While Elisha was still speaking with them, the messenger came down to him. And the king said, “This calamity is from the LORD. Why should I wait for the LORD any longer?”
Parallel translations
- WEB While he was still talking with them, behold, the messenger came down to him. Then he said, “Behold, this evil is from Yahweh. Why should I wait for Yahweh any longer?”
- KJV And while he yet talked with them, behold, the messenger came down unto him: and he said, Behold, this evil is of the LORD; what should I wait for the LORD any longer?
- NKJV And while he was still talking with them, there was the messenger, coming down to him; and then the king said, “Surely this calamity is from the Lord; why should I wait for the Lord any longer?”
- NASB While he was still talking with them, behold, the messenger came down to him and he said, “Behold, this evil is from the Lord; why should I wait for the Lord any longer?”
- NLT While Elisha was still saying this, the messenger arrived. And the king said, “All this misery is from the Lord! Why should I wait for the Lord any longer?”
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 king arrives and despairs of waiting any longer on the Lord. His words voice faithless impatience under prolonged judgment.
Overview
As the messenger reaches Elisha, the king follows, lamenting that the calamity comes from Yahweh and asking why he should wait further. His complaint reveals unbelief that abandons hope just before deliverance dawns. The moment sets up Elisha's startling promise of overnight relief. It contrasts human despair with the imminent faithfulness of God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 26
- Job 2:9Then Job’s wife said to him, “Do you still retain your integrity? Curse God and die!”
- Isa 8:21They will roam the land, dejected and hungry. When they are famished, they will become enraged; and looking upward, they will curse their king and their God.
- 1 Sam 31:4Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run it through me, or these uncircumcised men will come and run me through and torture me!” But his armor-bearer was terrified and refused to do it. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it.
- 1 Sam 28:6–8He inquired of the LORD, but the LORD did not answer him by dreams or Urim or prophets.
- Prov 19:3A man’s own folly subverts his way, yet his heart rages against the LORD.
- Isa 50:10Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the voice of His Servant? Who among you walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the LORD; let him lean on his God.
- Isa 26:3You will keep in perfect peace the steadfast of mind, because he trusts in You.
- Isa 8:17I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob. I will put my trust in Him.
- Job 2:5But stretch out Your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse You to Your face.”
- Job 1:21saying: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.”
- Job 1:11But stretch out Your hand and strike all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face.”
- Lam 3:25–26The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him.
- Rev 16:9–11And the people were scorched by intense heat, and they cursed the name of God, who had authority over these plagues; yet they did not repent and give Him glory.
- Jer 2:25You should have kept your feet from going bare and your throat from being thirsty. But you said, ‘It is hopeless! For I love foreign gods, and I must go after them.’
- Exod 16:6–8So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “This evening you will know that it was the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt,
- Hab 2:3For the vision awaits an appointed time; it testifies of the end and does not lie. Though it lingers, wait for it, since it will surely come and will not delay.
- Luke 18:1Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray at all times and not lose heart:
- 2 Cor 2:7So instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.
- 2 Cor 2:11in order that Satan should not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.
- Gen 4:13But Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is greater than I can bear.
- Ps 37:9For the evildoers will be cut off, but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land.
- Ps 27:14Wait patiently for the LORD; be strong and courageous. Wait patiently for the LORD!
- Ps 62:5Rest in God alone, O my soul, for my hope comes from Him.
- Ps 37:7Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him; do not fret when men prosper in their ways, when they carry out wicked schemes.
- Matt 27:4–5“I have sinned by betraying innocent blood,” he said. “What is that to us?” they replied. “You bear the responsibility.”
- Ezek 33:10Now as for you, son of man, tell the house of Israel that this is what they have said: ‘Our transgressions and our sins are heavy upon us, and we are wasting away because of them! How can we live?’
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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 6:33 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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