, 47. 1. Shalshalet Hakabala, fol. 11. 2. (u) Antiqu. l. 9. c. 8. sect. 6. (w) Corinthiac. sive, l. 2. p. 97. (x) Vid. Kirchman. Funer. Roman. l. 2. c. 22.