{ "schemaVersion": 1, "kind": "event", "id": "elisha-dothan-army", "era": "divided-kingdom", "order": 196, "title": "An enemy army is fed and released", "group": "elisha-ministry", "date": { "kind": "relative", "label": "Elisha’s ministry · An Aramean raid before the next narrated siege" }, "pin": [ 35.239861, 32.413528 ], "pinConfidence": "Identified site", "pinPlace": "openbible-ab635e4", "summary": "Aramean forces surround Dothan to seize Elisha. His servant’s eyes are opened to a heavenly army. The attackers lose their ability to recognize their situation, and Elisha leads them to Samaria, where Israel’s king feeds and releases them instead of killing them.", "context": "The story turns from fear and capture toward hospitality to captured enemies. Its closing statement that raiding parties stop does not mean every later war with Aram has ended: the following account describes a new siege. The kings here are unnamed.", "question": "How does Elisha redirect the king’s response to enemies who are in his power?", "locationNote": "Tell Dothan and Samaria are established localities. No exact position is assigned to the heavenly army or to the road taken by the captives.", "passages": [ { "reference": "2 Kings 6:8–23", "range": [ 12006008, 12006023 ], "translation": "bsb", "url": "https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Kings%206%3A8%E2%80%9323&version=BSB", "availability": "bundled", "verses": [ { "book": "2 Kings", "chapter": 6, "verse": 8, "text": "Now the king of Aram was at war against Israel. After consulting with his servants, he said, “My camp will be in such and such a place.”" }, { "book": "2 Kings", "chapter": 6, "verse": 9, "text": "Then the man of God sent word to the king of Israel: “Be careful not to pass by this place, for the Arameans are going down there.”" }, { "book": "2 Kings", "chapter": 6, "verse": 10, "text": "So the king of Israel sent word to the place the man of God had pointed out. Time and again Elisha warned the king, so that he was on his guard in such places." }, { "book": "2 Kings", "chapter": 6, "verse": 11, "text": "For this reason the king of Aram became enraged and called his servants to demand of them, “Tell me, which one of us is on the side of the king of Israel?”" }, { "book": "2 Kings", "chapter": 6, "verse": 12, "text": "But one of his servants replied, “No one, my lord the king. For Elisha, the prophet in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom.”" }, { "book": "2 Kings", "chapter": 6, "verse": 13, "text": "So the king said, “Go and see where he is, that I may send men to capture him.” On receiving the report, “Elisha is in Dothan,”" }, { "book": "2 Kings", "chapter": 6, "verse": 14, "text": "the king of Aram sent horses, chariots, and a great army. They went there by night and surrounded the city." }, { "book": "2 Kings", "chapter": 6, "verse": 15, "text": "When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early in the morning, behold, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. So he asked Elisha, “Oh, my master, what are we to do?”" }, { "book": "2 Kings", "chapter": 6, "verse": 16, "text": "“Do not be afraid,” Elisha answered, “for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”" }, { "book": "2 Kings", "chapter": 6, "verse": 17, "text": "Then Elisha prayed, “O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see.” And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw that the hills were full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha." }, { "book": "2 Kings", "chapter": 6, "verse": 18, "text": "As the Arameans came down against him, Elisha prayed to the LORD, “Please strike these people with blindness.” So He struck them with blindness, according to the word of Elisha." }, { "book": "2 Kings", "chapter": 6, "verse": 19, "text": "And Elisha told them, “This is not the way, and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will take you to the man you are seeking.” And he led them to Samaria." }, { "book": "2 Kings", "chapter": 6, "verse": 20, "text": "When they had entered Samaria, Elisha said, “O LORD, open the eyes of these men that they may see.” Then the LORD opened their eyes, and they looked around and discovered that they were in Samaria." }, { "book": "2 Kings", "chapter": 6, "verse": 21, "text": "And when the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha, “My father, shall I kill them? Shall I kill them?”" }, { "book": "2 Kings", "chapter": 6, "verse": 22, "text": "“Do not kill them,” he replied. “Would you kill those you have captured with your own sword or bow? Set food and water before them, that they may eat and drink and then return to their master.”" }, { "book": "2 Kings", "chapter": 6, "verse": 23, "text": "So the king prepared a great feast for them, and after they had finished eating and drinking, he sent them away, and they returned to their master. And the Aramean raiders did not come into the land of Israel again." } ] } ], "related": [ { "range": [ 20025021, 20025022 ], "kind": "teaching", "note": "The proverb calls for feeding a hungry enemy and giving drink to a thirsty one.", "reference": "Proverbs 25:21–22", "translation": "bsb", "url": "https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs%2025%3A21%E2%80%9322&version=BSB" } ], "places": [ { "id": "openbible-a041bb3", "name": "Samaria", "coordinate": [ 35.195, 32.276111 ], "kind": "City", "confidence": "Identified site", "confidenceSource": "editorial", "sources": [ { "label": "OpenBible.info: Samaria (CC BY 4.0)", "url": "https://www.openbible.info/geo/ancient/a041bb3/samaria-1" } ] }, { "id": "openbible-ab635e4", "name": "Dothan", "coordinate": [ 35.239861, 32.413528 ], "kind": "City", "confidence": "Identified site", "confidenceSource": "editorial", "sources": [ { "label": "OpenBible.info: Dothan (CC BY 4.0)", "url": "https://www.openbible.info/geo/ancient/ab635e4/dothan" } ] } ], "mapPeriod": "divided-kingdoms", "further": [ { "label": "OpenBible.info: Dothan (CC BY 4.0)", "url": "https://www.openbible.info/geo/ancient/ab635e4/dothan" } ], "provenance": { "sources": [ { "name": "editorial", "ref": "content/authored/divided-kingdom.json" } ], "review": "draft" }, "eraName": "Divided Kingdom", "interactiveUrl": "https://wilderness-scripture-atlas.pages.dev/?event=elisha-dothan-army", "attribution": [ "Place coordinates from OpenBible.info Bible Geocoding Data, CC BY 4.0.", "Teaching stops, summaries and regional extents are original editorial content of this atlas.", "Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain. https://berean.bible/licensing.htm" ], "translation": "bsb", "url": "https://wilderness-scripture-atlas.pages.dev/reference/events/elisha-dothan-army/", "markdownUrl": "https://wilderness-scripture-atlas.pages.dev/reference/events/elisha-dothan-army/index.md", "jsonUrl": "https://wilderness-scripture-atlas.pages.dev/reference/events/elisha-dothan-army/index.json", "cautions": "Narrative order is a reading arrangement, not a proven chronology. Dates retain their stated uncertainty. An identified locality does not establish the exact venue or prove an event. Region extents and routes are illustrative, not surveyed boundaries or ancient roads. Draft material has not completed editorial review.", "revision": "be4eb1efdbbbaf16" }