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The Blindness of the Syrians
v. 8. Then the king of Syria, still during the reign of Jehoram of Israel, warred against Israel, more by expeditions which had the plundering of the country for their object than by regular campaigns, and took counsel with his servants, saying, In such and such a place shall be my camp. He fixed the location of his various encampments in advance and informed his captains in secret council.
v. 9. And the man of God, Elisha, sent unto the king of Israel, saying, Beware that thou pass not such a place, namely, for the purpose of occupying it with a sufficiently strong body of men to keep the Syrians away; for thither the Syrians are come down, he knew the places which they had selected for their encampments.
v. 10. And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of, always occupying these places in advance, and saved himself there, thus frustrating the plans of the Syrians, not once nor twice, it happened time and again.
v. 11. Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled for this thing, the matter vexed him severely. And he called his servants and said unto them, Will ye not show me which of us is for the king of Israel? He believed that there was a traitor in their own camp, who made known their plans to the enemy.
v. 12. And one of his servants said, None, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bed-chamber, he possessed such a great amount of prophetic wisdom that he knew all the secrets of the Syrian king.
v. 13. And he said, Go and spy where he is that I may send and fetch him, intending to get Elisha into his power and thus to prevent him from making known his plans to the king of Israel. And it was told him, saying, Behold, he is in Dothan, some twelve miles north of Samaria.
v. 14. Therefore sent he, the king of Syria, thither horses and chariots and a great host, a large body of infantry; and they came by night, and compassed the city about.
v. 15. And when the servant of the man of God, either Gehazi or some prophet-disciple, was risen early and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master, how shall we do? He felt that they were now in the power of the enemies and could not escape.
v. 16. And he, Elisha, answered, Fear not; for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. Cf Num_14:9; 2Ch_32:7; Psa_3:6; Psa_27:3.
v. 17. And Elisha prayed and said, Lord, I pray Thee, open his eyes that he may see, that his physical eyes might behold what his spirit should have known. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw, what was ordinarily hidden from the eyes of mortals; and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha, the hosts of the heavenly angels had been sent to protect him.
v. 18. And when they, the Syrians, came down to him, Elisha prayed unto the Lord and said, Smite this people, I pray Thee, with blindness. And He, Jehovah, smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha; they were in a condition that their eyes could not distinguish properly, although the ability to see was not taken from them.
v. 19. And Elisha said unto them, This is not the way, neither is this the city, he prepared deliberately to mislead them. Follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom ye seek. But he led them to Samaria, while they were virtually his captives.
v. 20. And it came to pass, when they were come into Samaria, that Elisha said, Lord, open the eyes of these men, of the Syrians who had followed him so trustfully and blindly, that they may see. And the Lord opened their eyes, and they saw; and, behold, they were in the midst of Samaria.
v. 21. And the king of Israel said unto Elisha when he saw them, My father, namely, in the spiritual sense, shall I smite them? Shall I smite them? He was eager to make use of the advantage offered by the presence of the enemy, for they were now in his power.
v. 22. And he, with the proper humaneness which would consider it highly improper to take a mean advantage of an enemy, answered, Thou shalt not smite them. Wouldest thou smite those whom thou hast taken captive with thy sword and with thy bow? The meaning is: If thou shouldst put these to death, could thy action be justified as in the case of prisoners of war? Set bread and water before them, preparing them a bounteous meal,that they may eat and drink and go to their master.
v. 23. And he prepared great provision for them; and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. So the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel; they realized that such expeditions were useless as long as Elisha was in the country and revealed all their plans. The angel of the Lord encamps round about those that fear Him. The true children of God keep many a great misfortune from entire countries.