2 Kings 6:17 (LSB)

Passage

Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Yahweh, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” And Yahweh opened the eyes of the young man and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

Nearby Context

2 Kings 6:15 Then the attendant of the man of God arose early and went out, and behold, a military force with horses and chariots was all around the city. And his young man said to him, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?”

2 Kings 6:16 So he said, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

2 Kings 6:17 Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Yahweh, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” And Yahweh opened the eyes of the young man and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

2 Kings 6:18 And they came down to him, and Elisha prayed to Yahweh and said, “Strike this people with blindness, I pray.” So He struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.

2 Kings 6:19 Then Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, and this is not the city; walk after me and I will walk you over to the man whom you seek.” And he walked them over to Samaria.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "elisha", "prayed", "said", "yahweh", "open", and "eyes". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "elisha" and "prayed", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 16's "So he said Do not fear for..." into verse 18's "And they came down to him and...", so "elisha" and "prayed" 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 "elisha" and "prayed" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.