2 Kings 6:10

And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him, and warned him of,.... Sent spies thither to see whether the Syrians were there or not, and whether it was truth the man of God told him; for he had no hearty respect for the prophet, though he had been so serviceable to him: and saved himself there, not once, nor twice; escaped the snares the king of Syria laid for him, not once, nor twice only, but many times.

6:8-12 The king of Israel regarded the warnings Elisha gave him, of danger from the Syrians, but would not heed the warnings of danger from his sins. Such warnings are little heeded by most; they would save themselves from death, but will not from hell. Nothing that is done, said, or thought, by any person, in any place, at any time, is out of God's knowledge.

2 Kings 6:10 . The king of Israel sent to the place — Either spies, to know whether the information which the prophet had given him was true, or soldiers, to secure the place and passage designed. By this means he frequently saved himself or his people from falling into the hands of the Syrians, who lay in wait for them in places to which they would certainly have gone, if they had not been told of the danger.

Sent to the place, either spies, to try whether the prophet spake truth; or rather, soldiers, to secure the place and passage designed. Saved himself; either his person when he was to pass that way; or his people, or places of importance. Not once nor twice, but much more frequently.

(10) Sent .—A sufficient force to hold the place, so that the Syrians had to return unsuccessful. Warned.—Ezekiel 3:19; 2Chronicles 19:10. Saved himself.—Was wary; on his guard (2Kings 6:9). Not once nor twice refers to the statement of the entire verse. On more than one occasion, and in regard to different inroads of the Syrians, Elisha gave the king forewarning.

2Ki 6:8-17. Discloses the King of Syria's Counsel. 8-12. the king of Syria warred against Israel—This seems to have been a sort of guerrilla warfare, carried on by predatory inroads on different parts of the country. Elisha apprised King Jehoram of the secret purpose of the enemy; so, by adopting precautionary measures, he was always enabled to anticipate and defeat their attacks. The frequency of his disappointments having led the Syrian king to suspect some of his servants of carrying on a treacherous correspondence with the enemy, he was informed about Elisha, whose apprehension he forthwith determined to effect. This resolution was, of course, grounded on the belief that however great the knowledge of Elisha might be, if seized and kept a prisoner, he could no longer give information to the king of Israel.

Verse 10. - And the King of Israel sent to the place. Recent commentators (Keil, Thenius, Bahr) mostly suppose this to mean that Jehoram sent troops to the place pointed out by the prophet, and anticipated the Syrians by occupying it. But it agrees better with the prophet's injunction, "Beware that thou pass not such a place," to suppose that he merely sent out scouts to see if the place were occupied or no, and finding, in each case, Elisha's warning true, he avoided the locality. Which the man of God told him and warned him of, and saved himself there, not once nor twice; i.e. repeatedly; at least three several times, perhaps more. 2 Kings 6:10

Elisha's Action in the War with the Syrians. - 2 Kings 6:8-10 . In a war which the Syrians carried on against the Israelitish king Joram (not Jehoahaz, as Ewald, Gesch. iii. p. 557, erroneously supposes), by sending flying parties into the land of Israel (cf. 2 Kings 6:23 ), Elisha repeatedly informed king Joram of the place where the Syrians had determined to encamp, and thereby frustrated the plans of the enemy. תּחנתי...אל־מקום: "at the place of so and so shall my camp be." אלמני פּלני as in 1 Samuel 21:3 (see at Ruth 4:1 ). תּחנות, the encamping or the place of encampment (cf. Ewald, 161, a.), is quite appropriate, so that there is no need either for the alteration into תּחבאוּ, "ye shall hide yourselves" (Then.), or into תּנחתוּ, with the meaning which is arbitrarily postulated, "ye shall place an ambush" (Ewald, Gesch. iii. p. 558), or for the much simpler alteration into לי תּחנוּ, "pitch the camp for me" (Bttcher). The singular suffix in תּחנתי refers to the king as leader of the war: "my camp" equals the camp of my army. "Beware of passing over (עבר) this place," i.e., of leaving it unoccupied, "for there have the Syrians determined to make their invasion." נחתּים, from נחת, going down, with dagesh euphon., whereas Ewald (187, b.) is of opinion that נחתּים, instead of being an intrans. part. Kal, might rather be a part. Niph. of חת, which would not yield, however, any suitable meaning.

Thenius renders מעבר, "to pass by this place," which would be grammatically admissible, but is connected with his conjecture concerning תּחנתי, and irreconcilable with 2 Kings 6:10 . When the king of Israel, according to 2 Kings 6:10 , sent to the place indicated on account of Elisha's information, he can only have sent troops to occupy it; so that when the Syrians arrived they found Israelitish troops there, and were unable to attack the place. There is nothing in the text about the Syrians bursting forth from their ambush. הזהיר means to enlighten, instruct, but not to warn. נשׁמר־שׁם, "he took care there," i.e., he occupied the place with troops, to defend it against the Syrians, so that they were unable to do anything, "not once and not twice," i.e., several times.