2 Reis 13

ARC · Chapter 13/25

1No anno vinte e tres de Joás, filho d'Achazias, rei de Judah, começou a reinar Joachaz, filho de Jehu, sobre Israel, em Samaria, e reinou dezesete annos.

2E fez o que parecia mal aos olhos do Senhor; porque seguiu os peccados de Jeroboão, filho de Nebat, que fez peccar a Israel; não se apartou d'elles.

3Pelo que a ira do Senhor se accendeu contra Israel: e deu-os na mão de Hazael, rei da Syria, e na mão de Ben-hadad, filho de Hazael, todos aquelles dias.

4Porém Joachaz supplicou diante da face do Senhor: e o Senhor o ouviu; pois viu a oppressão de Israel, porque os opprimia o rei da Syria.

5E o Senhor deu um salvador a Israel, e sairam de debaixo das mãos dos syros: e os filhos de Israel habitaram nas suas tendas, como d'antes.

6(Comtudo não se apartaram dos peccados da casa de Jeroboão, que fez peccar a Israel; porém elle andou n'elles: e tambem o bosque ficou em pé em Samaria.)

7Porque não deixou a Joachaz mais povo, senão só cincoenta cavalleiros, e dez carros, e dez mil homens de pé: porquanto o rei da Syria os tinha destruido e os tinha feito como o pó, trilhando-os.

8Ora o mais dos successos de Joachaz, e tudo quanto fez mais, e o seu poder, porventura não está escripto no livro das chronicas dos reis de Israel?

9E Joachaz dormiu com seus paes, e o sepultaram em Samaria: e Jehoás, seu filho, reinou em seu logar.

10No anno trinta e sete de Joás, rei de Judah, começou a reinar Jehoás, filho de Joachaz, sobre Israel, em Samaria, e reinou dezeseis annos.

11E fez o que parecia mal aos olhos do Senhor: não se apartou de nenhum dos peccados de Jeroboão, filho de Nebat, que fez peccar a Israel, porém andou n'elles.

12Ora o mais dos successos de Jehoás, e tudo quanto fez mais, e o seu poder, com que pelejou contra Amasias, rei de Judah, porventura não está escripto no livro das chronicas dos reis de Israel?

13E Jehoás dormiu com seus paes, e Jeroboão se assentou no seu throno: e Jehoás foi sepultado em Samaria, junto aos reis de Israel.

14E Eliseo estava doente da sua doença de que morreu: e Jehoás, rei de Israel, desceu a elle, e chorou sobre o seu rosto, e disse: Meu pae, meu pae, o carro de Israel, e seus cavalleiros!

15E Eliseo lhe disse: Toma um arco e frechas. E tomou um arco e frechas.

16Então disse ao rei de Israel: Põe a tua mão sobre o arco. E poz sobre elle a sua mão; e Eliseo poz as suas mãos sobre as mãos do rei.

17E disse: Abre a janella para o oriente. E abriu-a. Então disse Eliseo: Atira. E atirou; e disse: A frecha do livramento do Senhor é a frecha do livramento contra os syros; porque ferirás os syros em Afek, até os consumir.

18Disse mais: Toma as frechas. E tomou-as. Então disse ao rei de Israel: Fere a terra. E feriu-a tres vezes, e cessou.

19Então o homem de Deus se indignou muito contra elle, e disse: Cinco ou seis vezes a deverias ter ferido: então feririas os syros até os consumir: porém agora só tres vezes ferirás os syros

20Depois morreu Eliseo, e o sepultaram. Ora as tropas dos moabitas invadiram a terra á entrada do anno.

21E succedeu que, enterrando elles um homem, eis que viram uma tropa, e lançaram o homem na sepultura de Eliseo: e, caindo n'ella o homem, e tocando os ossos de Eliseo, reviveu, e se levantou sobre os seus pés.

22E Hazael, rei da Syria, opprimiu a Israel todos os dias de Jehoás.

23Porém o Senhor teve misericordia d'elles, e se compadeceu d'elles, e tornou para elles, por amor do seu concerto em Abrahão, Isaac e Jacob: e não os quiz destruir, e não os lançou ainda da sua presença.

24E morreu Hazael, rei da Syria: e Ben-hadad, seu filho, reinou em seu logar.

25E Jehoás, filho de Joachaz, tornou a tomar as cidades das mãos de Ben-hadad, que elle tinha tomado das mãos de Joachaz, seu pae, na guerra: tres vezes Jehoás o feriu, e recuperou as cidades de Israel.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Jehoahaz and then Jehoash reign in Israel under constant Syrian oppression. Elisha, now old and near death, gives Jehoash one last symbolic prophecy about limited victories over Syria. Even after his death, Elisha's bones raise a man to life when he accidentally touches them.

Explanation

This chapter shows Elisha's prophetic power extending literally beyond his own death, an extraordinary sign that reinforces his standing as one of the greatest prophets of the Old Testament. Elisha's rebuke of Jehoash for striking the ground with the arrows only three times (instead of more) teaches an important lesson about limited faith: God was willing to give more victories than the king had faith to ask for, a principle that applies far beyond this specific military context.

Fun facts

  • The act of 'striking the arrows on the ground' was a symbolic prophetic war rite, similar to other dramatized prophetic gestures seen throughout the books of Kings, physically representing future victories through a present action.
  • The resurrection through contact with Elisha's bones is the only recorded post-death miracle attributed to a prophet in the Old Testament, and Christian commentators cite it as a symbolic parallel to the power of resurrection associated with Jesus.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. 2 Reis 13:1Jehoahaz, son of Jehu, begins to reign over Israel (northern kingdom) in the twenty-third year of Joash of Judah (south), and reigns seventeen years.
  2. 2 Reis 13:2Jehoahaz also does what is evil, carrying on the sin of the golden calves set up by Jeroboam, the pattern repeated in nearly every king of the north.
  3. 2 Reis 13:3Even though Jehoahaz is described as a king who did what was evil, he still cries out to God at the height of the Syrian oppression and receives relief. It's a reminder that, in the book of Kings, divine help doesn't always depend solely on the religious merit of the king who prays.
  4. 2 Reis 13:4Jehoahaz pleads with the Lord because of the Syrian oppression over Israel (north), and the Lord hears the request, seeing the people's suffering.
  5. 2 Reis 13:5The Lord provides a deliverer, and Israel (north) manages to escape Syrian domination, going back to living normally as before.
  6. 2 Reis 13:6Even relieved of the Syrian oppression, the Israelites don't abandon the sin of the house of Jeroboam; the Asherah pole even remains standing in Samaria.
  7. 2 Reis 13:7Syria had reduced Jehoahaz's army to almost nothing: only fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand foot soldiers, crushed like dust.
  8. 2 Reis 13:8The closing formula points to the chronicles of the kings of Israel (northern kingdom) for the rest of Jehoahaz's deeds.
  9. 2 Reis 13:9Jehoahaz dies and is buried in Samaria; his son Jehoash takes the throne of Israel (north) in his place.
  10. 2 Reis 13:10Jehoash begins to reign over Israel (north) in the thirty-seventh year of Joash of Judah (south), and reigns sixteen years.
  11. 2 Reis 13:11Jehoash also does what is evil, never turning away from any of the sins of Jeroboam.
  12. 2 Reis 13:12The closing formula mentions Jehoash's war against Amaziah, king of Judah (south) — a conflict detailed in the next chapter.
  13. 2 Reis 13:13Jehoash dies and is buried in Samaria among the kings of Israel (north); Jeroboam, his son, takes the throne after him.
  14. 2 Reis 13:14The gesture of striking the arrows on the ground was a symbolic prophetic act: each strike represented a future victory over Syria. The king strikes only three times out of a lack of enthusiasm, and Elisha grows angry because it limits the scope of the victory he could have had.
  15. 2 Reis 13:15Now near the end of his life, Elisha tells King Jehoash to get a bow and arrows, preparing one last prophetic gesture.
  16. 2 Reis 13:16Elisha puts his own hands over the king's hands on the bow — a symbolic gesture of transferring blessing and power into the shot that follows.
  17. 2 Reis 13:17Elisha tells the king to open the window toward the east and shoot, declaring this arrow a sign of the Lord's victory over Syria at Aphek.
  18. 2 Reis 13:18Elisha tells the king to strike the arrows against the ground; he strikes only three times and stops, not knowing the number mattered.
  19. 2 Reis 13:19Elisha grows angry with the king for stopping too soon: if he had struck five or six times, he would have defeated Syria completely; now he will only win three times.
  20. 2 Reis 13:20Even after being buried, Elisha's body still carries a power associated with the prophet. A corpse hastily thrown into the same tomb, on touching his bones, comes back to life, a posthumous miracle that closes out the two prophets' story with one last spectacular sign.
  21. 2 Reis 13:21A group burying a man sees raiders approaching and hastily throws the body into Elisha's tomb; on touching the prophet's bones, the dead man comes back to life.
  22. 2 Reis 13:22Hazael, king of Syria, oppresses Israel (north) throughout the whole reign of Jehoash.
  23. 2 Reis 13:23Even so, the Lord has mercy on Israel because of the ancient covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, unwilling to destroy them or cast them off completely.
  24. 2 Reis 13:24Hazael, king of Syria, dies, and his son Ben-hadad takes the Syrian throne in his place.
  25. 2 Reis 13:25Jehoash recovers the cities lost to Syria, but only to a limited extent, echoing Elisha's warning about the arrows struck only three times on the ground. The victory comes, but incomplete, exactly as the prophet had warned.

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