Joash and Elisha, and the Battle with the Syrians

[Jerry]

2 Kings 13:14-19 Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died. And Joash the king of Israel came down unto him, and wept over his face, and said, O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And Elisha said unto him, Take bow and arrows. And he took unto him bow and arrows. And he said to the king of Israel, Put thine hand upon the bow. And he put his hand upon it: and Elisha put his hands upon the king's hands. And he said, Open the window eastward. And he opened it. Then Elisha said, Shoot. And he shot. And he said, The arrow of the LORD'S deliverance, and the arrow of deliverance from Syria: for thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, till thou have consumed them. And he said, Take the arrows. And he took them. And he said unto the king of Israel, Smite upon the ground. And he smote thrice, and stayed. And the man of God was wroth with him, and said, Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times; then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it: whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice.

I have a question about this passage that puzzled me. The King Joash was told to smite the ground to get victory over the Syrians, but he only did it three times. Elisha rebukes him for doing so and tells him he will only get victory three times now instead.

2 Kings 13:25 And Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz took again out of the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael the cities, which he had taken out of the hand of Jehoahaz his father by war. Three times did Joash beat him, and recovered the cities of Israel.

My question is why do you think Elisha was harsh with the king (beyond the king being wicked)? There is nothing in the context to indicate that Joash should have kept striking the ground before Elisha rebuked him. Is this a reasonable conclusion (see my next comments) or is there something else in the passage/related passages that may offer a solution?

On two other occasions that I can recall (there might be more, I am not sure), Israel's leaders were told to do a certain action with a weapon and while they did so the Lord would give them victory over their enemies.

1) Moses holding up his arms and God gave him victory over the Amalekites (when he lowered them their army started to be overcome, so Aaron and Hur propped up Moses' arms) - Exodus 17

2) Joshua stretched forth and spear and the Lord gave him victory over AI - Joshua 8

Do you think it is possible that the prophet and God expected Joash to be familiar with the nation's history enough to expect him to do the same (ie. keep doing that activity until he got complete victory)? Or do you think there was something else affecting the situation or some other reason Elisha got upset at him?

I am not looking for doctrine on this - though if there are some other Biblical principles or passages that come to mind, please share them. I am just reading/meditating on the Word of God and these questions came to mind. Thanks in advance for any input on this.

[Hugh_Flower]

I’m just assuming there where more arrows, and God wanted him to smite the ground as many times as there where arrows at hand. Seems like another passage at about how men fail to fully commit to the word of God, and our willingness to trust him.

I think this is a great question, I am really interested to hear what a more thought out answer has to say

Edited November 4, 2021 by Hugh_Flower