61 Now the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, There is not room enough for us in the place where we are living under your care; 2 So let us go to Jordan, and let everyone get to work cutting boards, and we will make a living-place for ourselves there. And he said to them, Go, then. 3 And one of them said, Be pleased to go with your servants. And he said, I will go. 4 So he went with them. And when they came to Jordan, they got to work cutting down trees. 5 But one of them, while cutting a board, let the head of his axe go into the water; and he gave a cry, and said, This is a bad business, my master, for it is another's. 6 And the man of God said, Where did it go in? and when he saw the place where it had gone into the water, cutting a stick, he put it into the water, and the iron came up to the top of the water. 7 Then he said, Take it up. So he put out his hand and took it.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 2 Kings 6:1-7
Commentary on 2 Kings 6:1-7
(Read 2 Kings 6:1-7)
There is that pleasantness in the converse of servants of God, which can make those who listen to them forget the pain and the weariness of labour. Even the sons of the prophets must not be unwilling to labour. Let no man think an honest employment a burden or a disgrace. And labour of the head, is as hard, and very often harder, than labour with the hands. We ought to be careful of that which is borrowed, as of our own, because we must do as we would be done by. This man was so respecting the axe-head. And to those who have an honest mind, the sorest grievance of poverty is, not so much their own want and disgrace, as being rendered unable to pay just debts. But the Lord cares for his people in their smallest concerns. And God's grace can thus raise the stony iron heart, which is sunk into the mud of this world, and raise up affections, naturally earthly.