Scripture Daily

Context No. 2078 of 4322 · 2 Kings

Context · Reflection

2 Kings 6:19-23: in context

19Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, neither is this the city. Follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek.” He led them to Samaria. 20When they had come into Samaria, Elisha said, “LORD, open these men’s eyes, that they may see.” The LORD opened their eyes, and they saw; and behold, they were in the middle of Samaria. 21The king of Israel said to Elisha, when he saw them, “My father, shall I strike them? Shall I strike them?” 22He answered, “You shall not strike them. Would you strike those whom you have taken captive with your sword and with your bow? Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, then go to their master.” 23He prepared a great feast for them. After they ate and drank, he sent them away and they went to their master. So the bands of Syria stopped raiding the land of Israel.

A band of Syrian raiders, sent to capture Elisha, is struck with blindness, and Elisha leads them straight into the Israelite capital of Samaria. When their eyes are opened, they find themselves helpless, surrounded, in the power of their enemy. The king of Israel, seeing them trapped, eagerly asks Elisha, shall I strike them? Shall I strike them? But Elisha refuses: do not strike them. Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, then let them go home. He feeds his enemies a feast and sends them away; and the raids stopped.

Elisha's response to his enemies caught in his power is startling. The raiders had come to seize him; now they are helpless before him, and the king wants to slaughter them. By every ordinary reckoning, this is the moment for vengeance, the enemy delivered defenseless into their hands. But Elisha refuses to strike them. Instead he feeds them, sets a feast before them, and sends them home unharmed. And the effect is remarkable: the kindness disarms the enmity, and the Syrian raids on Israel cease. What the sword could not accomplish, mercy did. There is a lesson here about overcoming enemies with kindness. Our instinct, when an enemy is in our power, is to strike, to take the advantage, to repay hostility with harm. Elisha shows another way: to meet the enemy with unexpected kindness, to feed rather than strike, to return good for hostility. And this kindness has a disarming power that vengeance lacks. The sword would have won a single victory and continued the cycle of raids; the kindness ended the enmity altogether. If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat, the proverb says; and Elisha did exactly that, and the raids stopped. This is the way Jesus commands. Love your enemies, he says; do good to those who hate you. It is not weakness but a deeper strength, the power to overcome hostility not by matching it but by kindness that disarms it. Vengeance perpetuates enmity; kindness can end it. This searches how we treat those who oppose us, especially when we have the advantage over them. Do we strike, taking the chance for vengeance, repaying hostility with harm? Or can we, like Elisha, meet the enemy with unexpected kindness, returning good for hostility, trusting that mercy has a disarming power the sword does not? Elisha fed his enemies and sent them home, and the raids ceased; and we are called to overcome our enemies not by striking them when they are in our power, but by the kindness that can turn hostility to peace.

When an enemy or opponent is in my power and I have the chance to strike, to repay hostility with harm, do I take the vengeance my instinct urges, or can I learn from Elisha, who fed his helpless enemies and sent them home, and whose kindness ended the raids, to meet hostility with unexpected kindness, trusting that mercy has a disarming power the sword does not, and that good returned for hostility can turn an enemy toward peace?

Sources