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.”
This last paragraph of this chapter should, of right, have been the first of the next chapter, for it begins a new story, which is there continued and concluded. Here is, I. The siege which the king of Syria laid to Samaria and the great distress which the city was reduced to thereby.
Commenting on 2 Kings 6:24-33
And while he yet talked with them,.... Elisha with the elders: behold, the messenger came down unto him; sent by the king: and he said; either the messenger in the king's name, or rather the king, who was at his heels, and came to the door before the messenger was let in, who was detained; and therefore it is most probable the king went in...
If 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.