2 Kings 6:31

2 Kings 6:31 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Then he said, God do so and more also to me, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stand on him this day.
• New International Version (NIV)He said, “May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders today!”
• English Standard Version (ESV)and he said, "May God do so to me and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders today."
• New King James Version (NKJV)Then he said, “God do so to me and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat remains on him today!”

Context of 2 Kings 6:31

29So we cooked my son and we ate him. The next day I said to her, “Now we will take your son, so that we can eat him.” But she has hidden him somewhere!’ 30When the king heard the woman's words, he was very upset. He tore his clothes. As he walked along the wall, people could see what he was wearing. They saw that he was wearing sackcloth under his other clothes. He said, ‘I will certainly cut off Elisha's head today! May God punish me with death if Elisha still has his head by the end of the day!’ 32Elisha was sitting in his house. The leaders of the city were with him. The king sent a man to Elisha with a message. But before he arrived, Elisha said to the leaders, ‘I tell you this. That murderer, the king, has sent someone to cut off my head. When the king's man arrives, shut the door. Stop him from coming in here. We will soon hear the sound of his master as he arrives too.’ 33While Elisha was still talking to the city's leaders, the king's man arrived with this message: ‘The Lord has caused this terrible trouble to happen to us. I cannot wait any longer for the Lord to help us.’

2 Kings 6:31 word by word

וַיֹּ֕אמֶר כֹּֽה־יַעֲשֶׂה־לִּ֥י אֱלֹהִ֖ים וְכֹ֣ה יוֹסִ֑ף אִֽם־יַעֲמֹ֞ד רֹ֣אשׁ אֱלִישָׁ֧ע בֶּן־שָׁפָ֛ט עָלָ֖יו הַיּֽוֹם׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Then he saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
• doעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to make: doH6213
• so and moreיָסַףyâsaph · to addH3254
• also to me, if the headרֹאשׁrô'sh · headH7218
• of Elishaאֱלִישָׁע'ĕlîyshâ‛ · ElishaH477
• the sonבֵּןbên · son: childH1121
• of Shaphatשָׁפָטshâphâţ · ShaphatH8202
• shall standעָמַד‛âmad · to stand: standH5975
• on him this dayיוֹםyôm · day: todayH3117

Cross-references for 2 Kings 6:31

• Ruth 1:17I will die in the same place that you die. That is where people will bury me. I will stay beside you until death makes us separate. If I ever leave you, the Lord should punish me.’
• 1 Samuel 3:17Eli asked Samuel, ‘What message did the Lord speak to you? You must not hide it from me. God will certainly punish you if you do not tell me everything that he said to you.’
• 1 Samuel 14:44Saul said, ‘Jonathan, you must surely die! I ask God to kill me if I do not punish you with death.’
• 1 Samuel 25:22I pray that God will punish me if I do not kill all the men in Nabal's family by tomorrow morning.’
• 2 Samuel 3:9So I promise you this! Now I will help David to get what the Lord has promised to him. I ask God to punish me if I do not help David!
• 2 Samuel 19:13Also, say to Amasa, “We belong to the same family. I promise you that I will now make you the leader of my army, instead of Joab. I ask God to punish me if I do not do that for you.” ’
• 1 Kings 2:23Then King Solomon made this strong promise in the Lord's name. He said, ‘Because Adonijah has asked to have Abishag as his wife, I will certainly punish him with death. If I do not do that, I pray that God will punish me instead!
• 1 Kings 18:17When Ahab saw Elijah, he said to him, ‘Is that really you, the man who brings trouble to Israel?’
• 1 Kings 19:2So Jezebel sent someone with this message to Elijah: ‘By this time tomorrow, I will make sure that you are dead, the same as Baal's prophets! If I do not do that, I pray that the gods will kill me instead.’
• 1 Kings 22:8The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, ‘There is still one man. We could ask him what the Lord wants us to do. But I do not like him, because he never says that anything good will happen to me. He only says that I will have trouble. He is Imlah's son, Micaiah.’ Jehoshaphat said, ‘The king should not talk like that.’
• Jeremiah 37:15The officers were very angry with Jeremiah. They beat him with a stick. They put him in a strong room of Jonathan's house. Jonathan was the king's secretary. They had made his house into a place to keep hold of prisoners.
• Jeremiah 38:4When the officers heard that, they said to the king, ‘You must punish this man with death. He is making our soldiers who remain in the city afraid. The things that he says are making all the people in the city very afraid. He does not want to help our people. He wants to destroy them.’
• John 11:50It is better that one man should die on behalf of our people. That is better than if all Israel's people should die.’
• Acts 23:12The next morning, a group of Jews talked together about how they might kill Paul. They agreed to make a promise to God. They would not eat or drink anything until they had killed Paul.

Commentaries on 2 Kings 6:31

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 31If the head of Elisha - shall stand on him - Either he attributed these calamities to the prophet, or else he thought he could remove them, and yet would not. The miserable king was driven to desperation.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 31God do so … - Jehoram uses almost the very words of his wicked mother, when she sought the life of Elijah (marginal reference). The head of Elisha - Beheading was not an ordinary Jewish punishment. The Law did not sanction it. But in Assyria, Babylonia, and generally through the East, it was the most conmon form of capital punishment. It is not quite clear why Elisha was to be punished. Perhaps Jehoram argued from his other miracles that he could give…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 24-33Verses 24-33 Learn to value plenty, and to be thankful for it; see how contemptible money is, when in time of famine it is so freely parted with for any thing that is eatable! The language of Jehoram to the woman may be the language of despair. See the word of God fulfilled; among the threatenings of God's judgments upon Israel for their sins, this was one, that they should eat the flesh of their own children, De 28:53-57. The truth and the awful justice…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 31the head of Elisha … on his shoulders: Decapitating enemies was common (2 Kings 10:6–8; 1 Samuel 17:51; 31:9; 2 Samuel 4:7–8, 12; 20:22; Matthew 14:11) in the ancient Near East. Joram thought the problem arose because Elisha had spared Ben-hadad’s troops earlier (2 Kings 6:22–23). Ben-hadad had also been pursuing Elisha (2 Kings 6:13), putting the entire city at risk.Read the comment

Topics related to 2 Kings 6:31

• Armies
• Elisha
• Israel
• Malice
• Oath
• Persecution
• Samaria
• Shaphat

In the dictionaries

• Elisha
• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Band
• Jehoram
• Send
• Benhadad
• Jehoahaz
• Jehoram; Joram
• Kings, Books of

Commentaries on 2 Kings 6

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings