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Elisha Makes an Ax Head Float

Some of the prophets[a] said to Elisha, “Look, the place where we meet with you[b] is too cramped[c] for us. Let’s go to the Jordan. Each of us will get a log from there, and we will build a meeting place for ourselves there.” He said, “Go.” One of them said, “Please come along with your servants.” He replied, “All right, I’ll come.” So he went with them. When they arrived at the Jordan, they started cutting down trees. As one of them was felling a tree, the ax head[d] dropped into the water. He shouted, “Oh no,[e] my master! It was borrowed!” The prophet[f] asked, “Where did it drop in?” When he showed him the spot, Elisha[g] cut off a branch, threw it in at that spot, and made the ax head float. He said, “Lift it out.” So he reached out his hand and grabbed it.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 6:1 tn Heb “the sons of the prophets.”
  2. 2 Kings 6:1 tn Heb “sit before you.”
  3. 2 Kings 6:1 tn Heb “narrow, tight.”
  4. 2 Kings 6:5 tn Heb “iron.”
  5. 2 Kings 6:5 tn Or “ah.”
  6. 2 Kings 6:6 tn Heb “man of God” (also in v. 9).
  7. 2 Kings 6:6 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

The Floating Ax Head

One day the group of prophets came to Elisha and told him, “As you can see, this place where we meet with you is too small. Let’s go down to the Jordan River, where there are plenty of logs. There we can build a new place for us to meet.”

“All right,” he told them, “go ahead.”

“Please come with us,” someone suggested.

“I will,” he said. So he went with them.

When they arrived at the Jordan, they began cutting down trees. But as one of them was cutting a tree, his ax head fell into the river. “Oh, sir!” he cried. “It was a borrowed ax!”

“Where did it fall?” the man of God asked. When he showed him the place, Elisha cut a stick and threw it into the water at that spot. Then the ax head floated to the surface. “Grab it,” Elisha said. And the man reached out and grabbed it.

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