Why does Eliseus say Joas will defeat Syria three times?

Atlas of Saints · Chapter summary

Joas strikes the ground three times with an arrow and stops. Eliseus is angry and tells him that five, six or seven strikes would have meant Syria’s utter destruction, but now he will strike it three times. The chapter later reports three victories over Benadad and the recovery of Israel’s cities.

Chapter breakdown

In the twenty-third year of Joas, son of Ochozias and king of Juda, Joachaz, son of Jehu, begins a seventeen-year reign over Israel in Samaria. He does evil before the Lord and keeps following the sins of Jeroboam, son of Nabat, who made Israel sin. The Lord’s anger burns against Israel, and he delivers them into the hands of Hazael, king of Syria, and Benadad, Hazael’s son, all the days described.

Joachaz seeks the Lord, and the Lord hears him because he sees Israel’s distress under the Syrian king’s oppression. The Lord gives Israel a saviour, and they are delivered from the king of Syria. The children of Israel dwell in their pavilions as they did before. Yet they do not leave the sins of Jeroboam’s house, which made Israel sin; they keep walking in them, and a grove still remains in Samaria.

The Challoner note explains the grove as dedicated to the worship of idols. This explanation belongs to the edition’s commentary.

Joachaz has only fifty horsemen, ten chariots and ten thousand footmen left. The king of Syria has killed his people and brought them low, like dust from threshing on the barn floor. The account asks whether the rest of Joachaz’s acts, all he did and his valour are written in the book of the words of the days of Israel’s kings. Joachaz dies, is buried in Samaria, and his son Joas reigns in his place.

In the thirty-seventh year of Joas, king of Juda, Joas, son of Joachaz, begins a sixteen-year reign over Israel in Samaria. He too does evil in the Lord’s sight and does not leave any of the sins of Jeroboam, son of Nabat, who made Israel sin. The account refers the rest of his acts, all he did and the valour with which he fought Amasias, king of Juda, to the book of the words of the days of Israel’s kings. It reports Joas’s death, Jeroboam sitting on his throne, and Joas’s burial in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

The account then turns to Eliseus, who is sick with the illness from which he dies. Joas, king of Israel, goes down to him and weeps before him. He calls him his father, the chariot of Israel and its guider. Eliseus tells him to bring a bow and arrows. Once they are brought, he tells the king to put his hand on the bow. Joas does so, and Eliseus puts his hands over the king’s hands.

Eliseus tells Joas to open the window to the east. When Joas opens it, Eliseus tells him to shoot an arrow, and he shoots. Eliseus calls it the arrow of the Lord’s deliverance and of deliverance from Syria. He tells Joas he will strike the Syrians in Aphec until he consumes them.

Eliseus tells Joas to take the arrows and, after he takes them, to strike the ground with an arrow. Joas strikes three times and stops. The man of God is angry with him. He says that if Joas had struck five, six or seven times, he would have struck Syria to utter destruction; now he will strike it three times.

Challoner says that from this it appears God had revealed to the prophet that the king would overcome the Syrians as many times as he struck the ground. The note says God had not at the same time revealed how often the king would strike, so the prophet was concerned to see only three strikes. This is the note’s explanation, with its opening qualification that it appears so.

Eliseus dies and is buried. Rovers from Moab enter the land that same year. People burying a man see the rovers and cast his body into Eliseus’s sepulchre, his burial place. When the body touches Eliseus’s bones, the man comes to life and stands on his feet.

Hazael, king of Syria, afflicts Israel all the days of Joachaz. The Lord has mercy on them and returns to them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He does not destroy them or utterly cast them away up to the present time named by the account.

Hazael, king of Syria, dies, and his son Benadad reigns in his place. Joas, son of Joachaz, takes back from Benadad, son of Hazael, the cities Benadad had taken by war from Joachaz, Joas’s father. Joas defeats him three times and restores the cities to Israel.

The story inside

Israel’s relief and its continued sins appear together. Joachaz keeps Jeroboam’s sins, and the Lord delivers Israel to Syrian kings. When Joachaz seeks the Lord, the Lord hears because he sees Israel’s oppression and gives a saviour. The people return to their pavilions but do not abandon those sins, and the grove remains. The small remaining force shows the harm Syria has done. The reign summaries then record Joachaz’s death and his son Joas’s reign, conduct, war reference, death, burial and successor. The account next returns to Joas’s visit to the dying Eliseus. Each action with the bow follows the prophet’s instruction, ending in the arrow’s named meaning and promise about Aphec. The ground strikes lead to a more specific result: three victories, with the prophet saying that five, six or seven strikes would have meant utter destruction. Challoner offers a qualified explanation of the revelation, while the Scripture gives no reason why Joas stops. After Eliseus’s death, the sight of Moabite rovers leads a burial party to cast a body into his burial place; contact with his bones is followed by the man coming to life and standing. The account names the covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as the reason for the Lord’s mercy toward Israel, with a stated limit up to its present time. After Hazael dies, Joas defeats Benadad three times and restores cities taken from his father by war. The three reported victories match the number Eliseus announced.

Lessons worth keeping

1
Being delivered from oppression does not mean the people have left their sins. The Lord hears Joachaz because he sees Israel’s distress and gives a saviour, yet the account immediately says the sins of Jeroboam’s house continue and a grove remains in Samaria. Both the relief and the unchanged conduct belong in the chapter’s account.
2
The number three connects Joas’s action, Eliseus’s words and the later victories. Joas strikes the ground three times and stops; Eliseus announces three strikes against Syria; Joas later defeats Benadad three times and recovers the cities. The larger numbers and utter-destruction consequence come from Eliseus’s statement. The chapter does not explain Joas’s motive, and Challoner’s explanation of revelation begins with a qualification.
3
The account gives particular events and a particular reason for mercy. A buried man comes to life and stands when his body touches Eliseus’s bones. Separately, the Lord’s covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob explains why he does not destroy Israel or utterly cast it away up to the account’s present time. Preserving these details avoids turning the chapter into an unstated general doctrine or a promise without a time limit.

Test your recall

How do Joas’s three ground strikes lead to Eliseus’s announcement, how does the later fighting match that number, and why does the account say the Lord has mercy on Israel despite its continuing sins?

Source edition and notes

Douay–Rheims, revised by Richard Challoner (1749–1752). Project Gutenberg no. 1581. Locators refer to lines in the admitted pg1581.txt edition. Source notes may include Challoner commentary.

Lines 39491–39507
4 Kings Chapter 13 The reign of Joachaz and of Joas kings of Israel. The last acts and death of Eliseus the prophet: a dead man is raised to life by the touch of his bones. 13:1. In the three and twentieth year of Joas son of Ochozias, king of Juda, Joachaz, the son of Jehu, reigned over Israel, in Samaria, seventeen years. 13:2. And he did evil before the Lord, and followed the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin; and he departed not from them. 13:3. And the wrath of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hand of Hazael, the king of Syria, and into the hand of Benadad, the son of Hazael, all days.
Lines 39509–39519
13:4. But Joachaz besought the face of the Lord, and the Lord heard him: for he saw the distress of Israel, because the king of Syria had oppressed them: 13:5. And the Lord gave Israel a saviour, and they were delivered out of the hand of the king of Syria: and the children of Israel dwelt in their pavilions as yesterday and the day before. 13:6. But yet they departed not from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, who made Israel to sin, but walked in them: and there still remained a grove also in Samaria.
Lines 39521–39522
A grove.... Dedicated to the worship of idols.
Lines 39523–39533
13:7. And Joachaz had no more left of the people than fifty horsemen, and ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen: for the king of Syria had slain them, and had brought them low as dust by threshing in the barnfloor. 13:8. But the rest of the acts of Joachaz, and all that he did, and his valour, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel? 13:9. And Joachaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria: and Joas, his son, reigned in his stead.
Lines 39535–39547
13:10. In the seven and thirtieth year of Joas, king of Juda, Joas the son of Joachaz reigned over Israel, in Samaria, sixteen years. 13:11. And he did that which is evil in the sight of the Lord: he departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin; but he walked in them. 13:12. But the rest of the acts of Joas, and all that he did, and his valour wherewith he fought against Amasias, king of Juda, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel? 13:13. And Joas slept with his fathers; and Jeroboam sat upon his throne. But Joas was buried in Samaria, with the kings of Israel.
Lines 39549–39557
13:14. Now Eliseus was sick of the illness whereof he died: and Joas, king of Israel, went down to him, and wept before him, and said: O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the guider thereof. 13:15. And Eliseus said to him: Bring a bow and arrows. And when he had brought him a bow and arrows, 13:16. He said to the king of Israel: Put thy hand upon the bow. And when he had put his hand, Eliseus put his hands over the king’s hands,
Lines 39559–39563
13:17. And said: Open the window to the east. And when he had opened it, Eliseus said: Shoot an arrow. And he shot. And Eliseus said: The arrow of the Lord’s deliverance, and the arrow of the deliverance from Syria: and thou shalt strike the Syrians in Aphec, till thou consume them.
Lines 39565–39571
13:18. And he said: Take the arrows. And when he had taken them, he said to him: Strike with an arrow upon the ground. And he struck three times, and stood still. 13:19. And the man of God was angry with him, and said: If thou hadst smitten five or six or seven times, thou hadst smitten Syria even to utter destruction: but now three times shalt thou smite it.
Lines 39573–39577
If thou hadst smitten, etc.... By this it appears that God had revealed to the prophet that the king should overcome the Syrians as many times as he should then strike on the ground; but as he had not at the same time revealed to him how often the king would strike, the prophet was concerned to see that he struck but thrice.
Lines 39579–39584
13:20. And Eliseus died, and they buried him. And the rovers from Moab came into the land the same year. 13:21. And some that were burying a man, saw the rovers, and cast the body into the sepulchre of Eliseus. And when it had touched the bones of Eliseus, the man came to life and stood upon his feet.
Lines 39586–39592
13:22. Now Hazael, king of Syria, afflicted Israel all the days of Joachaz. 13:23. And the Lord had mercy on them, and returned to them, because of his covenant, which he had made with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob: and he would not destroy them, nor utterly cast them away, unto this present time.
Lines 39594–39602
13:24. And Hazael, king of Syria, died; and Benadad, his son, reigned in his stead. 13:25. Now Joas the son of Joachaz, took the cities out of the hand of Benadad, the son of Hazael, which he had taken out of the hand of Joachaz, his father, by war; three times did Joas beat him, and he restored the cities to Israel.