14 When Elisha became sick with the illness of which he was to die , Joash the king of Israel came down to him and wept over him and said , " My father , my father , the chariots of Israel and its horsemen !" 15 Elisha said to him, "Take a bow and arrows ." So he took a bow and arrows . 16 Then he said to the king of Israel , "Put your hand on the bow ." And he put his hand on it, then Elisha laid his hands on the king's hands . 17 He said , "Open the window toward the east ," and he opened it. Then Elisha said , "Shoot !" And he shot . And he said , "The Lord'S arrow of victory , even the arrow of victory over Aram ; for you will defeat the Arameans at Aphek until you have destroyed them." 18 Then he said , "Take the arrows ," and he took them. And he said to the king of Israel , "Strike the ground ," and he struck it three times and stopped . 19 So the man of God was angry with him and said , "You should have struck five or six times , then you would have struck Aram until you would have destroyed it. But now you shall strike Aram only three times ."
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 2 Kings 13:14-19
Commentary on 2 Kings 13:10-19
(Read 2 Kings 13:10-19)
Jehoash, the king, came to Elisha, to receive his dying counsel and blessing. It may turn much to our spiritual advantage, to attend the sick-beds and death-beds of good men, that we may be encouraged in religion by the living comforts they have from it in a dying hour. Elisha assured the king of his success; yet he must look up to God for direction and strength; must reckon his own hands not enough, but go on, in dependence upon Divine aid. The trembling hands of the dying prophet, as they signified the power of God, gave this arrow more force than the hands of the king in his full strength. By contemning the sign, the king lost the thing signified, to the grief of the dying prophet. It is a trouble to good men, to see those to whom they wish well, forsake their own mercies, and to see them lose advantages against spiritual enemies.