So one night the king of Aram sent a great army with many chariots and horses to surround the city.
Parallel translations
- WEB Therefore he sent horses, chariots, and a great army there. They came by night, and surrounded the city.
- KJV Therefore sent he thither horses, and chariots, and a great host: and they came by night, and compassed the city about.
- BSB the king of Aram sent horses, chariots, and a great army. They went there by night and surrounded the city.
- NKJV Therefore he sent horses and chariots and a great army there, and they came by night and surrounded the city.
- NASB So he sent horses and chariots and a substantial army there, and they came by night and surrounded the city.
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
A large Syrian force surrounds Dothan by night to capture one prophet. The disproportion highlights how seriously the enemy feared Elisha's God-given insight.
Overview
Horses, chariots, and a great army are deployed against a single man, encircling the city under cover of darkness. The overwhelming show of strength sets up the contrast with the far greater, invisible army of heaven. It dramatizes the world's reliance on visible might against the people of God. The scene prepares for the lesson that faith perceives realities unseen by fear.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- John 18:3–6Judas then, having taken a detachment of soldiers and officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons.
- Matt 26:55In that hour Jesus said to the multitudes, “Have you come out as against a robber with swords and clubs to seize me? I sat daily in the temple teaching, and you didn’t arrest me.
- Matt 26:47While he was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and elders of the people.
- 1 Sam 24:2Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went to seek David and his men on the rocks of the wild goats.
- 1 Sam 23:26Saul went on this side of the mountain, and David and his men on that side of the mountain; and David hurried to get away for fear of Saul; for Saul and his men surrounded David and his men to take them.
- 2 Kgs 18:17The king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great army to Jerusalem. They went up and came to Jerusalem. When they had come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the fuller’s field.
- 2 Kgs 1:9–13Then the king sent a captain of fifty with his fifty to him. He went up to him; and behold, he was sitting on the top of the hill. He said to him, “Man of God, the king has said, ‘Come down!’”
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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 6:14 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.