Bible Strands
2 Kings 6:10
So the king of Israel sent word to the place the man of God had pointed out. Time and again Elisha warned the king, so that he was on his guard in such places.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrative describes the king of Israel receiving repeated warnings from Elisha regarding Aramean troop movements. This occurs immediately after Elisha alerts the king to avoid a specific location where enemy forces are advancing.
The words — The Hebrew verb וַ/יִּשְׁלַ֞ח (va/i.yish.lach) translates literally as "and he sent" or "he dispatched," while מֶ֣לֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל (Me.lekh Yis.ra.'El) identifies the actor as the king of Israel. The phrase אֶֽל\־ הַ/מָּק֞וֹם אֲשֶׁר אָֽמַר־ ('el ha./ma.kom 'a.Sher 'a.mar-) literally denotes sending a message to the specific place previously identified.
The thread — The pattern of a ruler receiving and heeding prophetic intelligence appears in Exodus 9:20, where Pharaoh’s officials fear the LORD’s word and act to protect their households. The narrative sequence in 2 Kings 2:12 establishes Elisha’s prophetic authority following Elijah’s departure, providing the background for his later warnings.
Why it lands — The text records a historical sequence of military intelligence and royal compliance without prescribing a theological rule for modern readers. A reader must observe how repeated prophetic warnings functioned as a practical mechanism for royal survival in this specific historical conflict.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of, and saved himself there, not once nor twice.
Cross-references
- Exodus 9:20 Those among Pharaoh’s officials who feared the word of the LORD hurried to bring their servants and livestock to shelter,
- 1 Kings 20:15 So Ahab assembled the young officers of the district governors, and there were 232 men. And after them, he assembled the rest of the Israelite troops, 7,000 in all.
- 2 Kings 2:12 As Elisha watched, he cried out, “My father, my father, the chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And he saw Elijah no more. So taking hold of his own clothes, he tore them in two.
- 2 Kings 5:14 So Naaman went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored and became like that of a little child, and he was clean.
- 2 Kings 13:14 When Elisha had fallen sick with the illness from which he would die, Jehoash king of Israel came down to him and wept over him, saying, “My father, my father, the chariots and horsemen of Israel!”
- 2 Chronicles 20:20 Early in the morning they got up and left for the Wilderness of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood up and said, “Hear me, O people of Judah and Jerusalem. Believe in the LORD your God, and you will be upheld; believe in His prophets, and you will succeed.”
- Proverbs 27:12 The prudent see danger and take cover, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty.
- Ezekiel 3:18 If I say to the wicked man, ‘You will surely die,’ but you do not warn him or speak out to warn him from his wicked way to save his life, that wicked man will die in his iniquity, and I will hold you responsible for his blood.
- Amos 7:1 This is what the Lord GOD showed me: He was preparing swarms of locusts just after the king’s harvest, as the late spring crop was coming up.
- Matthew 2:12 And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they withdrew to their country by another route.