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Now the company of prophets said to Elisha, "As you see, the place where we live under your charge is too small for us. Let us go to the Jordan, and let us collect logs there, one for each of us, and build a place there for us to live." He answered, "Do so." Then one of them said, "Please come with your servants." And he answered, "I will." So he went with them. When they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees. But as one was felling a log, his ax head fell into the water; he cried out, "Alas, master! It was borrowed." Then the man of God said, "Where did it fall?" When he showed him the place, he cut off a stick, and threw it in there, and made the iron float. He said, "Pick it up." So he reached out his hand and took it. —2 Kings 6:1-7 (NRSV)

What is the point of this story? Is it saying Elisha can do magic? That he will go to great lengths to return a borrowed item? Or what?

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  • 1
    I just spent several minutes searching for the story elsewhere in the Bible. It turns out I was thinking of an Aesop fable. So that doesn't help at all. :-( Dec 6, 2011 at 18:29
  • 1
    I have wrestled with this incident for a long time. Why did Elisha throw in a stick? Why not a pebble or dirt or a leaf? Why throw in anything at all? Why didn't he pray or ask God? And what made him think that God was going to make the axe head float? And the biggest question I have is - Why does the story end there and so abruptly? Why didn't the members of the company of prophets rejoice, or look in wonder? I get that this shows the awesome power of God, but I'm confused as to why the people in this situation did what they did.
    – user2251
    May 10, 2013 at 13:24
  • @user2551 yes I agree, lots of questions here that aren't answered in the text. Another question is why did the man not go in and get it himself? I know that wouldn't show God's power in the situation, yet these questions make it intriguing. Why did God use this incidence to show his power?
    – Alderney
    Aug 29, 2021 at 22:51
  • Just the action of "Cutting down trees" at the jordan would at first glance appear to be is hugely significant. The symbology of trees in scripture are almost always related to either individual people or larger groups of people / nations. Cutting down trees thus usually symbolizes the removal of either a person or nation. See the dream of the great tree being cut down in Daniel 4. I'm not sure exactly what the events in 2 Kings 6 related to but I would be looking at it as being prophetic in a similar way to the dream in Daniel 4
    – Marshall
    Nov 6, 2021 at 10:07

3 Answers 3

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Rabbi Elchanan Samet has a book called Pirkei Elisha about all the Elisha stories in II Kings. In that book, Rabbi Samet is making one basic argument: there isn't a single Elisha story that is intended to show: "Elisha can do magic." Through a careful literary and historical reading of each story, Rabbi Samet tries to show how broad social implications and important religious issues emerge in each case.

Five chapters of Pirkei Elisha are devoted to this particular story. What follows is my interpretation of a few of the points that Rabbi Samet makes in his book.

Elisha, the Company of Prophets and Haechad:

This story of the ax is the last in a series of stories which describe the interaction between Elisha and “the company of prophets,” bnei neviim which are introduced in II Kings 2:

And when the sons of the prophets [bnei neviim] who were in view at Jericho saw him, they said, "The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha." And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him. (v. 15 KJV)

The ax story found in chapter 6, like all the bnei neviim stories before it, are intended to capture the tensions and ideological differences between Elisha and this "company of prophets."

The story begins:

Now the company of prophets said to Elisha, "As you see, the place where we live under your charge is too small for us. Let us go to the Jordan, and let us collect logs there, one for each of us, and build a place there for us to live."

The response:

He answered, "Do so."

Elisha's response tells us that Elisha is not happy with the plan. “Do so,” in Hebrew just one word: lechu, means, “go, and I'm not going with you.”

 Then one of them said, "Please come with your servants." And he answered, "I will."

“One of them,” in Hebrew haechad, (literally, “the one”) begs Elisha and is able to convince him to join. In Hebrew, the words "live/dwell" and "go" appear seven times. This repetition reflect the tensions surrounding this move.

They arrive at the Jordan River and then:

“as one was felling a log, his ax head fell into the water;”

The ax-head fell into the waters of the Jordan and cannot be retrieved. Had this accident happened prior to their move, the company of prophets would have been able to pick up the ax head from the ground and continue with their work. This accident is a continuation of the tension surrounding whether or not Elisha and the prophets should be by the Jordan River in the first place.

The word used to denote the guy cutting the log is haeachad, the same word used to describe the guy who convinces Elisha to join them on the trip to the Jordan in the first place. The recurrence of haeachad implies the person who lost the ax head is the same person who convinced Elisha to come on the journey. The guy who lost his ax head immediately calls out to Elisha:

he cried out, "Alas, master! It was borrowed."

Haeachad lost a borrowed ax head and cannot afford to pay it back. Haeachad understands that this tragedy happened because Elisha doesn't approve of this plan in the first place. Haeachad pleads with Elisha saying: "it's not fair that I should be punished so harshly because you don't approve of this project."

Just like before, haeachad manages to appease Elisha and Elisha performs a miracle to return his ax.

Moving back to the Jordan:

Moving to the Jordan River is a big deal. In the previous story, the Syrian general Naaman was healed from leprosy by immersing himself in the Jordan River. Before Elijah is taken up to heaven in a whirlwind, him and Elisha travel from Gilgal to the Jordan River (II Kings 2:1-6). After Elijah goes up to heaven, Elisha splits the waters of the Jordan River (2:14) and then travels to Jerico until he finally ends up in Gilgal (4:38), effectively retracing Elijah's steps on his final journey.

Throughout these narratives, the Jordan River reflects a locus of spirituality which is disconnected from the everyday life of regular people. The tension that underscores the relationship between Elisha and the company of prophets stems from a question about the role of the prophet in relation to one's larger social context. Does the prophet belong with the commoners in Gilgal or in solitary-spiritual contemplation of God on the banks of the Jordan? This is a central ambiguity within these stories and Tanakh as a whole.

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  • Please help me understand why you would think Elisha was upset with the prophets?
    – user2032
    Feb 11, 2013 at 14:31
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This story is very profound.

It is interesting that manslaughter is typified through the dislocated ax head. That is, we read in the Law of Moses as follows.

Deuteronomy 19:4-6 (NASB)
4 Now this is the case of the manslayer who may flee there and live: when he kills his friend unintentionally, not hating him previously— 5 as when a man goes into the forest with his friend to cut wood, and his hand swings the axe to cut down the tree, and the iron head slips off the handle and strikes his friend so that he dies—he may flee to one of these cities and live; 6 otherwise the avenger of blood might pursue the manslayer in the heat of his anger, and overtake him, because the way is long, and take his life, though he was not deserving of death, since he had not hated him previously.

In the Law of Moses, the ax head is dislocated, and the result eventuates in moral culpability.

In the story of Elisha, the ax head is located, and the offender is therefore exculpated of moral liability. That is, the River Jordan was the agent through which the wood had reversed the moral culpability of the offender, since Elisha had first to throw wood (the stick) into the water. The wood of the tree was therefore the key to making the water effective (Exodus 15:25).

In other words, Elisha used wood to remove moral liability through water -- thus the idea of baptism "emerges" from the water of the River Jordan (which is the entrance to the Promised Land).

In the Christian New Testament, the wood of the tree corresponds to the cross (removal of sins); and the water corresponds to eternal life (exculpatory removal of Adam's original sin, which is spiritual death--that is to say, the "ax head" is Adam's original sin, which eventuated spiritual death per Romans 5:12). Eternal life reverses or removes this spiritual death.

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  • Agree with this view. 1 Peter 2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.
    – timeon
    Nov 4, 2013 at 17:49
  • Jesus took the claim in Luke 24:44 - And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.
    – timeon
    Nov 4, 2013 at 17:50
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In sensus plenior, four voices speak at the same time in scripture: king (literal), judge, prophet (always speaking of Christ) and priest.

The answer by Amichai is a very good analysis of the voice of the king. He analyzes the literal-historical event. Joseph analyzes the voice of the judge; centering the discussing around the issue of guilt and culpability.

This answer addresses the voice of the prophet.

Elijah and Elisha look a lot like John and Jesus. They worked at the same time for a while. They share the same garment (2Ki 2:13) which is a symbol of works; John and Jesus both preached repentance. The work of Elijah was one of judgement as was that of John. Elisha was a worker of grace, as was Jesus. John was the forerunner to Jesus as Elijah came before Elisha. Many more parallels can be seen.

The event in question, removing the axe head from the stream, is one such prophecy of Jesus removing the law from the word, or ushering in the age of grace.

In SP, water represents the word of God. It reveals two characteristics of God: Holiness (law), and Love (grace). The axe represents judgement (Mt 3:10)

By removing the axe from the stream, it is is a prophecy that Jesus would remove judgement and provide grace. One parallel to this prophecy is the changing of water (word) to wine (grace). (Joh 2) In this case, Jesus had to decide if he would judge Israel or provide grace; he was not yet ready for ministry. It was not yet his time. Once he made his choice to provide grace, the 'axe' was removed from the water, leaving the wine (grace). He then began his ministry.

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