Please, let us go to the Jordan, and let every man take a beam from there, and let us make there a place where we may dwell.” So he answered, “Go.”
Parallel translations
- WEB Please let us go to the Jordan, and each man take a beam from there, and let us make us a place there, where we may live.” He answered, “Go!”
- KJV Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell. And he answered, Go ye.
- BSB Please let us go to the Jordan, where each of us can get a log so we can build ourselves a place to live there.” “Go,” said Elisha.
- NASB Please let us go to the Jordan, and let us each take from there a beam, and let us construct a place there for ourselves, to live there.” So he said, “Go.”
- NLT Let’s go down to the Jordan River, where there are plenty of logs. There we can build a new place for us to meet.” “All right,” he told them, “go ahead.”
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 prophets propose going to the Jordan to cut timber for a new dwelling, and Elisha agrees. It shows honest, communal labor undertaken with the prophet's blessing.
Overview
The men plan a simple building project, each gathering a beam by the wooded banks of the Jordan. Elisha's brief 'Go!' grants permission and signals his pastoral involvement in their welfare. The detail sets up the lost ax-head miracle, grounding a wonder in the texture of ordinary work. It models initiative joined to submission, seeking the counsel and presence of God's servant.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- 2 Th 3:8neither did we eat bread from anyone’s hand without paying for it, but in labor and travail worked night and day, that we might not burden any of you;
- 1 Cor 9:6Or have only Barnabas and I no right to not work?
- 1 Tim 6:6But godliness with contentment is great gain.
- John 21:3Simon Peter said to them, “I’m going fishing.” They told him, “We are also coming with you.” They immediately went out, and entered into the boat. That night, they caught nothing.
- 1 Th 2:9For you remember, brothers, our labor and travail; for working night and day, that we might not burden any of you, we preached to you the Good News of God.
- Acts 20:34–35You yourselves know that these hands served my necessities, and those who were with me.
- Acts 18:3and because he practiced the same trade, he lived with them and worked, for by trade they were tent makers.
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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 6:2 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.