Tag Archives: God

2 Kings 20 Hezekiah’s Healing and the Babylonian Envoys

2 Kings 20: 1-11

¹ In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says the LORD: Set your house in order, for you shall die; you shall not recover.” ² Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, ³ “Remember now, O LORD, I implore you, how I have walked before you in faithfulness with a whole heart and have done what is good in your sight.” Hezekiah wept bitterly. ⁴ Before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the LORD came to him, ⁵ “Turn back and say to Hezekiah prince of my people: Thus says the LORD, the God of your ancestor David: I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; indeed, I will heal you; on the third day you shall go up to the house of the LORD. ⁶ I will add fifteen years to your life. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; I will defend this city for my own sake and for my servant David’s sake.” ⁷ Then Isaiah said, “Bring a lump of figs. Let them take it and apply it to the boil, so that he may recover.”
⁸ Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What shall be the sign that the LORD will heal me and that I shall go up to the house of the LORD on the third day?” ⁹ Isaiah said, “This is the sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing that he has promised: Shall the shadow advance ten intervals, or shall it retreat ten intervals?” ¹⁰ Hezekiah answered, “It is normal for the shadow to lengthen ten intervals; rather, let the shadow retreat ten intervals.” ¹¹ The prophet Isaiah cried to the LORD, and he brought the shadow back the ten intervals, by which the sun had declined on the dial of Ahaz.

Even though these final two stories are placed after the siege of Jerusalem by Assyria they probably occurred earlier in the timeline, and the timeline given within the story indicates this as well. Chapter eighteen indicates that Hezekiah reigned for twenty-nine years, and within this story his life is extended by fifteen years which places these events in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign. This is significant because the fourteenth year of his reign (701 BCE) is when Jerusalem is besieged by Assyria (see 2 Kings 18:13) and although the illness and recovery could happen in the immediate aftermath of the siege the indication that “I will deliver you and this city out of the hands of the king of Assyria” probably indicates an impending threat to the city. The recovery of the king and the fate of the city are bound together with King Hezekiah being the model of the faithful king.

This is the fourth story in the narrative of 1&2 Kings where a king has asked the prophet if they will recover. In each of the previous stories: the wife of Jeroboam inquiring of Ahijah about her son (1 Kings 14: 1-18), King Ahaziah (who sends messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub and is given his sentence by Elijah in 2 Kings 1), and Ben-hadad (who the prophet Elisha delivers both the positive message of healing and the prophecy that leads to the kings murder by Hazael in 2 Kings 8: 7-15) the person asking ultimately dies. This fourth story the initial message is that the illness is fatal, and the king should put his affairs in order. King Hezekiah turns away from the prophet and tearfully and prayerfully prays to God.

Hezekiah’s prayer as recorded echoes the language of the prayers of the book of Psalms, where the prayer of the individual lifts up how they have walked in faithfulness and call upon God to respond to their obedience. The prayer of the faithful king changes God’s mind on the future for the king and by extension for the city. Brueggemann when writing about Isaiah’s description[1] of the king’s prayer can write:

The prayer of the king has changed the inclination of Yahweh. Prayer is not simply a subjective act of emotional posturing and submissiveness. It impinges upon God. The divine assurance takes place through four verbs: I have heard, I have seen, I will add, I will deliver…not unlike the series of verbs in Exodus 2:24-25 and 3:7. (Brueggemann, Isaiah 1-39: Westminster Bible Commentary, 1998, pp. 303-304)

The response of the LORD through the prophet Isaiah is rapid, before the prophet leaves the palace grounds, and the king is promised restoration within three days and an additional fifteen years of life. The king asks for a sign and Isaiah offers that the LORD can move the sun to alter the time on a sundial, where the LORD will ultimately move the sundial back ten intervals. Unlike his father King Ahaz who was offered a sign by Isaiah and refused it (Isaiah 7) King Hezekiah asks for a sign, and it is granted. There are some similarities to the requests of Joshua request for more daylight in his battle against the Amorites (Joshua 10: 1-15) or Gideon’s request for a sign with the fleece (Judges 6:36-40), and in each story the LORD is not offended by the request for the sign and indeed grants it.

Hezekiah’s boil is treated with a poultice of figs, and although we do not know the nature of Hezekiah’s disease, the treatment and the promise of God work together to affect the healing of the king and to enable him to reign for an additional fifteen years. Unlike King Azariah (aka Uzziah) whose leprosy prevented him from continuing to reign (2 Kings 15:5), Hezekiah’s time as king is doubled by God’s intervention in response to the king’s tears and prayers. Although the editor of 2 Kings, like Isaiah and Chronicles, probably wanted to place the story of Jerusalem’s survival as the focal event of King Hezekiah’s reign, this story occurring before the siege also helps to give a reason for the trust of the king in the LORD’s promise of deliverance.

2 Kings 20:12-21

¹² At that time King Merodach-baladan son of Baladan of Babylon sent envoys with letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick. ¹³ Hezekiah welcomed them; he showed them all his treasure house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his armory, all that was found in his storehouses; there was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them. ¹⁴ Then the prophet Isaiah came to King Hezekiah and said to him, “What did these men say? From where did they come to you?” Hezekiah answered, “They have come from a far country, from Babylon.” ¹⁵ He said, “What have they seen in your house?” Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing in my storehouses that I did not show them.”
¹⁶ Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the LORD: ¹⁷ Days are coming when all that is in your house and that which your ancestors have stored up until this day shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left, says the LORD. ¹⁸ Some of your own sons who are born to you shall be taken away; they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” ¹⁹ Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the LORD that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “Why not, if there will be peace and security in my days?”

²⁰ The rest of the deeds of Hezekiah, all his power, how he made the pool and the conduit and brought water into the city, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Judah? ²¹ Hezekiah slept with his ancestors, and his son Manasseh succeeded him.

The envoys from Merodach-balaban based on the historical references we have also must have occurred before the siege of Jerusalem in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah (around 701 BCE). We know the Merodach-balaban returned to power in Babylon in the aftermath of King Sargon of Assyria’s death in 705, and while Hezekiah was pulling away from Assyria’s control in Jerusalem, he asserted his independence from Assyria with Elamite support in the southeast. When King Sennacherib began to reestablish dominance, he turned initially against Babylon in 704-703 and ended Merodach-balaban’s brief resurgent reign. (Cogan, 1988, pp. 260-261)[2] If these two stories are linked in time it is likely occurring even earlier than the fourteenth year of Hezekiah, around 705-703 BCE. Chronicles indicates that the envoys are sent because of the manipulation of time as a sign to Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 32:31), but this is also probably more than mere curiosity about an astrological event. Merodach-balaban and Hezekiah have a common purpose in resisting Assyria and the visit of the envoys likely has political implications.

Hezekiah welcomes these gift-bearing emissaries as honored guests and shows off the wealth of his storehouses, the temple, and the king’s house.[3] Isaiah, who appears to have easy access to the monarch, asks about the visitors and what they have seen and then gives an oracle that in the future Babylon will be responsible for the removal of the wealth of Jerusalem as well as the descendants of Hezekiah.

Mordechai Cogan and Hayim Tadmor note that the language of the prophecy in verses seventeen to nineteen is closely related to the language of Jeremiah and not like the language of Isaiah, (Cogan, 1988, p. 259) but this would require the parallel language in Isaiah 39 to also be written by Jeremiah.[4] Ultimately, we know that the prophet Micah who was active during the time of King Hezekiah prophesies that Jerusalem will ultimately be destroyed, although Micah does not indicate Babylon as the vessel. (Micah 3:12) Micah’s prophecy reemerges in the story of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 26:18) to justify Jeremiah’s words against the city and king. It may seem strange for Babylon to enter the scene when it will shortly seem like a minor threat, but likely these words of Isaiah become central to the retelling of the final five chapters of the book which end with Isaiah’s words being fulfilled.

As a king, Hezekiah must navigate between the prophetic expectations of faithfulness exclusively to the LORD the God of Israel and the political and diplomatic requirements of running a kingdom. What may have been an act of alliance making and friendship to Hezekiah looks like an act of foolishness to Isaiah. Political matters can shift quickly, and today’s allies may be tomorrow’s adversaries, but the narrator of the book of Kings wants us to remember that God is where the kings of Judah derive their power, security, and peace.

King Hezekiah’s response and thoughts which the narrator convey have been read combining a pious response and an inner thought unconcerned about future generations. The response of Hezekiah echoes the words of his prayer earlier in the chapter as Alex Israel notes:

“The word of the Lord…is good (tov)…If there will be peace (shalom) and security (emet) in my days.” The terms tov, shalom, and emet, echo from his earlier prayer: “Remember…how I have walked before You in faithfulness (emet) and with a whole (shalem) heart, and have done what is good (tov) in your eyes” (II Kings 20:2) (Israel, 2019, p. 313)

Although it is easy to read his private thoughts as unconcerned about the future generations, there is a pious reading like the words of the priest Eli in 1 Samuel 3:18, “It is the LORD; let him do what seems good to him.” Ultimately the future rests in the LORD’s hands and the hands of future generations. Earlier in the chapter we have seen how a faithful king’s prayer can change the future with the LORD.

The reign of Hezekiah is closed with the customary relation of his entire reign which highlights his power and specifically the creation of a reliable water supply for the city. We noted the king’s works to fortify the city and to bring water into the city in our notes on chapter eighteen, and they have been historically documented with the discovery of the inscription on the Siloam pool. Hezekiah’s reign is consequential both for the development of a Zion theology where the city of Jerusalem, the temple, and the Davidic king are under God’s protection as demonstrated by the deliverance of Jerusalem from Assyria, but 2 Kings includes the prophetic critique of this belief. Hezekiah is a good king in the eyes of 2 Kings and Isaiah, although Micah indicates that the reforms of the king do not ultimately impact the nobility, priesthood, and the people, much as Jeremiah will indicate under Josiah. This also is emphasized with the rapid return under Manasseh to the ‘abominable practices of the nations’ and turn aside from Hezekiah’s faithfulness.

[1] This story is echoed in Isaiah 38, although the ordering of the story is slightly different and it includes a long song of thanksgiving in response to the healing.

[2] Merodach-balaban initially reigns in 710 BCE but is removed by Sargon and flees, he returns to power briefly five years later when Sargon dies in battle.

[3] Another indication that this is before the siege of Jerusalem when Hezekiah takes the wealth of the temple and the king’s house to attempt to pay tribute to King Sennacherib.

[4] Cogan and Tadmor’s commentary comes from a period that focused more on source criticism and looked for evidence of multiple sources behind a text. I find those arguments interesting but ultimately, I come from more of a canonical school where I look to comment on the text as we have received it. There is a tradition where Jeremiah is the one responsible for assembling the book of Kings and the Deuteronomic History in general.

2 Kings 19 The Deliverance of Jerusalem from Assyria

2 Kings 19: 1-7

¹ When King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD. ² And he sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace, and Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, covered with sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. ³ They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah: This day is a day of distress, of rebuke, and of disgrace; children have come to the birth, and there is no strength to bring them forth. ⁴ It may be that the LORD your God heard all the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to mock the living God, and will rebuke the words that the LORD your God has heard; therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.” ⁵ When the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, ⁶ Isaiah said to them, “Say to your master: Thus says the LORD: Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have reviled me. ⁷ I myself will put a spirit in him so that he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land; I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.”

The narration of 2 Kings 19 speaks in unison with Isaiah 37 as the prophetic voice brings a note of hope into this critical moment in the life of Jerusalem. The threats of Rabshakeh, and by extension King Sennacherib of Assyria, are now relayed to King Hezekiah and then to the LORD the God of Israel. The hope of the land now rests in the hope the prophet’s intercession with living God will cause this God to act on behalf of the city. King Hezekiah, a king who did right in the sight of the LORD as his ancestor David had done, and the Prophet Isaiah stand with the LORD the God of Israel against the arrayed forces of the empire of Assyria that call from beyond the walls of the city.

The perspective of the narrator of 2 Kings is that the LORD the God of Israel is trustworthy and that the fall from the nation of Israel’s pinnacle under David and Solomon to the reality at the time of Hezekiah where Samaria has been captured and Jerusalem stands under threat was precipitated by the unfaithfulness of the kings and people. Yet, Hezekiah is a king who has shown faithfulness to God’s vision for the people and has been aligned with the prophet Isaiah. In contrast to the bold and idolatrous voice of Rabshakeh and Sennacherib, here Hezekiah assumes the expected posture of repentance: he tears his clothes and covers himself in sackcloth before the LORD as a sign of distress and repentance. As the prophet Isaiah says:

On that day the Lord God of hosts
called for weeping and mourning,
for baldness and putting on sackcloth, Isaiah 22:12[1]

Now the king assumes this posture of weeping and mourning on this day of distress. The king utilizes the image of a woman who comes to the point of childbirth where the child is in the birth canal and needs the mother to push the child out into the world, but the mother does not have the strength to move the child from this place of extreme pain and danger from both the child and the mother. Hezekiah and Jerusalem are powerless to bring about their own deliverance and can only rely upon the LORD to respond and rescue them.

The king and the prophet relay the mocking words of Rabshakeh and Sennacherib to the LORD in the hope that God will respond and rebuke these arrogant words and actions. Isaiah relays to the servants to Hezekiah God’s response which begins with the reassuring words, “Do not be afraid.” Hezekiah and Isaiah have trusted in God against the overwhelming and mocking might of the Assyrians, and God will not be mocked. God will put a spirit in the king, not unlike the action of the ‘lying spirits’ that Micaiah mentions that deceive King Ahab,[2] which lead him away from Jerusalem and eventually to his death.

2 Kings 19: 8-13

⁸ The Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he had heard that the king had left Lachish. ⁹ When the king heard concerning King Tirhakah of Cush, “See, he has set out to fight against you,” he sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying, ¹⁰ “Thus shall you speak to King Hezekiah of Judah: Do not let your God on whom you rely deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. ¹¹ See, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, destroying them utterly. Shall you be delivered? ¹² Have the gods of the nations delivered them, the nations that my predecessors destroyed: Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar? ¹³ Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, the king of Hena, or the king of Ivvah?”

¹⁴ Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it; then Hezekiah went up to the house of the LORD and spread it before the LORD. ¹⁵ And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD and said, “O LORD the God of Israel, who are enthroned above the cherubim, you are God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth. ¹⁶ Incline your ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God. ¹⁷ Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands ¹⁸ and have hurled their gods into the fire, though they were no gods but the work of human hands—wood and stone—and so they were destroyed. ¹⁹ So now, O LORD our God, save us, I pray you, from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O LORD, are God alone.”

Jerusalem may be the capital of a small kingdom caught between the aggressive Assyrian empire and the movements of Egypt to the south, but the audacity of the Jewish belief is that the God of Israel is the LORD of hosts behind not only the armies of heaven but behind the movement of the armies on the face of the earth. The rumored or real movement of the armies of King Tirhakah of Cush[3] prevent a threat to the Assyrians in Judah that must be addressed and this causes both King Sennacherib to move from Lachish and the emissaries of the king of Assyria to prepare to move in support of their king. Yet, King Sennacherib does not want to allow Jerusalem to believe that it has escaped his judgment, and that any removal of the threat is temporary. The Assyrians have conquered numerous other nations and their gods, and in the eyes of Sennacherib Jerusalem, Hezekiah and the LORD are no different. In a similar way Joseph Stalin is attributed with remarking millennia later about the pope, “How many divisions hath the pope?” In the eyes of the empire of the day might makes their position right.

King Hezekiah of Jerusalem views the world differently; it is the LORD who makes things right. Hezekiah takes these words delivered by the messenger, enters the house of the LORD and spreads these words before the LORD. Hezekiah’s prayer calls on the LORD to hear, see, and respond to the mocking words of King Sennacherib. The Assyrians may have defeated the other nations and their gods, who were really no gods at all, but now they have challenged the creator of the heavens and the earth. King Hezekiah calls on God to save Jerusalem from the hands of the Assyrians and to demonstrate that the LORD the God of Israel is the only true God.

2 Kings 19: 20-34

²⁰ Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: I have heard your prayer to me about King Sennacherib of Assyria. ²¹ This is the word that the LORD has spoken concerning him:
She despises you; she scorns you—
virgin daughter Zion;
she tosses her head—behind your back,
daughter Jerusalem.

²² Whom have you mocked and reviled?
Against whom have you raised your voice
and haughtily lifted your eyes?
Against the Holy One of Israel!
²³ By your messengers you have mocked the Lord,
and you have said, ‘With my many chariots
I have gone up the heights of the mountains,
to the far recesses of Lebanon;
I felled its tallest cedars,
its choicest cypresses;
I entered its farthest retreat,
its densest forest.
²⁴ I dug wells
and drank foreign waters,
I dried up with the sole of my foot
all the streams of Egypt.’

²⁵ Have you not heard
that I determined it long ago?
I planned from days of old
what now I bring to pass,
that you should make fortified cities
crash into heaps of ruins,
²⁶ while their inhabitants, shorn of strength,
are dismayed and confounded;
they have become like plants of the field
and like tender grass,
like grass on the housetops
that is scorched before the east wind.

²⁷ But I know your sitting
and your going out and your coming in
and your raging against me.
²⁸ Because you have raged against me
and your arrogance has come to my ears,
I will put my hook in your nose
and my bit in your mouth;
I will turn you back on the way
by which you came.

²⁹ “And this shall be the sign for you: This year you shall eat what grows of itself and in the second year what springs from that; then in the third year sow, reap, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. ³⁰ The surviving remnant of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward, ³¹ for from Jerusalem a remnant shall go out and from Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.
³² “Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city, shoot an arrow there, come before it with a shield, or cast up a siege ramp against it. ³³ By the way that he came, by the same he shall return; he shall not come into this city, says the LORD. ³⁴ For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.”

The poetic response to King Hezekiah’s prayer and King Sennacherib’s mocking letter is delivered through Isaiah and the instrument of the word of the LORD. Jerusalem, personified as a woman, despises and mocks Sennacherib and Assyria, but ultimately it is not Jerusalem that has been disrespected but the Holy One of Israel. Sennacherib has misunderstood his military successes as his own action, but the poem reveals the truth understood from the biblical perspective: the LORD the God of Israel is the LORD of hosts (or armies). The LORD has allowed Sennacherib and Assyria to enjoy the success they have seen, but now they have bitten the hand that fed them. The mocking words of Sennacherib have provoked a reaction from the LORD and now a hook in the nose and a bit in the mouth symbolically shows the powerful king as an unruly animal brought under control by force. Sennacherib will have his head turned like a horse or mule to direct this recalcitrant tyrant back to Ninevah.

The sign discussing eating what grows from the ground for two years before replanting and sowing not only grain, but vineyards set a period for recovery in the aftermath of Assyria’s invasion. The invasion of a land does not only focus on cities. The agricultural land also is used by the invading army as a source of food and unutilized crops are often destroyed to deny food to the invaded population. Yet, the LORD promises there will be enough to glean from the remnant of the current years crop and the volunteer crop of the following year as the armies return to Assyria and depart not only the region around Jerusalem but the entirety of the productive land of Judea. In the third year there will be the security to plant not only annual crops like wheat and barley but also to plant vineyards and to begin to restore the productivity of the land. The expulsion of the armies of Assyria allows both the people and the land to take root and bear fruit. Both nations and people can recover and grow from the remnant of the people of Judah who are gathered in Jerusalem.

The LORD also indicates that the threat to Jerusalem will end without the activities of a siege: no arrows shot into the city, no shields and siege ramps cast up against the walls of Jerusalem. This indicates the army camped near Jerusalem will depart almost immediately before the work of the siege can begin. The LORD promises here to act both on God’s behalf, for the sake of the honor of the name of the LORD which has been insulted by Sennacherib’s words, but also for the sake of David and his faithful heir Hezekiah.

This moment when the armies of Assyria are turned away at the gates of Jerusalem will encourage a focus on the city of Jerusalem, the temple, and the Davidic line as guarantees of divine protection by the LORD. The emergence of a Zion theology, where temple and city occupy a privileged place before God will have to be deconstructed by later prophets like Jeremiah, but in this moment of a faithful king who appeals to God through the prophet Isaiah and in prayer in the temple God answers the prayer of the faithful one. Nevertheless, as Alex Israel states:

When the Temple was eventually destroyed, kings and commoner alike were astonished. They simply failed to comprehend that Jerusalem could fall. Why? Because the victory against Sennacherib had engendered the belief that Jerusalem was under divine protection, that it was invincible.

Similarly, Jeremiah (ch.7) seeks to persuade the people of Jerusalem to stop believing blindly that the Temple was fundamentally indestructible, that God would never abandon His Temple. (Israel, 2019, p. 303)

Or as Lamentations 4:12 states:

The kings of the earth did not believe, nor did any of the inhabitants of the world, that foe or enemy could enter the gates of Jerusalem.

Yet from the perspective of 2 Kings the faithfulness of the king and the people matter. God did not rescue Samaria from Assyria and from the perspective of 2 Kings that conquest is a judgment upon the kings and people of Samaria and their idolatrous practices. Hezekiah restores the people to proper worship of the LORD, and his faithfulness and prayer change God’s authorization of Assyria’s conquest.

2 Kings 19: 35-37

³⁵ That very night the angel of the LORD set out and struck down one hundred eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians; when morning dawned, they were all dead bodies. ³⁶ Then King Sennacherib of Assyria left, went home, and lived at Nineveh. ³⁷ As he was worshiping in the house of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with the sword, and they escaped into the land of Ararat. His son Esar-haddon succeeded him.

Many modern readers struggle with the destruction of the one hundred eighty-five thousand soldiers in the camp of Assyria. I remember during Desert Storm Sadaam Hussein claimed that Allah would strike down the American other allied soldiers who were fighting against him in this ‘holy war/Jihad’ and most modern Western observers responded to this language with scorn. Yet, as Walter Brueggemann states, “the bible hangs or falls on its attestation of the divine difference Yahweh makes in real events.” (Brueggemann, 2000, p. 517) The narrator of 2 Kings has already indicated the power of the LORD the God of hosts when the servant of Elisha has his eyes opened to see the LORD’s chariots of fire and horsemen which surround the Arameans attempting to capture the prophet. (2 Kings 6:15-23) The bible is full of imagery of God as the divine warrior or the leader of armies who saves that people. One hundred eighty-five thousand soldiers is a huge number, especially in the ancient world where populations were much smaller, but I think too many modern readers struggle with accepting that God could act like this through the angel of the LORD.

King Sennacherib retires to Ninevah, likely significantly embarrassed by inability to capture Jerusalem and the loss of soldiers. A defeated king is a vulnerable king, and while worshipping in the house of the unknown god, outside of this mention, Nisroch he is killed by two of his sons who flee and one of his other sons ascends the throne. Assyria’s reign as the empire of the day has not ended, indeed Esar-haddon would conquer Egypt, and Assyria remains a threat through the end of Hezkiah’s life (see 2 Kings 20:6) but God promises to continue to protect Jerusalem.

So much of the biblical language of prophecy is poetry, and so I’m going to close this reflection with Lord Byron’s poem “the Destruction of Sennacherib”

The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold,

And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold;

And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea,

When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.

Like the leaves of the forest when Summer is green,

That host with their banners at sunset were seen:

Like the leaves of the forest when Autumn hath blown,

That host on the morrow lay withered and strown.

For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast,

And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed;

And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill,

And their hearts but once heaved, and for ever grew still!

And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide,

But through it there rolled not the breath of his pride;

And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf,

And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf.

And there lay the rider distorted and pale,

With the dew on his brow, and the rust on his mail:

And the tents were all silent, the banners alone,

The lances unlifted, the trumpet unblown.

And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail,

And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;

And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword,

Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord!

From the Poetry Foundation website: The Destruction of Sennacherib | The Poetry Foundation

[1] See also the actions of the King of Ninevah in Jonah 3: 6-8 or the action of the unnamed king of Samaria during the siege of Ben-hadad of Aram in 2 Kings 6:30.

[2] 1 Kings 22:22.

[3] King Tirhakah or Taharqa was one of the Cushite or Nubian Pharoahs that came from further south in Africa. These ‘Cushite’ Pharoahs ruled over Egypt for more than a century.

2 Kings 18 King Hezekiah and Sennacherib’s Threat to Jerusalem

1 Reply

King Hezekiah on a 17th century painting by unknown artist in the choir of *Sankta Maria kyrka* in Åhus, Sweden.

2 Kings 18: 1-8

¹ In the third year of King Hoshea son of Elah of Israel, Hezekiah son of King Ahaz of Judah began to reign. ² He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign; he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abi daughter of Zechariah. ³ He did what was right in the sight of the LORD, just as his ancestor David had done. ⁴ He removed the high places, broke down the pillars, and cut down the sacred pole. He broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it; it was called Nehushtan. ⁵ He relied on the LORD, the God of Israel, so that there was no one like him among all the kings of Judah after him or among those who were before him. ⁶ For he held fast to the LORD; he did not depart from following him but kept the commandments that the LORD had commanded Moses. ⁷ The LORD was with him; wherever he went, he prospered. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and would not serve him. ⁸ He attacked the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from watchtower to fortified city.

With the northern kingdom of Samaria (Israel) scattered by the Assyrians the remainder of the book of kings focuses on the kings in Jerusalem. Ultimately over the final eight chapters of 2 Kings it will focus on the two paradigmatically good kings, Hezekiah (chapters 18-20) and Josiah (chapters 22-23), in contrast to the kings ‘who do evil in the sight of the LORD. Hezekiah and Josiah are the only kings who are compared to their father David in faithfulness, and Hezekiah ‘held fast’ to the LORD in contrast to Solomon who in his later years ‘held fast’[1] to his foreign wives. (1 Kings 11:2) Hezekiah is viewed as a king who is faithful to God and whose faithfulness ensures that Jerusalem does not suffer the same fate as Samaria. 2 Chronicles 29-32 and Isaiah 36-39 also relate the events of Hezekiah’s reign in a very positive light.

The narrators of 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles view the faithfulness of Hezekiah in his consolidation of worship in the temple in Jerusalem and the elimination of the long-established high places and sacred poles. The high places have failed to be eliminated by previous kings and to the narrator of 2 Kings that has provided a qualification of the faithfulness of any previous king, but now Hezekiah is viewed as an example of the type of king that the LORD expects. Even Nehushtan[2], the bronze serpent on a pole mentioned in Numbers 21, is destroyed to prevent the misuse of this object from the time of Moses. The faithfulness of Hezekiah is also rewarded with success as he both rebels against Assyria and expands his territory into the land of the Philistines. We will explore the impact of this rebellion against Assyria at the end of chapter eighteen and through chapter nineteen, but this introduction to the reign of Hezekiah’s twenty-nine year reign ends on a high note.

2 Kings 18: 9-12

⁹ In the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of King Hoshea son of Elah of Israel, King Shalmaneser of Assyria came up against Samaria, besieged it, ¹⁰ and at the end of three years took it. In the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of King Hoshea of Israel, Samaria was taken. ¹¹ The king of Assyria carried the Israelites away to Assyria and settled them in Halah, on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes, ¹² because they did not obey the voice of the LORD their God but transgressed his covenant—all that Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded; they neither listened nor obeyed.

This brief reminder of the Assyrian conquest of Samaria places the disaster of the northern kingdom in its place between the fourth and sixth year of Hezekiah. Most commentaries will note a struggle with the chronology here and in the following section since Samaria is destroyed in 722/721 BCE and in the following section Sennacherib (705-681 BCE) attacks in the fourteenth year of Hezekiah (believed to be 701 BCE). Ultimately this is a relatively minor instance of numbers not aligning and I do not want to detract from the basic contrast between the kings of the Israelites in the north who did not obey the voice of the LORD their God and Hezekiah who was faithful.

2 Kings 18:13-37

¹³ In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, King Sennacherib of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. ¹⁴ King Hezekiah of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “I have done wrong; withdraw from me; whatever you impose on me I will bear.” The king of Assyria demanded of King Hezekiah of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. ¹⁵ Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord and in the treasuries of the king’s house. ¹⁶ At that time Hezekiah stripped the gold from the doors of the temple of the Lord and from the doorposts that King Hezekiah of Judah had overlaid and gave it to the king of Assyria. ¹⁷ The king of Assyria sent the Tartan, the Rabsaris, and the Rabshakeh with a great army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. They went up and came to Jerusalem. When they arrived, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is on the highway to the fuller’s field. ¹⁸ When they called for the king, there came out to them Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace, and Shebnah the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph, the recorder.
¹⁹ The Rabshakeh said to them, “Say to Hezekiah: Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you base this reliance of yours? ²⁰ Do you think that mere words are strategy and power for war? On whom do you now rely, that you have rebelled against me? ²¹ See, you are relying now on Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of anyone who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who rely on him. ²² But if you say to me, ‘We rely on the Lord our God,’ is it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem’? ²³ Come now, make a wager with my master the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them. ²⁴ How then can you repulse a single captain among the least of my master’s servants when you rely on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? ²⁵ Moreover, is it without the LORD that I have come up against this place to destroy it? The LORD said to me, ‘Go up against this land, and destroy it.’ ”
²⁶ Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, Shebnah, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in the Aramaic language, for we understand it; do not speak to us in the language of Judah within the hearing of the people who are on the wall.” ²⁷ But the Rabshakeh said to them, “Has my master sent me to speak these words to your master and to you and not to the people sitting on the wall, who are doomed with you to eat their own dung and to drink their own urine?”
²⁸ Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out in a loud voice in the language of Judah, “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria: ²⁹ Thus says the king: Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you out of my hand. ³⁰ Do not let Hezekiah make you rely on the LORD by saying, ‘The LORD will surely deliver us, and this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’ ³¹ Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria: Make your peace with me and come out to me; then every one of you will eat from your own vine and your own fig tree and drink water from your own cistern, ³² until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive oil and honey, that you may live and not die. Do not listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you by saying, ‘The LORD will deliver us.’ ³³ Has any of the gods of the nations ever delivered its land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? ³⁴ Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? ³⁵ Who among all the gods of the countries have delivered their countries out of my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?”
³⁶ But the people were silent and answered him not a word, for the king’s command was, “Do not answer him.” ³⁷ Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and told him the words of the Rabshakeh.

This critical moment in the story of Zion is related here and in Isaiah 36. For both 2 Kings and Isaiah the implication of this story is clear, that God protected the city. The faithfulness of the people under Hezekiah leads God to intervene on behalf of the city and the people and Jerusalem, unlike Samaria, will be spared. In a David and Goliath type of moment the small kingdom of Judah resists the seemingly irresistible empire of Assyria.

Alex Israel gives a good summary of the events preceding Assyria’s actions against King Hezekiah and Jerusalem:

The death of an emperor always presented an opportunity for revolt, but the circumstances of Sargon’s death, widely seen as a bad omen for Assyria, exacerbated the unrest. Rebellion broke out at both extremities of the sprawling empire. East of Assyria, in Babylonia, Merodach-baladan (known in Kings as Berodach-baladan) crowned himself as ruler. In the West, Judah allied itself with Philistia and Egypt in rejecting Assyrian power. Since Kings records that Berodach visited Hezekiah in Jerusalem (II Kings 20: 12-13), it is probable that the resistance efforts in the East and the West were coordinated. Israel 289

During the roughly two decades since the destruction of Samaria we know that Hezekiah has been active both in attempting to strengthen the defenses of Jerusalem and has ensured that the city has an adequate water supply by cutting tunnels to carry the waters of the Gihon spring to the Siloam Pool. (Cogan, 1988, p. 221) The Philistine cities Hezekiah attacked in verse eight may have been those loyal to Assyria to secure this Philistine-Egyptian-Judah alliance on the western side of Assyria. Yet, when Assyria under Sennacherib attempts to regain control of the portions of its empire in rebellion it overwhelms the fortified cities of Judah and stands at the gates of Jerusalem where this challenge is issued.

King Hezekiah does attempt to appease the Assyrian king by submitting to a tribute of three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold[3] and Hezekiah empties the treasuries and strips the gold from the temple doorposts, yet the empire is not appeased and the troops of Assyria continue from the conquered city of Lachish to Jerusalem.

The Tartan, the Rabsaris, and the Rabshakeh are three officials of Sennacherib. Tartan is the viceroy who had the authority to act on behalf of Sennacherib, Rabsaris is literally the “chief eunuch”, and Rabshakeh is the “chief cupbearer.” Rabshakeh is the speaker for the emissaries of Sennacherib to the representatives of King Hezekiah, Eliakim the steward of the palace, Shebnah the secretary and Joah the recorder. Rabshakeh speaks both to these representatives but also to the population watching from the walls to weaken the resolve of the defenders and to have people defect from Hezekiah. At the heart of Rabshakeh’s challenge is on what the people and Hezekiah can trust.[4]

Rabshakeh indicates that Egypt is not trustworthy and that any trust placed in their action to deliver will only wound the one who hoped in this weak and unreliable ally. Then Rabshakeh indicates that the people should not trust in the LORD since, in Rabshakeh’s interpretation, the people have at Hezekiah’s insistence removed the very sites that honored the LORD. Then the Rab-shakeh indicates that the presence of the Assyrian army is because the LORD has sent it, an argument that is echoed in Isaiah 10: 5-11. Finally, the people should not trust in Hezekiah to deliver them or when Hezekiah says to ‘trust in the LORD.’ Despite the efforts of Hezekiah to fortify the city, the Rab-shakeh mocks his ineffectual army which could not field two thousand mounted men if Assyria provided the horses. Rabshakeh also states that the gods of the other nations have not prevented Assyria from conquering them, and even if the LORD had not sent Assyria the God of Israel is powerless to prevent the destruction that the army of Assyria portends.

This crisis for the narrator of 2 Kings and Isaiah is more than a military and humanitarian crisis, it is a crisis of trust. Is the God of Israel trustworthy and is Hezekiah, God’s faithful king, trustworthy or does might make right. Can the emissaries of Sennacherib mock God and Jerusalem with impunity or will God intervene on their behalf. The actions of King Hezekiah and the Prophet Isaiah in the following chapter will give a model of faithfulness for future generations and God’s response will prove God’s trustworthiness.

[1] In both cases the Hebrew word dabaq is used for these kings holding fast to either God or their foreign wives.

[2] Nehustan name suggests both the material nehoset, “bronze” and the image nahas, “serpent. (Cogan, 1988, p. 217)

[3] Assyrian records indicate eight hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. (Cogan, 1988, p. 229)

[4] The Hebrew batahta (trust) and derivative forms which are translated security/reliance permeate Rab-shakeh’s speech.

A Small Light in Winter- A Christmas Story

2 Kings 9 The Violent End of the Omri Dynasty Begins

1 Reply

John Liston Byram Shaw, Jezebel. Museum: Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and Museum, Bournemouth, UK

2 Kings 9: 1-13 The Anointing of Jehu

¹ Then the prophet Elisha called a member of the company of prophets and said to him, “Gird up your loins; take this flask of oil in your hand, and go to Ramoth-gilead. ² When you arrive, look there for Jehu son of Jehoshaphat son of Nimshi; go in and get him to leave his companions, and take him into an inner chamber. ³ Then take the flask of oil, pour it on his head, and say, ‘Thus says the Lord: I anoint you king over Israel.’ Then open the door and flee; do not linger.”
⁴ So the young man, the young prophet, went to Ramoth-gilead. ⁵ He arrived while the commanders of the army were in council, and he announced, “I have a message for you, commander.” “For which one of us?” asked Jehu. “For you, commander.” ⁶ So Jehu got up and went inside; the young man poured the oil on his head, saying to him, “Thus says the LORD the God of Israel: I anoint you king over the people of the LORD, over Israel. ⁷ You shall strike down the house of your master Ahab, so that I may avenge on Jezebel the blood of my servants the prophets and the blood of all the servants of the Lord. ⁸ For the whole house of Ahab shall perish; I will cut off from Ahab every male, bond or free, in Israel. ⁹ I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat and like the house of Baasha son of Ahijah. ¹⁰ The dogs shall eat Jezebel in the territory of Jezreel, and no one shall bury her.” Then he opened the door and fled.
¹¹ When Jehu came back to his master’s officers, they said to him, “Is everything all right? Why did that madman come to you?” He answered them, “You know the sort and how they babble.” ¹² They said, “Liar! Come on, tell us!” So he said, “This is just what he said to me: ‘Thus says the LORD, I anoint you king over Israel.’ ” ¹³ Then hurriedly they all took their cloaks and spread them for him on the bare steps, and they blew the trumpet and proclaimed, “Jehu is king.”

In the previous chapter the long-delayed mission given to Elijah in 1 Kings 19: 15-18 to bring about the end of the Omri dynasty begins in earnest with the prophet Elisha acting as a catalyst in the rise of Hazael “son of nobody” to kill his master Ben-hadad and become the king of Aram. Now Elisha sets in motion God’s second instrument in the destruction of the Omri dynasty, Jehu. The prophet sends another member of the sons of the prophets (NRSVue company of prophets) to carry out this task of anointing Jehu, one of the commanders of the army, as the new king of Israel. Elisha may have been too well known to enter into the camp at Ramoth-gilead without creating whispers, but this young prophet goes in his stead to set Jehu in motion.

Choon Leong-Seow makes an educated assumption that these officers may be already plotting a coup based on how quickly they fall in line behind Jehu. (NIB III:217) Ultimately the narrative of 2 Kings does not give us any indication of this as the young prophet approaches, but a wounded and beaten leader recovering away from his military leaders is often viewed as vulnerable. It is also possible that some of these leaders may have viewed Elijah and Elisha favorably, and Jehu in particular is very aware of the words of Elijah and may even have a relationship with the sons of the prophets. This is all speculative, but it makes Jehu’s quick following of the young prophet to a place where he is anointed plausible.

The commissioning of Jehu as king is instrumental in his fulfilling of Elijah’s earlier condemnation of King Ahab’s line and Jezebel in the aftermath of the murder of Naboth in Jezreel to allow the king to take possession of his vineyard. (1 Kings 21) Jehu is named as the son of Jehoshaphat and the grandson of Nimshi, and while the inclusion of the grandfather in the patronym is unusual and may indicate the grandfather’s greater stature in the memory of the people than the father, it is likely that the inclusion of the grandfather’s name is to differentiate his line from Jehoshaphat son of Asa, the former king of Judah. Jehu is not coming from a royal bloodline, yet he is not a nobody. He is a commander of the army who the other commanders quickly acknowledge publicly as their leader.

In the aftermath of the prophet’s dangerous action and rapid departure, Jehu is questioned by his fellow officers about the message of ‘that madman.’ Prophets may have been viewed as mad because they were known to have ecstatic experiences, but they also were frequently (during the Omri dynasty) people who challenged the royal power. The anointing of Jehu is a dangerous action for Jehu if his colleagues view him as a traitor and he initially downplays the prophet’s purpose and message. After being convinced by his fellow officers to speak, these fellow officers join in this public act of declaring Jehu king. This act echoes the coming together of religious leaders and military leaders who anoint and blow the trumpet to declare Solomon king at the instructions of David. (1 Kings 1: 32-40) Jehu anointed by both the prophets and the military leaders moves quickly to become God’s instrument (in the view of 2 Kings) to remove the descendants of Ahab and his former wife Jezebel from their positions of power in Israel.

2 Kings 9: 14-29 Jehu Kills Joram and Ahaziah

¹⁴ Thus Jehu son of Jehoshaphat son of Nimshi conspired against Joram. Joram with all Israel had been on guard at Ramoth-gilead against King Hazael of Aram, ¹⁵ but King Joram had returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds that the Arameans had inflicted on him when he fought against King Hazael of Aram. So Jehu said, “If this is your wish, then let no one slip out of the city to go and tell the news in Jezreel.” ¹⁶ Then Jehu mounted his chariot and went to Jezreel, where Joram was lying ill. King Ahaziah of Judah had come down to visit Joram.
¹⁷ In Jezreel, the sentinel standing on the tower spied the company of Jehu arriving and said, “I see a company.” Joram said, “Take a horseman; send him to meet them, and let him say, ‘Is it peace?’ ” ¹⁸ So the horseman went to meet him; he said, “Thus says the king, ‘Is it peace?’ ” Jehu responded, “What have you to do with peace? Fall in behind me.” The sentinel reported, saying, “The messenger reached them, but he is not coming back.” ¹⁹ Then he sent out a second horseman, who came to them and said, “Thus says the king, ‘Is it peace?’ ” Jehu answered, “What have you to do with peace? Fall in behind me.” ²⁰ Again the sentinel reported, “He reached them, but he is not coming back. It looks like the driving of Jehu son of Nimshi, for he drives like a maniac.”
²¹ Joram said, “Get ready.” And they got his chariot ready. Then King Joram of Israel and King Ahaziah of Judah set out, each in his chariot, and went to meet Jehu; they met him at the property of Naboth the Jezreelite. ²² When Joram saw Jehu, he said, “Is it peace, Jehu?” He answered, “What peace can there be, so long as the many prostitutions and sorceries of your mother Jezebel continue?” ²³ Then Joram reined about and fled, saying to Ahaziah, “Treason, Ahaziah!” ²⁴ Jehu drew his bow with all his strength and shot Joram between the shoulders, so that the arrow pierced his heart, and he sank in his chariot. ²⁵ Jehu said to his aide Bidkar, “Lift him out and throw him on the plot of ground belonging to Naboth the Jezreelite, for remember when you and I rode side by side behind his father Ahab how the Lord uttered this oracle against him: ²⁶ ‘For the blood of Naboth and for the blood of his children that I saw yesterday, says the LORD, I swear I will repay you on this very plot of ground.’ Now, therefore, lift him out and throw him on the plot of ground in accordance with the word of the LORD.”

²⁷ When King Ahaziah of Judah saw this, he fled in the direction of Beth-haggan. Jehu pursued him, saying, “Shoot him also!” And they shot him in the chariot at the ascent to Gur, which is by Ibleam. Then he fled to Megiddo and died there. ²⁸ His officers carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem and buried him in his tomb with his ancestors in the city of David.
²⁹ In the eleventh year of Joram son of Ahab, Ahaziah began to reign over Judah.

Both King Joram of Samaria and King Ahaziah of Judah are at Jezreel and Joram lies ill after the battle with the Arameans. With the rest of the military remaining at Ramoth-gilead, Jehu acts quickly with his co-conspirators, preventing word from reaching Jezreel in advance of Jehu’s plot. Jehu mounts his chariot and heads west from Ramoth-gilead, across the Jordan river to Jezreel. Jehu is not traveling alone and is, in the later words of the sentinel driving his company like a madman[1] which is something Jehu is apparently known for. The sentinel dispatches a first horsemen who asks on behalf of the king, “Is it shalom (peace)” to which Jehu responds “What have you to do with shalom? Fall in behind me.” The first and later the second horseman, which echoes these words, obediently fall in behind Jehu rather than return to their post in Jezreel. Jehu is apparently a commander who the men respect and follow even in the violation of their king’s orders.

Finally, both Kings Joram and Ahaziah each mount up in their chariots to meet this approaching company under Jehu, and they meet at the property that once belonged to Naboth the Jezreelite. King Joram once again asks Jehu, ”Is it shalom?” Jehu’s response leaves no doubt his intentions are not peaceful, and King Joram is able to cry to Ahaziah “treason” before he is shot with a single arrow, similar to his father Ahab’s death in 1 Kings 22: 34. Unlike his father he is likely shot in the back while fleeing (the shot is literally between the arms so technically could be from the front but it is less likely to pierce the heart if the king is wearing a breastplate) and unlike his father who receives a royal burial in Samaria he is cast in the field taken from the murdered Naboth.

King Ahaziah of Judah also married into the family of King Ahab, and we learned that he was practicing the ways of the Omri dynasty as well. He is also mortally wounded in the conflagration, but he is taken to Jerusalem for a royal burial. In this moment of treachery, in the view of Joram and Ahaziah, or judgment, in the view of Jehu and Elisha, the leaders of both Samaria and Jerusalem are gone. Now Jehu turns his attention Jezebel who the texts views as the force behind the corruption of the leaders in both Israel and Judah.

2 Kings 9: 30-37 The Death of Jezebel

³⁰ When Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; she painted her eyes and adorned her head and looked out of the window. ³¹ As Jehu entered the gate, she said, “Is it peace, Zimri, murderer of your master?” ³² He looked up to the window and said, “Who is on my side? Who?” Two or three eunuchs looked out at him. ³³ He said, “Throw her down.” So they threw her down; some of her blood spattered on the wall and on the horses, which trampled on her. ³⁴ Then he went in and ate and drank; he said, “See to that cursed woman and bury her, for she is a king’s daughter.” ³⁵ But when they went to bury her, they found no more of her than the skull and the feet and the palms of her hands. ³⁶ When they came back and told him, he said, “This is the word of the LORD, which he spoke by his servant Elijah the Tishbite: In the territory of Jezreel the dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezebel; ³⁷ the corpse of Jezebel shall be like dung on the field in the territory of Jezreel, so that no one can say, ‘This is Jezebel.’ ”

Jezebel is viewed by 1&2 Kings as a corrupting influence on Israel and recently Judah through the marriage of her daughter Athaliah to Jehoram, who is the mother of the current king Ahaziah. Jezebel had brought the practices of royalty in Tyre to Samaria. Yet, in the midst of Jehu’s uprising she puts on makeup and dresses in a way that denotes her position as the queen mother. Most modern readers discount Jehu’s accusation of Jezebel’s prostitutions and sorceries (v. 22) as reflecting her worship of other gods and practices outside the laws and statues of Israel, but it is entirely possible that Jehu believes that she practices magic of some type. She mocks Jehu from her tower with the memory of Zimri (1 Kings 16: 9-16) another army officer who reigned briefly after striking down his king. Ironically Zimri was defeated by an army led by Omri, the father of Ahab-Jezebel’s late husband.

Two or three eunuchs throw Jezebel from her tower which in a moment, “transformed the narcissistic queen to a piece of rubbish in the streets.” (Brueggemann, 2000, p. 388) Jehu is unbothered by this gory site and enters the tower to eat and drink after his chariot ride and bloody work. He sends men to see to her body, although his remark that she is a king’s daughter may be ironic since he has already cast a king’s son out on the land of Naboth. Ultimately, there is not enough of Jezebel to bury which fulfills Elijah’s words in 1 Kings 21:23. The assassination of Jezebel does end a half-century alliance between Samaria and Tyre (Cogan, 1988, p. 120) but the writer of 2 Kings ultimately views this as a positive. The prophet Hosea would later criticize Jehu (Hosea 1:4) but the author of 2 Kings views his actions in this time as a necessary violence to bring about the needed end of the Omri dynasty which had corrupted northern Israel as well as Judah.

[1] This is the same Hebrew word, shuggah, used to refer to the young prophet in the previous section.

2 Kings 8 Transitioning from Prophetic Time to a Major Transition in Royal Time

3 Replies

Ivory carving found at Arslan Tash, Syria. A cache of ivories found at the Assyrian outpost of Arslan Tash was undoubtedly booty taken from Hazael’s palace in Damascus. The regal figure depicted on this piece is probably Hazael himself. (Louvre Museum, Paris)

2 Kings 8: 1-6

¹ Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, “Get up and go with your household and settle wherever you can, for the LORD has called for a famine, and it will come on the land for seven years.” ² So the woman got up and did according to the word of the man of God; she went with her household and settled in the land of the Philistines seven years. ³ At the end of the seven years, when the woman returned from the land of the Philistines, she set out to appeal to the king for her house and her land. ⁴ Now the king was talking with Gehazi the servant of the man of God, saying, “Tell me all the great things that Elisha has done.” ⁵ While he was telling the king how Elisha had restored a dead person to life, the woman whose son he had restored to life appealed to the king for her house and her land. Gehazi said, “My lord king, here is the woman, and here is her son whom Elisha restored to life.” ⁶ When the king questioned the woman, she told him. So the king appointed an official for her, saying, “Restore all that was hers, together with all the revenue of the fields from the day that she left the land until now.”

Elisha continues to provide for this woman who showed him hospitality and warns her and her child to flee the coming famine. The husband is not mentioned and is likely dead at this point in their story and this woman acts as a head of household. The seven years of famine matches the seven-year cycle of Genesis 41: 25-30 which causes the sons of Israel to seek food in Egypt, but here the famine is far more localized. Seven is a common biblical number of completion or a long time, and so the actual span of the drought may be longer or shorter than this commonly used number to designate a completed time. The woman makes her temporary home in Philistia, roughly 100 miles away, and avoids the impact of the famine. The famine is not explicitly stated as God’s judgment on the Omri dynasty in Samaria and is likely linked to the famine mentioned in the previous chapter during the siege of Samaria, but the famine as a part of God’s judgment against the Omri dynasty can be implied in the story. The stories of the last several chapters which chronicle the works of Elisha probably exist beyond the twelve years of King Jehoram of Judah (even though Jehoram’s reign brackets these stories). The king who is interested in the works of Elisha is the king of Israel, but likely not Jehoram or any other king of the Omri line.

Gehazi reemerges in the story, and this may either precede his affliction with leprosy/skin disease,[1] after some unmentioned healing of his disease, or he may remain afflicted. Whatever his condition he is able to converse with the king of Israel about the acts of Elisha. As he describes Elisha’s raising of the woman’s son, he points to this woman who has come to “cry out” (NRSVue appeal)[2] for the return of her property. The Torah imagines a world where the property of a family would be held by that family in perpetuity, but the narrative of scripture points to a different reality. It is possible that in her absence a relative or even squatters have come in and taken over her land, or that in her absence it became crown land, but this once well-connected woman now comes to appeal for her property. Her connection to Elisha allows her appeal to be heard by this king who is interested in the acts of Elisha, and her “crying out” is heard by the king who appoints an official[3] to restore not only her land but also the revenue from the land in the time of her absence.

2 Kings 8: 7-15

⁷ Elisha went to Damascus while King Ben-hadad of Aram was ill. When it was told him, “The man of God has come here,” ⁸ the king said to Hazael, “Take a present with you and go to meet the man of God. Inquire of the LORD through him, whether I shall recover from this illness.” ⁹ So Hazael went to meet him, taking a present with him, all kinds of goods of Damascus, forty camel loads. When he entered and stood before him, he said, “Your son King Ben-hadad of Aram has sent me to you, saying, ‘Shall I recover from this illness?’ ” ¹⁰ Elisha said to him, “Go, say to him, ‘You shall certainly recover,’ but the LORD has shown me that he shall certainly die.” ¹¹ He fixed his gaze and stared at him to the point of embarrassment. Then the man of God wept. ¹² Hazael asked, “Why does my lord weep?” He answered, “Because I know the evil that you will do to the people of Israel; you will set their fortresses on fire; you will kill their young men with the sword, dash in pieces their little ones, and rip up their pregnant women.” ¹³ Hazael said, “What is your servant, who is a mere dog, that he should do this great thing?” Elisha answered, “The LORD has shown me that you are to be king over Aram.” ¹⁴ Then he left Elisha and went to his master Ben-hadad, who said to him, “What did Elisha say to you?” And he answered, “He told me that you would certainly recover.” ¹⁵ But the next day he took the bedcover and dipped it in water and spread it over the king’s face, until he died. And Hazael succeeded him.

The prophet Elijah when he was instructed to anoint Elisha to be prophet in his place was also commanded to appoint Hazael as king over Aram and Jehu as king over Israel (1 Kings 19: 15-17). Elijah did call Elisha, but now it is Elisha who is engaged in Hazael’s ascension to power in Damascus. The story is an inversion of the story in 2 Kings 1 where King Ahaziah, king in Samaria, sends to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron. While the king of Israel appeals to the god of Ekron, now a foreign king appeals to the prophet of Israel to inquire of the LORD his God. Yet, this inquiry of Ben-hadad sets in motion his demise despite the affirmative answer of the prophet. The prophetic messenger appoints Hazael to do the work that prophets do not do. The involvement of the prophet in both a lie and the politics of a foreign power has caused discomfort for some readers.

In the scriptures God often works through foreign powers, even if these powers are unaware of their participation in God’s action of judgment or deliverance. Hazael, the servant of Ben-hadad approaches the prophet with a large gift for this emissary of the God of Israel, but unlike Naaman’s large gift we never learn the disposition of the forty camel loads of gifts offered to the prophet. Hazael is informed of his role even though the prophet regrets the damage he will do to the people of Israel. Although Elisha gives Hazael the message that the king will recover from the illness, he also sets in motion a chain of events that lead to King Ben-hadad’s death at the hands of his servant. The prophet Amos views Hazael’s ascension as God’s act as well, but as a judgment on Ben-hadad (Amos 1: 3-4) but in Elisha’s view what is important is Hazael’s actions towards Israel. Following the original commissioning of Elijah to set Hazael over Aram and Jehu over Israel, both Aram and Jehu (and Elisha) are the swords that shall kill many. Many modern readers recoil at the violence of the actions attributed to Hazael in the prophet’s words, but war in the ancient world was violent. War of all times is violent, and innocent people often pay a heavy cost but armies in the ancient world did not act with the same restraint that modern militaries do in attempting to limit the destructiveness of the soldiers unleashed to practice violence on the enemy land and people. Hazael acknowledges that the violence the prophet describes would be a “great thing” and his only protest is that he is too insignificant to be able to accomplish this great thing. God has designated Hazael as a part of God’s plan for Israel, but Hazael is a blunt instrument that will incur a lot of damage in the removal of the Omri dynasty.

Elisha may weep for the future that he sees but he remains faithful to God’s vision. The ways of the Omri dynasty have led the people of Israel away to following other gods and unjust practices. Elisha may have wrestled with his role in being a part of the (ultimately) violent solution to the wicked (in the view of 2 Kings) kings of Israel who have now corrupted even the line of kings in Judah (see below). Many of the stories of Elisha have shown him working with individuals and groups in miraculous ways to help them navigate this world of famines and sieges. Yet, the narrative of 2 Kings attempts to understand how God is at work in the collapse of both Israel and Judah working through Aram, Assyria, and Babylon. Hazael, son of a nobody, as a large basalt statue of Shalmaneser refers to him derogatorily, (Cogan, 1988, p. 90) may not be anointed by Elisha in this story, but Elisha gives him the vision that leads to the suffocation of his ailing master and allows the son of a nobody to grasp power in Aram and to become God’s blunt instrument utilized in the judgment of Israel.

2 Kings 8: 16-29

¹⁶ In the fifth year of King Joram son of Ahab of Israel, Jehoram son of King Jehoshaphat of Judah began to reign. ¹⁷ He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. ¹⁸ He walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife. He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. ¹⁹ Yet the LORD would not destroy Judah, for the sake of his servant David, since he had promised to give a lamp to him and to his descendants forever.
²⁰ In his days Edom revolted against the rule of Judah and set up a king of their own. ²¹ Then Joram crossed over to Zair with all his chariots. He set out by night and attacked the Edomites and their chariot commanders who had surrounded him, but his army fled home. ²² So Edom has been in revolt against the rule of Judah to this day. Libnah also revolted at the same time. ²³ Now the rest of the acts of Joram and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Judah? ²⁴ So Joram slept with his ancestors and was buried with them in the city of David; his son Ahaziah succeeded him.

²⁵ In the twelfth year of King Joram son of Ahab of Israel, Ahaziah son of King Jehoram of Judah began to reign. ²⁶ Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he began to reign; he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah, a granddaughter of King Omri of Israel. ²⁷ He also walked in the way of the house of Ahab, doing what was evil in the sight of the LORD, as the house of Ahab had done, for he was son-in-law to the house of Ahab.
²⁸ He went with Joram son of Ahab to wage war against King Hazael of Aram at Ramoth-gilead, where the Arameans wounded Joram. ²⁹ King Joram returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds that the Arameans had inflicted on him at Ramah, when he fought against King Hazael of Aram. King Ahaziah son of Jehoram of Judah went down to see Joram son of Ahab in Jezreel because he was wounded.

The bulk of the first eight chapters of 2 Kings have broken from the typical construction of the story around the reigns of kings and has focused instead on the end of the prophet Elijah’s story and then multiple stories centered on the prophet Elisha. We will return to Elisha for a few final stories, but the narrator of 2 Kings returns us to the timeline of kings, particularly the kings in Judah. The narration of the book of kings has focused almost entirely on the northern kingdom of Samaria or Israel since the reign of Jehoshaphat in Judah in 1 Kings 22: 41-51. In contrast to his father and grandfather who followed the ways of the LORD, Jehoram[4] the new king of Judah follows the ways of the kings of Israel and is allied with these kings by marriage to Athaliah, a sister of king Joram of Israel. Like Jezebel, king Ahab’s wife, Athaliah is viewed as a corrupting influence upon both Jehoram and her son Ahaziah.

2 Chronicles reports a letter from Elijah to Jehoram:

¹² A letter came to him from the prophet Elijah, saying, “Thus says the LORD, the God of your father David: Because you have not walked in the ways of your father Jehoshaphat or in the ways of King Asa of Judah ¹³ but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel and have led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem into unfaithfulness, as the house of Ahab led Israel into unfaithfulness, and because you also have killed your brothers, members of your father’s house, who were better than you, ¹⁴ see, the LORD will bring a great plague on your people, your children, your wives, and all your possessions,¹⁵ and you yourself will have a severe sickness with a disease of your bowels until your bowels come out, day after day, because of the disease.” 2 Chronicles 21:12-14

Both 2 Chronicles and 2 Kings view the time of Jehoram as a time which corrupted the house of David and jeopardized the enduring line promised to David. God restrains the judgement on these two unfaithful kings of Judah because of God’s loyalty to David, but Judah is in danger of becoming like the north.

Kings in the ancient world[5] are judged by their ability to maintain power and here we see the beginning of a deterioration of Judah’s control of Edom as well as one of its own cities. The narrative sets the infidelity toward the LORD of these two kings of Judah alongside their loss of power over their vassals. Readers can make a judgement about the connection between their inability to project power over their vassals and their unfaithfulness to the LORD (Brueggemann, 2000, p. 375) but the theological perspective of the narrator of 2 Kings would probably view them as connected. Alex Israel suggests that Libnah, as a Levite city, may have been demonstrating against the idolatrous religious orientation of Jehoram (Israel, 2019, p. 159) and while there were likely Levites and other people faithful to the LORD who were distressed about the direction of Judah under Jehoram and Ahaziah it is probably unlikely that one city would simply separate itself from Judah without the intervention of other powers. However, Alex Israel’s description of Judah under Jehoram is pointed and accurate:

we may certainly summarize his dismal eight-year reign as a period of national disintegration: religious deviation, internecine royal infighting, a collapse of regional influence, and failure to defend his country’s borders. Judah is in decline on all fronts. (Israel, 2019, p. 159)

The introduction of Ahaziah’s brief reign over Judah sets the stage for the violent transitions in Samaria and Jerusalem in the next three chapters. King Joram is wounded in battle like his father Ahab (1 Kings 22: 29-40) and Ahaziah goes to visit him at this critical moment where Elisha anoints Jehu which brings about the ending of the Omri dynasty and the violent transition in Jerusalem.

[1] See the discussion on skin disease/leprosy in chapter five.

[2] The Hebrew za’aq as Brueggemann notes is frequently used of those who are abused or oppressed “crying out” to God or someone who can intervene on their behalf. (Brueggemann, 2000, p. 366)

[3] Mordechai Cogan and Hayim Tadmor note that saris means ‘eunuch’ based on linguistic evidence. (Cogan, 1988, p. 112)

[4] Both Jehoram and Joram have the same name, they are differentiated in translations to make it easier to refer to these kings in Samaria and Judah which reign concurrently.

[5] The bible, particularly 1&2 Kings, evaluates kings on a completely different set of values, but in general kings in the ancient world were supposed to maintain or increase their territory and wealth. Wealth was primarily generated through land as a producer of agriculture, livestock, and mineral resources.

2 Kings 6:24-7:20 The Siege and Deliverance of Samaria

2 Replies

Hills Near the Ruins of Samaria By Daniel Ventura – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32449397

2 Kings 6:24-7:2

²⁴ Some time later King Ben-hadad of Aram mustered his entire army; he marched against Samaria and laid siege to it. ²⁵ As the siege continued, famine in Samaria became so great that a donkey’s head was sold for eighty shekels of silver and one-fourth of a kab of dove’s dung for five shekels of silver. ²⁶ Now as the king of Israel was walking on the city wall, a woman cried out to him, “Help, my lord king!” ²⁷ He said, “If the LORD does not help you, where would my help come from? From the threshing floor or from the winepress?” ²⁸ But then the king asked her, “What is your complaint?” She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son; we will eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’ ²⁹ So we cooked my son and ate him. The next day I said to her, ‘Give up your son, and we will eat him.’ But she has hidden her son.” ³⁰ When the king heard the words of the woman he tore his clothes—now since he was walking on the city wall, the people could see that he had sackcloth on his body underneath ³¹ and he said, “So may God do to me and more, if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat stays on his shoulders today.” ³² So he dispatched a man from his presence.
Now Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. Before the messenger arrived, Elisha said to the elders, “Are you aware that this murderer has sent someone to take off my head? When the messenger comes, see that you shut the door and hold it closed against him. Is not the sound of his master’s feet behind him?” ³³ While he was still speaking with them, the king came down to him and said, “This trouble is from the LORD! Why should I hope in the LORD any longer?”

7¹ But Elisha said, “Hear the word of the LORD: Thus says the Lord: Tomorrow about this time a measure of choice meal shall be sold for a shekel and two measures of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria.” ² Then the captain on whose hand the king leaned said to the man of God, “Even if the LORD were to make windows in the sky, could such a thing happen?” But he said, “You shall see it with your own eyes, but you shall not eat from it.”

The final seven verses of chapter six are connected to the story that continues through the seventh chapter of 2 Kings. The verses and chapters were added at a later point, and the chapter division highlights the prophecy of Elisha by bookending the seventh chapter, but the narrative which evokes the word of the LORD begins at verse twenty-four. One of the Aramean kings named Ben-hadad[1] lays siege to Samaria creating the severe crisis of the story.

Siege warfare works by denying the encircled city the resources it needs to survive while the surrounding army has access to food from the land and if necessary, brought in from the besieging country. The first to feel the impact of the food shortages are the poor and the vulnerable as the cost of the food necessary to survive climbs as the supply dwindles. In our story the cost of once unpalatable foods has reached a point unreachable to all but the wealthiest households. The ‘dove’s dung’ has a couple possible interpretations. It may be the droppings from birds who are able to eat from the grain fields that the population no longer has access to, and this may form a disgusting but necessary source of nutrition for the captured population. Some translations like the NEB and NJPS follow a linguistic trail to translate this as the “seeds of the (false) carob” which is a plant of limited nutritional value. However one translates the ‘dove’s dung,’ the situation in the city has become desperate to the point where hunger is creating an inhumane situation.

The woman at the wall who calls upon the king of Israel for help is met with a pious sounding answer, “If the LORD does not help you, where would my help come from.” To me this resonates like the empty ‘thoughts and prayers’ of a politician who has no interest in resolving the crisis of the individual who comes to them for help. Yet, in Israel there is a tradition of people coming to their kings to judge difficult and life changing matters and the kings of Israel are supposed to be guardians of the vulnerable. This story resonates with Solomon’s judging between the two women fighting over a child in 1 Kings 3: 16-28, but in this story of famine now the women are fighting over children to be eaten in their starvation. The situation echoes the darkest warnings against disobedience in Deuteronomy 28: 52-57:

⁵² It shall besiege you in all your towns until your high and fortified walls, in which you trusted, come down throughout your land; it shall besiege you in all your towns throughout the land that the LORD your God has given you. ⁵³ In the desperate straits to which the enemy siege reduces you, you will eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of your own sons and daughters whom the LORD your God has given you. ⁵⁴ Even the most refined and gentle of men among you will begrudge food to his own brother, to the wife whom he embraces, and to the last of his remaining children, ⁵⁵ giving to none of them any of the flesh of his children whom he is eating, because nothing else remains to him, in the desperate straits to which the enemy siege will reduce you in all your towns. ⁵⁶ She who is the most refined and gentle among you, so gentle and refined that she does not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground, will begrudge food to the husband whom she embraces, to her own son, and to her own daughter, ⁵⁷ begrudging even the afterbirth that comes out from between her thighs, and the children that she bears, because she is eating them in secret for lack of anything else, in the desperate straits to which the enemy siege will reduce you in your towns.

The woman’s situation in this siege echoes the narration of the later siege of Jerusalem by Babylon in Ezekiel 5:10 and Lamentations 2:20 and 4:10. It is a world where the bond between mother and child has been broken by hunger and people lose their humanity in the horror of the siege. The king who has been sheltered from the worst aspects of the deprivation of the siege is horrified by the woman’s situation and yet still claims no power to alleviate her condition. The stores of grain and wine even for the king are likely depleted and we learn that he is wearing sackcloth, a sign of mourning and repentance, under his clothes which he tears on hearing the woman’s story. In response he rashly declares that he will kill Elisha.

Elisha may be the target of the king’s rage as the representative of the LORD who the king of Israel blames for this unbroken siege, or he may simply be a scapegoat in the king’s powerlessness. Elisha did in the previous chapter deliver into Samaria an Aramean army who he instructed the king to feed and allow them to depart in peace. The peace which Elisha brokered did not endure and the king of Israel may blame the prophet for the situation. It is also possible that the king feels that the prophet, who has provided food miraculously, has not performed a miracle to provide food for the suffering city. If this unnamed king of Israel is Jehoram, as the order of the stories implies, there is a long animosity between the Omri dynasty that Jehoram is a member of and Elijah as well as Elisha. It is possible that the king has never approached the prophet until this point in the siege although it is worth noting that the elders are with the prophet during this scene.

The story becomes a bit confused in verses 32-33 where a messenger arrives and later the king. Mordechai Cogan and Hayim Tadmor point to Josephus’ reconstruction of the events as being as sensible as any:

“But you,” (Elisha) said, “when the man arrives who has been given this order be on guard as he is about to enter, and press him back against the door and hold him there, for the king will follow him and come to me, having changed his mind.” So, when the man came who had been sent by the king to make away with Elisha, they did as he had ordered. But Joram, repenting of his wrath against the prophet and fearing that the man who had been ordered to kill him might already be doing so, hastened to prevent the murder and even save the prophet. Antiquities ix, 69-70. (Cogan, 1988, pp. 80-81)

Despite the king’s earlier murderous words, the king, the prophet, and the elders all share in hearing the word of the LORD that Elisha receives declaring that the crisis will end suddenly in roughly twenty-four hours. The immediate availability of cheap food prophesied is unbelievable to the captain of the king, and Elisha adds a final note that this captain will see the prophecy fulfilled but be unable to partake in it.

2 Kings 7:3-20

³ Now there were four men with a defiling skin disease outside the city gate who said to one another, “Why should we sit here until we die? ⁴ If we say, ‘Let us enter the city,’ the famine is in the city, and we shall die there, but if we sit here, we shall also die. Therefore, let us desert to the Aramean camp; if they spare our lives, we shall live, and if they kill us, we shall but die.” ⁵ So they arose at twilight to go to the Aramean camp, but when they came to the edge of the Aramean camp there was no one there at all. ⁶ For the Lord had caused the Aramean army to hear the sound of chariots and of horses, the sound of a great army, so that they said to one another, “The king of Israel has hired the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Egypt to fight against us.” ⁷ So they fled away in the twilight and abandoned their tents, their horses, and their donkeys, leaving the camp just as it was, and fled for their lives. ⁸ When these diseased men had come to the edge of the camp, they went into a tent, ate and drank, carried off silver, gold, and clothing, and went and hid them. Then they came back, entered another tent, carried off things from it and went and hid them.
⁹ Then they said to one another, “What we are doing is wrong. This is a day of good news; if we are silent and wait until the morning light, we will be found guilty; therefore let us go and tell the king’s household.” ¹⁰ So they came and called to the gatekeepers of the city and told them, “We went to the Aramean camp, but there was no one to be seen or heard there, nothing but the horses tied, the donkeys tied, and the tents as they were.” ¹¹ Then the gatekeepers called out and proclaimed it to the king’s household. ¹² The king got up in the night and said to his servants, “I will tell you what the Arameans have prepared against us. They know that we are starving, so they left the camp to hide themselves in the open country, thinking, ‘When they come out of the city, we shall take them alive and get into the city.’ ” ¹³ One of his servants said, “Let some men take five of the remaining horses, since those left here will suffer the fate of the whole multitude of Israel that have perished already; let us send and find out.” ¹⁴ So they took two mounted men, and the king sent them after the Aramean army, saying, “Go and find out.” ¹⁵ So they went after them as far as the Jordan; the whole way was littered with garments and equipment that the Arameans had thrown away in their haste. So the messengers returned and told the king.
¹⁶ Then the people went out and plundered the camp of the Arameans. So a measure of choice meal was sold for a shekel and two measures of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the LORD. ¹⁷ Now the king had appointed the captain on whose hand he leaned to have charge of the gate; the people trampled him to death in the gate, just as the man of God had said when the king came down to him. ¹⁸ For when the man of God had said to the king, “Two measures of barley shall be sold for a shekel and a measure of choice meal for a shekel, about this time tomorrow in the gate of Samaria,” ¹⁹ the captain had answered the man of God, “Even if the LORD were to make windows in the sky, could such a thing happen?” And he had answered, “You shall see it with your own eyes, but you shall not eat from it.” ²⁰ It did indeed happen to him; the people trampled him to death in the gate.

The resolution to the crisis begins in the desperation of four men who are unclean and left outside the city. As mentioned above it is the vulnerable, and these four men with an affliction traditionally translated as leprosy would be vulnerable as they are excluded outside the city’s protective walls. In a situation where staying where they are would lead to death and entering the city would lead to death, they make the choice to surrender to the Arameans because the worst they can do is kill them. This decision to give up to the besieging forces sets in motion the deliverance of Samaria.

I have mixed feelings about the NRSVue decision throughout these texts to translate what is traditionally rendered ‘leprosy’ as a ‘defiling skin disease’ or ‘skin disease.’ On the one hand, what we now categorize as leprosy or Hansen’s disease is probably not what is referred to throughout the bible. But I wonder if the more generic skin disease disconnects the average reader from the severity of this diagnosis in the ancient world of Judaism. It is telling that Leviticus thirteen and fourteen are dedicated to the identification, the exclusion of the infected individuals from the community, and the necessary examination to allow their re-inclusion if the skin disorder clears up. These lepers are ‘unclean’ and unable to participate in the life of the community. Yet these outsiders will provide deliverance for the people trapped inside the city.

Before the four men approach the camp, the Arameans flee in panic because they hear the sound of horses and chariots approaching and fear that the king of Israel has paid Egypt and the Hittites to come and break the siege for them. The horses and chariots echo the appearance of the ‘horses and chariots of Israel’ in the previous story (2 Kings 6:15) and now instead of opening the eyes of the servant the LORD in a different manner opens the ears of the Arameans. The panic of the Arameans in the story is enough that they abandon not only their encampment but also their horses and donkey and leave a trail of discarded items in the path of their retreat. There are resources and wealth to feed and equip an army surrounding the city, much of the food likely taken from Israel’s fields, and there waiting to be discovered by the starving city.

The Jewish sages identified the four men with Gehazi and his sons (Israel, 2019, p. 129) which makes sense with this story being between Gehazi having Naaman’s leprosy cling to him and his family (2 Kings 5:27) and Gehazi’s reemergence talking with the king in the upcoming chapter (2 Kings 8: 4-5). This identification while interesting is not necessary for the story as these four men proceed to the camp, find it empty, ate and drank, pillaged some of the wealth they found, and eventually notify the gatekeepers of the situation. These men excluded as outsiders because of their skin condition still consider themselves a part of the people and have an obligation to those suffering inside the city. They appeal through the gatekeeper to the king’s household.

The king initially views this report from the four men as a trap set by the Aramean army to draw him out, but eventually one of his servants convinces the king to send out scouts with horses to examine the situation, lest the remaining horses perish with the people inside the city. Once the messengers return to the king it sets in motion the availability of food promised by the prophecy of Elisha as well as the death of the captain of the king. As mentioned in the previous section, the current chapter divisions highlight the words of Elisha at the beginning and ending of the chapter to demonstrate their fulfillment. A siege which reduced men and women to inhuman actions is now ended by four men whose humanity is compromised by the unclean disease carried on their skin. The God of Israel’s unseen host is now heard by the Aramean causing them to abandon their siege and to provide the food the city needs. The prophet once blamed by the king for the situation inside the city has now accurately predicted the cities deliverance by the LORD the God of Israel.

[1] Mordechai Cogan and Hayim Tadmor note there are at least two and possibly three kings name Ben-Hadad, whose name means the son of (the God) Hadad, “At least two, if not three persons by this name are known: Ben-hadad, contemporary of Baasha (1 Kgs 15:18); Ben-hadad, foe of Abab (1 Kgs 20: 1; he is identical with ^mAdad-idri of Assyrian inscriptions…and Ben-hadad, son of Hazael (2 Kgs 13:3).” (Cogan, 1988, p. 78)

2 Kings 6: 1-23 Floating Iron and Opened Eyes

3 Replies

‘Elisha makes the Axe Head Swim’ illustration from The story of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation (1873)

2 Kings 6: 1-7

¹ Now the company of prophets said to Elisha, “As you see, the place where we live under your charge is too small for us. ² Let us go to the Jordan, and let us collect logs there, one for each of us, and build a place there for us to live.” He answered, “Do so.” ³ Then one of them said, “Please come with your servants.” And he answered, “I will.” ⁴ So he went with them. When they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees. ⁵ But as one was felling a log, his ax head fell into the water; he cried out, “Alas, master! It was borrowed.” ⁶ Then the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” When he showed him the place, he cut off a stick and threw it in there and made the iron float. ⁷ He said, “Pick it up.” So he reached out his hand and took it.

To the modern reader this may seem like a strange story to include among the miracles that are handed on about Elisha. In a world where an ax is a relatively inexpensive tool the loss of an ax head seems like a trivial matter to trouble the prophet Elisha with. But the world of Elisha’s time was very different from our world. At this time iron is a precious resource and smiths in ancient Israel would be rare. This was also a time when Israel is at war with Aram so most iron would be going to create weapons for the military of Israel. Much as the story of Elisha and the widow’s oil (2 Kings 4:1-7), the prophet’s action likely saved this member of the company of prophets from a debt they could not hope to repay. (NIB III: 199) Many of the stories in the previous two chapters have the company of prophets relying on the prophet Elisha to provide food in their want and Gehazi’s foolish (in the eyes of 2 Kings) request for recompense from Naaman (2 Kings 5: 19b-27) is also informed by the group’s poverty. Even if the neighbor who loaned the unfortunate man the ax would not attempt to collect the value of the lost tool, there is a strong concern for neighborly rights among the world envisioned in the Torah.

The story takes place at the Jordan geographically linking it to the previous healing of Naaman. At the Jordan Elisha provided healing for Naaman from his skin disease and relief for this fellow member of the company of prophets with the sunken ax head. Some scholars, both Jewish and Christians, have taken this story and attempted to create a non-miraculous version: the stick was cut to be able to fit into the aperture of the ax head or to have a flat surface for the ax head to rest on as the prophet lifts it out are two examples. Yet, to tell these stories the commenters in their desire to make the story more reasonable have missed the point that the man of God is able to do what others cannot. Elisha who can heal disease or provide adequate food can also through his connection with God make metal float and make an army captive.

2 Kings 6: 8-23

⁸ Once when the king of Aram was at war with Israel, he took counsel with his officers. He said, “At such and such a place shall be my camp.” ⁹ But the man of God sent word to the king of Israel, “Take care not to pass this place, for the Arameans are going down there.” ¹⁰ The king of Israel sent word to the place of which the man of God spoke. More than once or twice he warned a place so that it was on the alert.
¹¹ The mind of the king of Aram was greatly perturbed because of this; he called his officers and said to them, “Now tell me: Who among us is betraying us to the king of Israel?” ¹² Then one of his officers said, “No one, my lord king. It is Elisha, the prophet in Israel, who tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedchamber.” ¹³ He said, “Go and find where he is; I will send and seize him.” He was told, “He is in Dothan.” ¹⁴ So he sent horses and chariots there and a great army; they came by night and surrounded the city.
¹⁵ When an attendant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. His servant said, “Alas, master! What shall we do?” ¹⁶ He replied, “Do not be afraid, for there are more with us than there are with them.” ¹⁷ Then Elisha prayed, “O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the LORD opened the eyes of the servant, and he saw; the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. ¹⁸ When the Arameans came down against him, Elisha prayed to the Lord and said, “Strike this people, please, with blindness.” So he struck them with blindness as Elisha had asked. ¹⁹ Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, and this is not the city; follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek.” And he led them to Samaria.
²⁰ As soon as they entered Samaria, Elisha said, “O LORD, open the eyes of these men so that they may see.” The Lord opened their eyes, and they saw that they were inside Samaria. ²¹ When the king of Israel saw them he said to Elisha, “Father, shall I strike them? Shall I strike them?” ²² He answered, “No! Would you strike those whom you have taken captive with your sword and with your bow? Set food and water before them so that they may eat and drink, and let them go to their master.” ²³ So he prepared for them a great feast; after they ate and drank, he sent them on their way, and they went to their master. And the Arameans no longer came raiding into the land of Israel.

The Arameans are a continual danger to the people of Israel throughout the end of 1 Kings and the beginning of 2 Kings. Yet, Elisha through the previous and following chapter will play a pivotal role in the conflict between the king of Aram and the king of Samaria. Through Naaman, these soldiers who are brought captive by the prophet to Samaria, and the eventual defeat of the siege of Samaria the Arameans will come to know that there is a prophet in Samaria who king Ben-hadad of Aram will eventually consult (2 Kings 8: 7-15). Also reappearing in this story are the ‘horsemen and chariots of Israel’ which are the host of Israel’s God which Elisha first saw at Elijah’s ascension.

The conflict between the king of Aram and the prophet is precipitated by the prophet’s repeated warning of the king of Israel of the movements of Aram’s armies. Convinced that one of his leaders is betraying him, he summons them and asks how this is occurring. One of his officers knows that it is Elisha that is handing on this information, and the king of Aram orders a force sent to seize the prophet from his current location at Dothan. What the king’s men and the prophet’s men are blind to is the ‘horsemen and chariots of Israel’ which are surrounding the prophet and are more numerous than the forces sent by the king of Aram. Apparently, one’s eyes must be opened to be able to see the host of the LORD and that is exactly what Elisha prays for his servant to receive.

Throughout the narrative the movement between blindness and sight plays a critical role. Elisha’s servant may be able to see the forces of Aram, but he is blind to the forces of the LORD who Elisha serves until his eyes are opened. The prophet was able to provide vision for the king of Israel to elude the maneuvers of the king of Aram’s army and so the king of Aram attempts to remove the eyes of Israel by eliminating the prophet. The armies of Aram are struck with blindness by the LORD and led by the prophet to Samaria where the prophet asks for their sight to be restored.

The story ends with the king of Israel asking whether he should strike down this army that has been delivered by the prophet into his city and the prophet opening his eyes to another way. The king of Israel did not capture the Arameans, and their lives are in the prophet’s hands, and the prophet shows a way of peace. The book of Proverbs states, “If your enemies are hungry, give them bread to eat; and if they are thirsty, give them water to drink.” Proverbs 25:21 The prophet models this way of wisdom for the king who prepares a great feast for his enemies, and this brings at least a pause to the conflicts between Israel and Aram. The story moved from blindness to sight and from conflict to peace. Just like Naaman would discover that there is a prophet in Samaria, now these soldiers of Aram would also know both the power of the prophet’s God and the rescue provided in their desperate situation.

2 Kings 4 A Series of Miracles Performed by Elisha

3 Replies

Carmelite chapel – “Elisha resurrecting the son of the Shunammitee” by Jean-Baptiste Despax (1710-1773)

2 Kings 4:1-7

¹ Now the wife of a member of the company of prophets cried to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the LORD, but a creditor has come to take my two children as slaves.” ² Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” She answered, “Your servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil.” ³ He said, “Go outside, borrow vessels from all your neighbors, empty vessels—and not just a few. ⁴ Then go in, shut the door behind you and your children, and start pouring into all these vessels; when each is full, set it aside.” ⁵ So she left him and shut the door behind her and her children; they kept bringing vessels to her, and she kept pouring. ⁶ When the vessels were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” But he said to her, “There are no more.” Then the oil stopped flowing. ⁷ She came and told the man of God, and he said, “Go sell the oil and pay your debts, and you and your children can live on the rest.”

The fourth chapter of 2 Kings again departs from the normal royal time that structures the book. Throughout these four stories of miracles that Elisha performs the kings of Israel and Judah are never mentioned. The four stories all have thematic connections with the miracles of Elijah and the widow of Zarephath in 1 Kings 17: 8-24 and the four miracle stories where Elijah has two may thematically model the doubling of Elijah’s spirit that Elisha received as his prophetic heir. The stories can be viewed within the chapter as two stories related women and their children and two stories of providing food, of as two stories of miraculous provision which surround two stories of rescue from death. Ultimately all four stories weave together in a tapestry of stories about the man of God who leads the company of prophets.[1]

The kings of Israel and Judah are not ever mentioned in these stories, but in their absence we get in this first story a window into the world at the time of Elisha and the view is not flattering. The story provides, “a disturbing glance of the cruel socioeconomic reality of ancient Israel.” (Israel, 2019, p. 65) A world that is strikingly different from the world imagined in the law. A world in which widows, one of the vulnerable groups in the ancient world, and their children stand vulnerable to creditors. In Exodus widows, along with resident aliens and orphans, are mentioned as recipients of God’s special protection.

You shall not abuse any widow or orphan. If you do abuse them, when they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry; my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and orphans. Exodus 22: 22-24

This entire story responds to this small portion of Exodus 22 when the oppressor in the story turns out to be a creditor/moneylender (Hebrew nosheh) which is mentioned in the verses immediately following Exodus’ warning not to abuse widows and orphans.

If you lend money to my people, to the poor among you, you shall not deal with them as a creditor (nosheh); you shall not exact interest from them. If you take your neighbor’s cloak in pawn, you shall restore it before the sun goes down; for it may be your neighbor’s only clothing to use as cover; in what else shall that person sleep? And if your neighbor cries out to me, I will listen, for I am compassionate. Exodus 22: 25-27

The company of prophets throughout these stories seem to operate from a place of poverty, and there is no economic ability within the community to pay off the creditor without the miracle. This is a story of provision that comes from God acting through the man of God.[2] Interestingly throughout these stories Elisha rarely mentions God and assumes that God will act upon his words.

The action that Elisha narrates for the woman does involve both participation from herself and her children, the community of people around them, and most importantly God. The woman and her children are to collect vessels from the surrounding community. Although the text does not specifically indicate that she does this[3] there are an unknown number of vessels available for her and her children to fill behind closed doors.[4] The oil in the house fills all the available vessels and provides a means to paying off the creditors, providing a source of income for the widow and her children, and providing protection in an world that would enslave the children for their father’s debts.

2 Kings 4: 8-37

⁸ One day Elisha was passing through Shunem, where a wealthy woman lived, who urged him to have a meal. So whenever he passed that way, he would stop there for a meal. ⁹ She said to her husband, “Look, I am sure that this man who regularly passes our way is a holy man of God. ¹⁰ Let us make a small roof chamber with walls and put there for him a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp, so that he can stay there whenever he comes to us.”
¹¹ One day when he came there, he went up to the chamber and lay down there. ¹² He said to his servant Gehazi, “Call the Shunammite woman.” When he had called her, she stood before him. ¹³ He said to him, “Say to her: Since you have taken all this trouble for us, what may be done for you? Would you have a word spoken on your behalf to the king or to the commander of the army?” She answered, “I live among my own people.” ¹⁴ He said, “What then may be done for her?” Gehazi answered, “Well, she has no son, and her husband is old.” ¹⁵ He said, “Call her.” When he had called her, she stood at the door. ¹⁶ He said, “At this season, in due time, you shall embrace a son.” She replied, “No, my lord, O man of God; do not deceive your servant.”
¹⁷ The woman conceived and bore a son at that season, in due time, as Elisha had declared to her.
¹⁸ When the child was older, he went out one day to his father among the reapers. ¹⁹ He complained to his father, “Oh, my head, my head!” The father said to his servant, “Carry him to his mother.” ²⁰ He carried him and brought him to his mother; the child sat on her lap until noon, and he died. ²¹ She went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, closed the door on him, and left. ²² Then she called to her husband and said, “Send me one of the servants and one of the donkeys, so that I may quickly go to the man of God and come back again.” ²³ He said, “Why go to him today? It is neither new moon nor Sabbath.” She said, “It will be all right.” ²⁴ Then she saddled the donkey and said to her servant, “Urge the animal on; do not hold back for me unless I tell you.” ²⁵ So she set out and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel.
When the man of God saw her coming, he said to Gehazi his servant, “Look, there is the Shunammite woman; ²⁶ run at once to meet her and say to her: Are you all right? Is your husband all right? Is the child all right?” She answered, “It is all right.” ²⁷ When she came to the man of God at the mountain, she caught hold of his feet. Gehazi approached to push her away, but the man of God said, “Let her alone, for she is in bitter distress; the LORD has hidden it from me and has not told me.” ²⁸ Then she said, “Did I ask my lord for a son? Did I not say, ‘Do not mislead me?’ ” ²⁹ He said to Gehazi, “Gird up your loins, and take my staff in your hand, and go. If you meet anyone, give no greeting, and if anyone greets you, do not answer, and lay my staff on the face of the child.” ³⁰ Then the mother of the child said, “As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave without you.” So he rose up and followed her. ³¹ Gehazi went on ahead and laid the staff on the face of the child, but there was no sound or sign of life. He came back to meet him and told him, “The child has not awakened.”
³² When Elisha came into the house, he saw the child lying dead on his bed. ³³ So he went in and closed the door on the two of them and prayed to the LORD. ³⁴ Then he got up on the bed and lay upon the child, putting his mouth upon his mouth, his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands, and while he lay bent over him, the flesh of the child became warm. ³⁵ He got down, walked once to and fro in the room, then got up again and bent over him; the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes. ³⁶ Elisha summoned Gehazi and said, “Call the Shunammite woman.” So he called her. When she came to him, he said, “Take your son.” ³⁷ She came and fell at his feet, bowing to the ground; then she took her son and left.

Elisha, traveling through the country of Israel, becomes a regular guest of a well-off woman and her husband. This woman shows hospitality to the man of God by providing both a meal and eventually building a room for the prophet and his companions. Elisha seeks to reward the hospitality of the woman and her husband by speaking to the political and military powers in the region, but she has no need to have the prophet speak on her behalf. This woman seems to be a formidable individual even though she is childless. Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, suggests that she is childless and her husband is old, so Elisha promises her in due time she will bear a son.

This story bears a strong resonance with the story of Sarah being promised Isaac in Genesis 18. God promises to return in due season and Sarah will have a child. Sarah challenges God by saying, “I did not laugh,” while this wealthy woman pushes back to the prophet, “do not deceive your servant.” In both stories both age and barrenness are a factor. Yet, in both cases in due season a child comes to a previously childless mother and an aged father.

Yet, after this incredible birth comes an unimaginable tragedy. The promised son mysteriously experiences pain in his head at a time when he is old enough to visit his father in the fields. He dies tragically on his mother’s lap; she lays him on the prophet’s bed and moves into action. This woman gives commands to her husband to provide both a donkey and a servant for her journey to the prophet[5] and this woman sets out do demand the man of God’s presence in this time. Like the story in 1 Kings 17, where the widow goes to Elijah on behalf of her son, it is the woman who impels the man of God to act.

Behind the woman’s response and the prophet’s questions of things being all right is the Hebrew term shalom. When she speaks to her husband she tells him, “It will be shalom.” Elisha’s questions to her (spoken through Gehazi), “Is it shalom to you? Is it shalom to your husband? Is it shalom to your son?” She answers, “It is shalom.” This indomitable woman will not settle for Gehazi as a substitute for the man of God, she clings to his feet and echoes back to him her initial challenge, “Did I not say, ’Do not mislead me.’” Even though Gehazi is dispatched with the staff of Elisha, this woman will not be satisfied without the prophet’s presence and so they both return to the Shunammite woman’s house. Gehazi proves unable to revive the child and so Elisha comes into the house and closes the door.

Elisha attempts to resuscitate the child but is only able to warm the child’s skin. The two of them, presumably Elisha and Gehazi, pray and Elisha walks to and fro in the room before bending over the child one additional time when the child sneezes seven times and revives. Elisha has Gehazi summon the Shunammite woman and restores her son to her. This woman, who like the later Syrophoenician woman in Mark or the Canaanite woman in Matthew, refused to be denied the man of God’s action has their child restored.

2 Kings 4: 38-44

³⁸ When Elisha returned to Gilgal, there was a famine in the land. As the company of prophets was sitting before him, he said to his servant, “Put the large pot on, and make some stew for the company of prophets.” ³⁹ One of them went out into the field to gather herbs; he found a wild vine and gathered from it a lapful of wild gourds and came and cut them up into the pot of stew, not knowing what they were. ⁴⁰ They served some for the men to eat. But while they were eating the stew, they cried out, “O man of God, there is death in the pot!” They could not eat it. ⁴¹ He said, “Then bring some flour.” He threw it into the pot and said, “Serve the people and let them eat.” And there was nothing harmful in the pot.

⁴² A man came from Baal-shalishah bringing food from the first fruits to the man of God: twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack. Elisha said, “Give it to the people and let them eat.” ⁴³ But his servant said, “How can I set this before a hundred people?” So he repeated, “Give it to the people and let them eat, for thus says the LORD: They shall eat and have some left.” ⁴⁴ He set it before them; they ate and had some left, according to the word of the LORD.

As mentioned above, the company of prophets throughout this chapter live in a vulnerable position when there is famine in the land. Through both stories God provides for these prophets through the actions of Elisha. The first story is a story of making a poisonous stew palatable. Elisha returns to the company of prophets at Gilgal and has them put a large pot on. One member of the company finds some wild gourds, possibly citrullus colcynthus a small yellow melon known as the “Apple of Sodom” which “is a strong purgative and has been known to be fatal.” (Cogan, 1988, p. 58) Elisha makes the poisonous stew palatable by adding flour and serving it to the company.

The second miracle of provision takes twenty loaves and fresh grain providing more than enough for the hundred people present at Gilgal. A man comes bringing an offering to God to the man of God. This man from Baal-shalishah comes to the man of God instead of the royal shrine at Bethel and the prophet takes on the position as the mediator between the people and God. Elisha’s servant, likely Gehazi from the previous and following story, wonders how it can be enough for such a large group. Elisha declares that the LORD says they will all eat and have some left. Like Elijah with the widow of Zarephath’s meal and oil or the loaves and fishes in the hands of Jesus, the loaves of brought to Elisha are more than enough in the provision of God.

[1] Literally the sons of the prophets, the Benei HaNavi’im in Hebrew.

[2] Throughout the chapter Elisha is mainly referred to by his title ‘the man of God’ rather than his name. This may be due to the honor paid as the leader of the company of prophets and as the heir to Elijah.

[3] Some take this absence as a comment on the woman’s faith and limits the benefit she receives. For me this is reading too much into the story.

[4] In both this and the following miracle the action takes place behind closed doors and out of the public view.

[5] It is possible in the narrative that the father is unaware of his son’s death.

2 Kings 2 Elijah’s Departure and Elisha’s Ministry Begins

3 Replies

Elijah the Prophet By Nicholas Roerich – Estonian Roerich Society, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5066171

2 Kings 2: 1-18 A Prophetic Transition

¹ Now when the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. ² Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here, for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. ³ The company of prophets who were in Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take your master away from you?” And he said, “Yes, I know; keep silent.”
⁴ Elijah said to him, “Elisha, stay here, for the Lord has sent me to Jericho.” But he said, “As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they came to Jericho. ⁵ The company of prophets who were at Jericho drew near to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take your master away from you?” And he answered, “Yes, I know; keep silent.”
⁶ Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here, for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.” But he said, “As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on. ⁷ Fifty men of the company of prophets also went and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan. ⁸ Then Elijah took his mantle and rolled it up and struck the water; the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and the two of them crossed on dry ground.
⁹ When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me what I may do for you before I am taken from you.” Elisha said, “Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit.” ¹⁰ He responded, “You have asked a hard thing, yet if you see me as I am being taken from you, it will be granted you; if not, it will not.” ¹¹ As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them, and Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven. ¹² Elisha kept watching and crying out, “Father, father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” But when he could no longer see him, he grasped his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.
¹³ He picked up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. ¹⁴ He took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him and struck the water. He said, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah? Where is he?” He struck the water again, and the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and Elisha crossed over.
¹⁵ When the company of prophets who were at Jericho saw him at a distance, they declared, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” They came to meet him and bowed to the ground before him. ¹⁶ They said to him, “See now, we have fifty strong men among your servants; please let them go and seek your master; it may be that the spirit of the Lord has caught him up and thrown him down on some mountain or into some valley.” He responded, “No, do not send them.” ¹⁷ But when they urged him to the point of embarrassment, he said, “Send them.” So they sent fifty men who searched for three days but did not find him. ¹⁸ When they came back to him (he had remained at Jericho), he said to them, “Did I not say to you, ‘Do not go’?”

The well-known imagery of the chariot of fire and the ascension of Elijah into heaven in the whirlwind serves as a transition between the prophetic ministry of Elijah and Elisha. The story is told outside of the framing of time in the succession of kings, likely to enhance the special nature of this moment. As Walter Brueggemann states, “the remarkable moment of prophetic transition is so odd and so exceptional that it cannot be held in royal time or understood in royal rationality.” (Brueggemann, 2000, p. 293) In this moment Elisha beholds that God’s power and might are at work in the world in a way that both reflects the imagery of the kingly power of the day (chariots and horses as the primary military technology of the time) but also transcends it. In addition to the transition between the ministries of Elijah and Elisha it also reminds the readers that God’s work in the world, often unseen, continues and occasionally the faithful servants of God have their eyes opened to see God’s power and presence in surprising ways.

Throughout this journey from Gilgal to Bethel to Jericho and then to the Jordan, a journey of at least twenty-four miles, Elijah tells Elisha three times to “Stay here” and Elisha answers, “As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” The story has some resonance with the refusal of Ruth to abandon her mother-in-law Naomi in Ruth 1: 15-17, and there are familial overtones to the Elijah and Elisha narrative as well. Both Ruth and Elisha are not related to the person they are clinging to by blood, but both claim the bond and responsibility of primary relations. This is heightened when one realizes that the word “leave” has the connotation of “abandon” in Hebrew. (Brueggemann, 2000, p. 294) Elisha’s ask of a ‘double share’ of Elijah’s spirit also connects with the ‘double share’ that a first-born heir is to receive according to Deuteronomy 21: 15-17. Elisha is probably not asking to receive twice the spirit endowed charisma as Elijah but instead to be recognized by Elisha and ultimately God as the proper heir to the prophetic ministry of Elijah.

Elisha is aware throughout the narrative of Elijah’s impending departure, a knowledge reinforced by the message of the sons of prophets at each location of their journey. Finally, as Elijah approaches the Jordan River, he utilizes his mantle and causes the waters of the river to be divided. Elijah’s mantle functions in a similar manner to Moses’ staff and Elijah’s authority is the authority promised in Deuteronomy 18:18 of a prophet like Moses. After Elijah’s ascension the same mantle in the hands of Elisha demonstrates that this heir to the prophetic ministry of Elijah is also a prophet with the authority and power that God entrusted to both Elijah and Elisha.

Most religious art depicting the ascension of Elijah pictures the prophet riding in the chariot, but that is not explicit in the text. The chariot of fire and the horses[1] separate Elijah from Elisha. Elisha sees a multitude of chariots, a sight he will later share with his servant in 2 Kings 6:17. Elijah, and presumably the chariots as well, ascend in the whirlwind. The company of prophets who observed this from a distance presumably saw something like the whirlwind but not the chariots of Israel and its horsemen.[2] In their limited vision they press Elisha to allow fifty strong men from their company to seek Elijah’s body to give it a proper burial. Elisha says not to send them but eventually is pressed enough that in embarrassment he allows the fifty to seek Elijah.

Elijah’s influence will continue long beyond his death even though he will only be mentioned one additional time in the Hebrew Bible. Elijah is the forerunner of the day of LORD in Malachi 4: 5-6:

See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of parents to their children and the hearts of children to their parents, so that I will not come and strike the land with a curse.

Elijah continues to have a role in the practice of both Judaism and Christianity. In Judaism the role of Elijah would be tied to the coming of the messiah and he continues to have a seat at the practice of circumcision, during the Sedar meal, and the prayer at the end of the Sabbath calls for Elijah to come in the coming week. Elijah’s role in Christianity would rest upon John the Baptist and the one who preceded the coming of Jesus and Elijah along with Moses would appear at the transfiguration. Only Elijah and Enoch would not experience death in their stories in the bible, and this allowed both figures to become popular in the stories and hope of later generations.

2 Kings 2: 19-25 A Prophet of Blessing and Curse

¹⁹ Now the people of the city said to Elisha, “The location of this city is good, as my lord sees, but the water is bad, and the land is unfruitful.” ²⁰ He said, “Bring me a new bowl, and put salt in it.” So they brought it to him. ²¹ Then he went to the spring of water and threw the salt into it and said, “Thus says the Lord: I have made this water wholesome; from now on neither death nor miscarriage shall come from it.” ²² So the water has been wholesome to this day, according to the word that Elisha spoke.
²³ He went up from there to Bethel, and while he was going up on the way, some small boys came out of the city and jeered at him, saying, “Go away, baldhead! Go away, baldhead!” ²⁴ When he turned around and saw them, he cursed them in the name of the Lord. Then two she-bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys. ²⁵ From there he went on to Mount Carmel and then returned to Samaria.

The ministry of Elisha as the main prophetic figure of the time begins with two stories that intentionally bring together the potential for blessing and curse in a figure whose life and ministry are closely tied to God. The first story now links Elisha to Moses with a story with multiple parallels to Moses’ making the bitter waters of Marah sweet. Alex Israel identifies the similarities between the two stories:

Marah follows the splitting of the Reed Sea. Our Jericho story follows the miraculous parting of the Jordan River.
Three Days: Marah followed the crossing of the Reed Sea by three days. Similarly, the events at Jericho transpire three days after the splitting of the Jordan (II Kings 2: 17-18).
In both instances, the water is undrinkable. The people voice the problem to the prophet.
The water is made drinkable by casting into it (vayashleh) a substance that would seem unrelated to the treatment of water (tree/salt).
The proclamation made in God’s name identifies God as their “healer”: At Marah, “I am the Lord, your healer.” (Ex. 15:26) At Jericho, “Thus says the Lord: I have healed this water.” (II Kings 2:21) (Israel, 2019, p. 31)

One could argue, a Choon-Leong Seow does, that Elisha even surpasses the work of Moses by ‘healing’ the waters where Moses only ‘sweetens’ the bitter waters. (NIB III:178) This ministry of blessing in Jericho is now set alongside a curse on the prophet’s journey to Bethel towards the disrespectful small boys.

The second half of these stories cause a fair amount of discomfort for modern readers who view the prophet’s curse and the resulting mauling of the boys as an overreaction to their taunting of the prophet as ‘baldy’ or ‘baldhead.’ Forty-two may be a figure to explain a large number[3] but our modern embarrassment at the mauling of these boys in my view misses the point of the narrative. Elisha, as the prophet of God and speaker of the words of God, is closely tied both to this ministry of Moses and Elijah but more critically to the God of Israel. To disrespect Elisha, for the narrative, is to disrespect God. When the people of entreat Elijah with respect he brings them blessing, when these boys treat the emissary of God with disrespect it brings a curse. A true bearer of God’s message of blessing and curse is a fearful and wonderful thing.

Elisha’s ministry begins by retracing the steps of Elijah from the Jordan to Jericho, from Jericho to Bethel, and finally returning to Mount Carmel. Mount Carmel, as Alex Israel reminds us, is the site of “Elijah’s pièce de resistance” (Israel, 2019, p. 22) where the God of Israel demonstrated victory over the 500 prophets of Baal. (1 Kings 18: 20-40) Now Elisha begins his career by ascending both physically and metaphorically to the zenith of Elijah’s ministry.

[1] The Hebrew word rekeb may refer to a group of chariots (NIB III:176).

[2] This phrase will reappear at the end of Elisha’s ministry in 2 Kings 13: 14-19.

[3] This is also the number of victims slain by Jehu in 2 Kings 10:14

Sign of the Rose

Searchings: Sacred and Secular

Tag Archives: God

2 Kings 20 Hezekiah’s Healing and the Babylonian Envoys

2 Kings 20: 1-11

2 Kings 20:12-21

2 Kings 19 The Deliverance of Jerusalem from Assyria

2 Kings 19: 1-7

2 Kings 19: 8-13

2 Kings 19: 20-34

2 Kings 19: 35-37

2 Kings 18 King Hezekiah and Sennacherib’s Threat to Jerusalem

2 Kings 18: 1-8

2 Kings 18: 9-12

2 Kings 18:13-37

A Small Light in Winter- A Christmas Story

2 Kings 9 The Violent End of the Omri Dynasty Begins

2 Kings 9: 1-13 The Anointing of Jehu

2 Kings 9: 14-29 Jehu Kills Joram and Ahaziah

2 Kings 9: 30-37 The Death of Jezebel

2 Kings 8 Transitioning from Prophetic Time to a Major Transition in Royal Time

2 Kings 8: 1-6

2 Kings 8: 7-15

2 Kings 8: 16-29

2 Kings 6:24-7:20 The Siege and Deliverance of Samaria

2 Kings 6:24-7:2

2 Kings 7:3-20

2 Kings 6: 1-23 Floating Iron and Opened Eyes

2 Kings 6: 1-7

2 Kings 6: 8-23

2 Kings 4 A Series of Miracles Performed by Elisha

2 Kings 4:1-7

2 Kings 4: 8-37

2 Kings 4: 38-44

2 Kings 2 Elijah’s Departure and Elisha’s Ministry Begins

2 Kings 2: 1-18 A Prophetic Transition

2 Kings 2: 19-25 A Prophet of Blessing and Curse