He said, “Go and see where he is, that I may send and get him.” He was told, “Behold, he is in Dothan.”
Parallel translations
- KJV And he said, Go and spy where he is, that I may send and fetch him. And it was told him, saying, Behold, he is in Dothan.
- BSB So the king said, “Go and see where he is, that I may send men to capture him.” On receiving the report, “Elisha is in Dothan,”
- NKJV So he said, “Go and see where he is, that I may send and get him.” And it was told him, saying, “Surely he is in Dothan.”
- NASB So he said, “Go and see where he is, so that I may send men and take him.” And it was told to him, saying, “Behold, he is in Dothan.”
- NLT “Go and find out where he is,” the king commanded, “so I can send troops to seize him.” And the report came back: “Elisha is at Dothan.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The Syrian king sends to seize Elisha once he learns the prophet is in Dothan. It shows the folly of trying to overpower God's appointed servant.
Overview
Determined to silence the source of Israel's advantage, the king treats the prophet as a strategic target to be captured. His plan rests on the false assumption that force can neutralize divine revelation. Locating Elisha in Dothan sets the stage for a dramatic display of unseen heavenly protection. The episode exposes the impotence of human power arrayed against the Lord.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Gen 37:17The man said, “They have left here, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’” Joseph went after his brothers, and found them in Dothan.
- John 11:47–53The chief priests therefore and the Pharisees gathered a council, and said, “What are we doing? For this man does many signs.
- Acts 23:12–27When it was day, some of the Jews banded together, and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul.
- Ps 10:8–10He lies in wait near the villages. From ambushes, he murders the innocent. His eyes are secretly set against the helpless.
- Jer 36:26The king commanded Jerahmeel the king’s son, and Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to arrest Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet; but Yahweh hid them.
- Ps 37:32–33The wicked watches the righteous, and seeks to kill him.
- Matt 2:4–8Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he asked them where the Christ would be born.
- 1 Sam 23:22–23Please go make yet more sure, and know and see his place where his haunt is, and who has seen him there; for I have been told that he deals very crafty.
- Ps 37:12–14The wicked plots against the just, and gnashes at him with his teeth.
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Christ at the center
Amid the long decline toward exile, the promise to David's house refuses to die; the flickering lamp kept burning anticipates the coming King who will not fail or be cut off.
How 2 Kings 6:13 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.