UNROLL
Dawn through an open wooden shutter in a thick stone wall: pale blue hills to the east under the first light, and on the deep sill a simple wooden bow and a few arrows in a worn leather quiver.

The Book of

2 Kings 13

Israel is down to fifty horsemen and ten chariots. An old prophet on his deathbed hands the king a bow.

25 verses≈ 6 min5 peopleBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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In this chapter

Where we are

  1. 1–8ElishaThe prophet's double portion
  2. 9–12JehuThe house of Ahab falls
  3. 13–17Last kings of IsraelSamaria fallsChapter 13
  4. 18–20HezekiahTrust in the LORD
  5. 21–23JosiahThe Book found
  6. 24–25ExileJerusalem falls

Jehoahaz Reigns in Israel

Israel

Jehoahaz of Israel · 17 years

  1. Joash’s 23rd year

    Jehoahaz son of Jehu

    In the twenty-third year of the reign of Joash son of Ahaziah over Judah, Jehoahaz son of Jehu became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria seventeen years.

  2. did evil

    In Jeroboam’s sins

    And he did evil in the sight of the LORD and followed the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit; he did not turn away from them.

  3. Given into Aram’s hand

    So the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He delivered them continually into the hands of Hazael king of Aram and his son Ben-hadad.

Tap to go deeper: meaning, history and related Scripture

Evening in an Israelite hill village: families sit at the doors of flat-roofed stone houses, smoke rising from the roofs, a woman grinding grain, children with a goat, a man coming home with a hoe on his shoulder, terraced olive slopes behind.

Then Jehoahaz sought the favor of the LORD, and the LORD listened to him because He saw the oppression that the king of Aram had inflicted on Israel. So the LORD gave Israel a deliverer, and they escaped the power of the Arameans. Then the people of Israel lived in their own homes as they had before.

0:16

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

Nevertheless, they did not turn away from the sins that the house of Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit, but they continued to walk in them. The Asherah pole even remained standing in Samaria.

Jehoahaz had no army left, except fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand foot soldiers, because the king of Aram had destroyed them and made them like the dust at threshing.

Israel

Jehoahaz’s end

  1. Chronicles of Israel

    His acts and might recorded

    As for the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz, along with all his accomplishments and his might, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

  2. Buried in Samaria

    And Jehoahaz rested with his fathers and was buried in Samaria.

  3. son of Jehoahaz

    Jehoash reigns

    And his son Jehoash reigned in his place.

Reflect

Sought the favor of the LORD

“Jehoahaz sought the favor of the LORD, and the LORD listened to him.” Yet once relief came, Israel went straight back to its old sins. Think of a time God helped you in trouble. Did anything change in you afterward? What would it mean to keep turning to Him now, when things are calm?

Jehoash Reigns in Israel

Late afternoon: Samaria finished, a walled city crowning its rounded hill, the royal palace of fine pale stone on the summit inside an inner wall, terraced olive slopes below and roads winding up from the green valleys.

Israel

Jehoash of Israel · 16 years

  1. Joash’s 37th year

    Jehoash king in Samaria

    In the thirty-seventh year of the reign of Joash over Judah, Jehoash son of Jehoahaz became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned sixteen years.

  2. did evil

    In Jeroboam’s sins

    And he did evil in the sight of the LORD and did not turn away from all the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit, but he walked in them.

  3. Chronicles of Israel

    His war with Amaziah recorded

    As for the rest of the acts of Jehoash, along with all his accomplishments and his might, including his war against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

  4. Jeroboam succeeds him

    And Jehoash rested with his fathers, and Jeroboam succeeded him on the throne.

  5. Buried with Israel’s kings

    Jehoash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

Elisha’s Final Prophecy

Lamplight in a plain upper room: the very old prophet Elisha lies on a low wooden bed under a rough wool blanket, his eyes open, while King Jehoash of Israel kneels beside the bed in his dark-blue royal robe, his face in his hand, weeping.

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!”

Elisha

Elisha told him, “Take a bow and some arrows.”

So Jehoash took a bow and some arrows.

Elisha

Then Elisha said to the king of Israel, “Put your hand on the bow.”

Close, in soft window light: the thin, wrinkled, age-spotted hands of the old prophet rest over the strong hands of the king on a simple wooden bow, an arrow on the string, the king's embroidered red-bordered sleeve and the prophet's rough dark goat-hair cloak at the edges of the frame.

So the king put his hand on the bow, and Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands.

Morning at the open east window of a plain upper room: King Jehoash has drawn and shot a simple wooden bow while the very old Elisha sits up on his bed at the king's elbow, one thin hand lifted toward the east, an arrow just leaving the string toward the far blue hills beyond the rooftops.

“Open the east window,” said Elisha. So he opened it and Elisha said, “Shoot!” So he shot. And Elisha declared:

“This is the LORD’s arrow of victory,

the arrow of victory over Aram,

for you shall strike the Arameans in Aphek

until you have put an end to them.”

Elisha

Then Elisha said, “Take the arrows!” So he took them, and Elisha said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground!”

So he struck the ground three times and stopped.

Elisha

But the man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck the ground five or six times. Then you would have struck down Aram until you had put an end to it. But now you will strike down Aram only three times.”

But now you will strike down Aram only three times.

2 Kings 13:19

A spring morning on a terraced limestone hillside: the square doorway of a rock-cut family tomb closed with a heavy squared blocking stone, red anemones and new grass around it, an old olive tree beside it.

And Elisha died and was buried. Now the Moabite raiders used to come into the land every spring.

Once, as the Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders, so they threw the man’s body into Elisha’s tomb. And as soon as his body touched the bones of Elisha, the man was revived and stood up on his feet.

Question

Quick question

Elisha told the king, “Strike the ground!” with the arrows.

How many times did King Jehoash strike the ground with the arrows?

And Hazael king of Aram oppressed Israel throughout the reign of Jehoahaz.

But the LORD was gracious to Israel and had compassion on them, and He turned toward them because of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And to this day, the LORD has been unwilling to destroy them or cast them from His presence.

2 Kings 13:23

Morning at the plain stone gate of a small Israelite hill town: families come home through the open gate with laden donkeys, bundles and baskets, while a few soldiers of Israel in bronze-scale coats stand easy beside it; the town's walls are whole.

When Hazael king of Aram died, his son Ben-hadad reigned in his place. Then Jehoash son of Jehoahaz took back from Ben-hadad son of Hazael the cities that Hazael had taken in battle from his father Jehoahaz. Jehoash defeated Ben-hadad three times, and so recovered the cities of Israel.

Pray

Gracious to a stubborn people

“the LORD was gracious to Israel and had compassion on them,” not because they had changed, but “because of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” Thank God that He keeps His promises to people who keep failing Him. Ask Him for a whole-hearted faith that takes Him at His full word and does not stop at three. And pray for anyone who is mourning a godly teacher or mentor, as Jehoash wept over Elisha.

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2 Kings 13

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A verse to carry with you

But the LORD was gracious to Israel and had compassion on them, and He turned toward them because of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And to this day, the LORD has been unwilling to destroy them or cast them from His presence.

2 Kings 13:23

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