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.
Parallel translations
- WEB He said, “Go and see where he is, that I may send and get him.” He was told, “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 37:17And the man said, They are departed hence; for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan.
- John 11:47–53Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles.
- Acts 23:12–27And when it was day, certain of the Jews banded together, and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul.
- Ps 10:8–10He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privily set against the poor.
- Jer 36:26But the king commanded Jerahmeel the son of Hammelech, and Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to take Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet: but the LORD hid them.
- Ps 37:32–33The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him.
- Matt 2:4–8And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.
- 1 Sam 23:22–23Go, I pray you, prepare yet, and know and see his place where his haunt is, and who hath seen him there: for it is told me that he dealeth very subtilly.
- Ps 37:12–14The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon 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
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