2 Kings 2:19 (LSB)

Passage

Then the men of the city said to Elisha, “Behold now, the habitat of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees; but the water is bad and the land is unfruitful.”

Nearby Context

2 Kings 2:17 But when they urged him until he was ashamed, he said, “Send.” They sent therefore fifty men; and they searched three days but did not find him.

2 Kings 2:18 So they returned to him while he was staying at Jericho; and he said to them, “Did I not say to you, ‘Do not go’?”

2 Kings 2:19 Then the men of the city said to Elisha, “Behold now, the habitat of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees; but the water is bad and the land is unfruitful.”

2 Kings 2:20 And he said, “Bring me a new jar, and put salt in it.” So they brought it to him.

2 Kings 2:21 And he went out to the spring of water and threw salt in it and said, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘I have purified these waters; there shall not be from there death or barrenness any longer.’”

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "city", "said", "elisha", "behold", "habitat", "pleasant", and "lord". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "city" and "said", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 18's "So they returned to him while he..." into verse 20's "And he said Bring me a new...", so "city" and "said" belong inside that flow. In 2 Kings context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "city" and "said" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.