Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
2 Kings 13:14-20
The Death Bed Of Elisha (2 Kings 13:14 a).
As we have seen, in a similar way to chapter 2 this passage is deliberately put outside the regnal formulae, with Jehoash's death coming before it and the commencement of Amaziah's coming after it. Both the passage in chapter 2 and the passage here convey a ‘heavenly' message (the presence of the fiery chariots and horses of YHWH acting on behalf of Israel) and may therefore be seen as a kind of inclusio of what lies between, covering the life of Elisha. Both passages emphasise Israel's dependence on ‘the horses and chariots of Israel', which represent the heavenly host who fight on Israel's side when they are obedient to YHWH (2 Kings 6:17). It is reminding us that with the presence of Elisha and Elijah the power of YHWH of hosts had been at work on earth in a unique way, as their miracles demonstrate.
In the first passage (in chapter 2) the message was one of hope, with Elijah being taken and Elisha entering Israel over the miraculously parted Jordan and advancing on Jericho and Bethel to take possession of the land. Now that period is over and Elisha is dying, but he wants Jehoash to recognise that the future is still one of hope if only he will trust in YHWH, and he does it by vivid symbolism which indicates that the chariots and horsemen of Israel and the armoury of God (represented by the arrow of YHWH's victory) will still be with them if they are faithful to YHWH.
The first act of symbolism in this passage is the firing of an arrow which is a symbol of YHWH's coming victory over Aram. It is the arrow of YHWH's victory. YHWH is still fighting on behalf of His people. In the second act of symbolism the king is told to strike the ground with the arrows, but because he only does it half-heartedly (three times) he learns that his success will also only be half-hearted. Rather he should have demonstrated his commitment by doing it five or six times. Then he would have been fully successful
Analysis.
a Now Elisha had fallen sick of his sickness of which he died, and Joash the king of Israel came down to him, and wept over him, and he said, “My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen” (2 Kings 13:14).'
b And Elisha said to him, “Take bow and arrows,” and he took to himself bow and arrows. And he said to the king of Israel, “Put your hand on the bow,” and he put his hand on it. And Elisha laid his hands on the king's hands. And he said, “Open the window eastwards,” and he opened it. Then Elisha said, “Shoot,” and he shot (2 Kings 13:15 a).
c And he said, “YHWH's arrow of victory, even the arrow of victory over Aram, for you will smite the Aramaeans in Aphek, until you have consumed them” (2 Kings 13:17 b).
b And he said, “Take the arrows,” and he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground,” and he struck three times, and stopped. And the man of God was angry with him, and said, “You should have struck five or six times, then you would have smitten Aram until you had consumed it, whereas now you will smite Aram only three times” (2 Kings 13:18).
a And Elisha died, and they buried him (2 Kings 13:20 a).
Note that in ‘a' Elisha was mortally ill, and in the parallel he died. In ‘b' he called on the king to fire an arrow which was YHWH's arrow of victory, and in the parallel he called on the king to strike the ground three times with the arrows, thus only ensuring three victories. Centrally in ‘c' the arrow fired by the king was the arrow of YHWH's victory over Aram.
‘Now Elisha had fallen sick of his sickness of which he died, and Joash the king of Israel came down to him, and wept over him, and he said, “My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen.” '
After a long life and a ministry of over fifty years Elisha was terminally ill, and as a result Joash (Jehoash) of Israel came down to see him. And when he came to Elisha's bedside he wept at what it was going to mean for Israel. He recognised that in Elisha Israel were losing their most powerful weapon, for the king feared that with him the invisible fiery chariots and horses of YHWH would also depart (compare 2 Kings 6:17; 2 Kings 2:11). YHWH would no longer be with His people in the same way.
There is some disagreement about who said, “My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen.” In 2 Kings 2:11 it had been Elisha. Here it could be either Elisha or the king. In 2 Kings 6:21 the king of Israel calls Elisha ‘my father', which might be seen as favouring a similar situation here. But if it was the king he was clearly well versed in what had happened at the taking of Elijah and Elisha's original call. This would then suggest the probability of an already existing prophetic writing. This would not be too surprising as we know that some of the prophets did leave their own narratives (e.g. Nathan the prophet; Ahijah the prophet; Iddo the seer - 2 Chronicles 9:29). But either way the significance is the same. Will the death of Elisha bring to an end YHWH's activity on behalf of Israel?
‘And Elisha said to him, “Take bow and arrows,” and he took to himself bow and arrows.'
Elisha's reply was to tell him to take in his hands a bow and arrows, which he then did. The arrows were clearly visible to a king who probably was not spiritually attuned enough to see the chariots and horses of Israel (as he had demonstrated when he thought that they represented Elisha). Arrows were a vivid and well known symbol for the activity of YHWH. In Deuteronomy 32:23 we read, ‘I will heap evils on them, I will spend My arrows on them.' In the Davidic Psalms 7:13 we read, ‘if a man does not repent God will whet His sword, He has bent and strung His bow, He has prepared His deadly weapons, making His arrows fiery shafts.' In Psalms 45:5 we read, ‘your arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies, the peoples fall under you.' See also Psalms 18:14; Psalms 64:7; Psalms 77:17; Psalms 144:6; Lamentations 3:12; Zechariah 9:14. Thus Elisha was demonstrating that YHWH's fiery arrows were still at the ready on behalf of Israel.
It is not correct to call this sympathetic magic. Elisha was not trying to influence YHWH. He was demonstrating to the king in vivid pictorial symbolism that YHWH was still at hand to work for him, as 2 Kings 13:17 specifically says. Compare how Jonathan similarly fired arrows in order to convey a message where there was no idea of sympathetic magic (1 Samuel 20:20). There is in fact no clear example of sympathetic magic in the Old Testament. It was very much a polytheistic idea. The vivid symbolism of the later prophets was not in order to influence YHWH, but was at YHWH's command in order to bring home the message to the people. The same is true here.
‘And he said to the king of Israel, “Put your hand on the bow,” and he put his hand on it. And Elisha laid his hands on the king's hands.'
By putting his hands on the king's hands Elisha was demonstrating that even after his death his God would still be active on Israel's behalf. This will later be emphasised by the raising of a man from the dead by contact with Elijah's corpse. The death of Elisha would not be the death of YHWH's active power.
‘And he said, “Open the window eastwards,” and he opened it. Then Elisha said, “Shoot,” and he shot. And he said, “YHWH's arrow of victory, even the arrow of victory over Aram, for you will smite the Aramaeans in Aphek, until you have consumed them.” '
Notice the step by step description of what the king had to do. Elisha wanted the message to be firmly implanted in the king's mind, and because the Aramaeans regularly invaded via Transjordan (over which they now held control) which was to the east of Samaria, Elisha arranged for the arrow to be fired eastwards. Then when the arrow had been despatched Elisha declared that it was the arrow of YHWH's victory, even His victory over Aram. It was evidence that Joash of Israel would smite the Aramaeans at Aphek (Tel En Gev on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Compare 1 Kings 20:26 where the Aramaeans had previously invaded via Aphek) until he had consumed them. There were a number of Apheks, which simply means ‘fortress', but everything points to this Aphek being in Transjordan.
Unlike the servant of Elisha previously (2 Kings 6:17), Elisha knew that the king was not spiritually attuned enough to see chariots and horses of fire at the ready to fight for Israel. Thus he gave him instead a visible sign of YHWH's victory, one that he could understand and appreciate. And he was to see the arrows as the arrows of YHWH.
‘And he said, “Take the arrows,” and he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground,” and he struck three times, and stopped.'
Then Elisha told the king to take the remaining arrows and to ‘strike the ground' with them. Some consider that this was to be done by firing the arrows, with each arrow indicating a victory as it struck the ground. The idea would then appear to be that instead of firing all the arrows in the quiver he only selected three. He was simply going through the motions, not really getting involved in what YHWH wanted to do. This interpretation might appear to be supported by the normal use of the Hebrew verb which indicates ‘smite, slaughter'. Others consider that he was to hold them in his hand and strike the ground with them. Either way he only did it three times, even though it should have been obvious that it symbolised something of great importance. It was clear that he was obeying mechanically rather than thoughtfully and from his heart. He was not really convinced that YHWH would be active on his behalf, and was making no attempt to, as it were, get into YHWH's mind. His heart was not in it.
‘And the man of God was angry with him, and said, “You should have struck five or six times, then you would have smitten Aram until you had consumed it, whereas now you will smite Aram only three times.” '
The king's lack of enthusiasm angered Elisha, and in spite of his weak condition, he rebuked the king for his lethargy, because it had demonstrated his lack of trust in YHWH and his lack of desire to have for Him to get involved. He informed him that as a result of only striking three times he would only defeat the Aramaeans three times. Had he struck five or six times he would have smitten them until he had consumed them,
‘And Elisha died, and they buried him.'
These were the king's last dealings with Elisha before he died. We are not told how long Elisha survived after this, but eventually he expired and was buried. The glorious ministry of Elisha was apparently at an end. But that his powerful influence continued will now be remarkably illustrated. We are not to see the incident that follows as anything but a serious indication that the living God was still with Israel.