2 Kings 6:22 (LSB)

Passage

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.”

Nearby Context

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.

2 Kings 6:24 Now it happened afterwards, that Ben-hadad king of Aram gathered all his military camp and went up and besieged Samaria.

Study Lenses

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

The nearby context moves from verse 21's "Then the king of Israel when he..." into verse 23's "So he prepared a great feast for...", so "said" and "shall" 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 "said" and "shall" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.