Bible Strands
2 Kings 6:31
He announced, “May God punish me, and ever so severely, if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders through this day!”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The king of Israel addresses his court immediately after seeing the woman’s exposed sackcloth and hearing her report of famine-induced cannibalism.
The words — The sequence כֹּה יַעֲשֶׂה אֱלֹהִים וְכֹה יוֹסִף (koh ya.'a.seh 'E.lo.Him ve./khoh yo.Sif) literally renders “thus may God do and thus may he add.”
The thread — The identical oath structure appears in Ruth 1:17, 1 Kings 19:2, and 1 Samuel 3:17 as a fixed idiom for invoking maximum divine penalty upon oneself.
Why it lands — The verse records a ruler’s desperate self-curse to underscore his urgency in capturing Elisha, demanding the reader acknowledge the ancient convention of swearing by escalating divine action rather than treating the phrase as mere emotional exaggeration.
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
Then he said, God do so and more also to me, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stand on him this day.
Cross-references
- Ruth 1:17 Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD punish me, and ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.”
- 1 Kings 19:2 So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “May the gods deal with me, and ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I have not made your life like the lives of those you killed!”
- 1 Samuel 3:17 “What was the message He gave you?” Eli asked. “Do not hide it from me. May God punish you, and ever so severely, if you hide from me anything He said to you.”
- 1 Samuel 14:44 And Saul declared, “May God punish me, and ever so severely, if you, Jonathan, do not surely die!”
- 1 Samuel 25:22 May God punish David, and ever so severely, if I let one male belonging to Nabal survive until morning.”
- 2 Samuel 3:9 May God punish Abner, and ever so severely, if I do not do for David what the LORD has sworn to him:
- 2 Samuel 3:35 Then all the people came and urged David to eat something while it was still day, but David took an oath, saying, “May God punish me, and ever so severely, if I taste bread or anything else before the sun sets!”
- 2 Samuel 19:13 And say to Amasa, ‘Aren’t you my flesh and blood? May God punish me, and ever so severely, if from now on you are not the commander of my army in place of Joab!’”
- 1 Kings 2:23 Then King Solomon swore by the LORD: “May God punish me, and ever so severely, if Adonijah has not made this request at the expense of his life.
- 1 Kings 18:17 When Ahab saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is that you, O troubler of Israel?”