2 Kings 6:10

2Ki 6:10 And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of, and saved himself there, not once nor twice.

Ver. 10. And saved himself there.] It was the king himself whom they aimed at, as 1Ki 22:31; - and as that officer of the cuirassiers, {a} who, pistoling the late victorious king of Sweden, said, This is the right bird.

{a} A horse soldier wearing a cuirass. The proper name of a certain type of heavy cavalry in European armies.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Ki 6:10. The king of Israel sent to the place — Either spies, to know whether the information which the prophet had given him was true, or soldiers, to secure the place and passage designed. By this means he frequently saved himself or his people from falling into the hands of the Syrians, who lay in wait for them in places to which they would certainly have gone, if they had not been told of the danger.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The wicked conspire nothing so craftily, but God can reveal it to his servants, and cause their counsel to be disclosed.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 10. Sent to the place] To see if it were so. But the Vulgate gives it quite a different turn: Misit rex Israel ad locum, et praeoccupavit eum. The king of Israel sent previously to the place, and took possession of it; and thus the Syrians were disappointed. This is very likely, though it is not expressed in the Hebrew text. The prophet knew the Syrians marked such a place; he told the king of Israel, and he hastened and sent a party of troops to pre-occupy it; and thus the Syrians found that their designs had been detected.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(10) Sent.—A sufficient force to hold the place, so that the Syrians had to return unsuccessful.

Warned.—Eze_3:19; 2Ch_19:10.

Saved himself.—Was wary; on his guard (2Ki_6:9).

Not once nor twice refers to the statement of the entire verse. On more than one occasion, and in regard to different inroads of the Syrians, Elisha gave the king forewarning.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10. sent to the place] A single messenger, against whom the Syrians would do nothing, would be enough to find out whether the prophet’s warning were true.

not once nor twice] i.e. but several times.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled for this thing,.... There was as it were a storm in his breast, as the word signifies; he was like a troubled sea, tossed with tempests, exceeding uneasy in his mind, fretting at the disappointment he met with time after time:

and he called his servants, and said unto them, will ye not show me which of us is for the king of Israel? he suspected that some one of his counsellors was in the interest of the king of Israel, and betrayed his secrets to him, which was the cause of his disappointments.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Saved himself - Rather, he “was ware.” The verb used is the same which is translated “beware” in the preceding verse.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Twice, but very frequently: so that the Syrian feared some treachery. (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Sent to the place, either spies, to try whether the prophet spake truth; or rather, soldiers, to secure the place and passage designed.

Saved himself; either his person when he was to pass that way; or his people, or places of importance.

Not once nor twice, but much more frequently.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

10. The king of Israel sent to the place — Sent spies to the place, in order to ascertain if Elisha had given correct information and wise counsel.

Saved himself there — Not by sending armed forces to rout the ambushed Syrians, or to pre-occupy the place before the Syrians came down to it, but by observing the counsel of the prophet, and not passing through that locality. Again and again was he thus made acquainted with the plans and movements of his enemy, and escaped the snares set for him.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the King of Israel sent to the place. Recent commentators (Keil, Thenius, Bahr) mostly suppose this to mean that Jehoram sent troops to the place pointed out by the prophet, and anticipated the Syrians by occupying it. But it agrees better with the prophet"s injunction, "Beware that thou pass not such a place," to suppose that he merely sent out scouts to see if the place were occupied or no, and finding, in each ease, Elisha"s warning true, he avoided the locality. Which the man of God told him and warned him of, and saved himself there, not once nor twice; i.e. repeatedly; at least three several times, perhaps more.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Sent - Soldiers to secure the place and passage designed.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

to the place about which the man of God had spoken and warned him

This refers to the place that Elisha had warned the king about in 2 Kings 6:9.

More than once or twice, when the king went there, he was on his guard

Elisha would warn the king of where the Aramean army would attack so that he could alert the people before the attack happened. AT: "Elisha warned the king of Israel in this way several times and the Israelites were able to stay safe" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

Will you not tell me who among us is for the king of Israel?

The king of Aram assumes there is a traitor among his soldiers who is giving information to the Israelite king. He uses this rhetorical question to try to find out who that traitor is. This can be written as a statement. AT: "Tell me which of you is for the king of Israel!" or "Tell me which of you is revealing our plans to the king of Israel!" (See: Rhetorical Question)

is for the king of Israel

"To be for someone" means to be loyal to that person. In this case, it means that they would give information to help the king of Israel. AT: "is helping the king of Israel" or "is loyal to the king of Israel" (See: Idiom)

translationWords

save

mind

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

The king of Yisroel dispatched [scouts]. He would send and see whether it was true.

And warned him. The man of God had warned him passing there.

Not once and not twice. Did he do so for him, but many times.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.