2 Kings 6:21 (LSB)

Passage

Then the king of Israel when he saw them, said to Elisha, “My father, shall I strike them down? Shall I strike them down?”

Nearby Context

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.

2 Kings 6:20 Now it happened that when they had come into Samaria, Elisha said, “O Yahweh, open the eyes of these men, that they may see.” So Yahweh opened their eyes and they saw; and behold, they were in the midst of Samaria.

2 Kings 6:21 Then the king of Israel when he saw them, said to Elisha, “My father, shall I strike them down? Shall I strike them down?”

2 Kings 6:22 And he said, “You shall not strike them down. Would you strike down those you have taken captive with your sword and with your bow? Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink and walk back to their master.”

2 Kings 6:23 So he prepared a great feast for them; and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. And the marauding bands of Arameans did not come again into the land of Israel.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "king", "israel", "said", "elisha", "father", "shall", "strike", and "down". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "king" and "israel", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 20's "Now it happened that when they had..." into verse 22's "And he said You shall not strike...", so "king" and "israel" 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 "king" and "israel" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.