2 Kings — Chapter 6

He cut down a stick, and cast it in thither; and the iron swam. Lapide, with Tertullian (Adv. Jud. 13), S. Ambrose (De Sacram. II.2), S. Augustine (Serm. 210), and Theodoret: The iron axe-head sunk in the Jordan, recovered by the wood thrown in by Elisha, is a figure of the wood of the Cross rescuing human nature sunk in the depths of sin. \"The heaviness of the iron\" (Ambrose) represents the hardness of sin; the wood represents the Cross; the Jordan is the laver of Baptism. Beda reads it anagogically: as Elisha recalled the iron from the waters, so Christ will call back our bodies from the waters of death at the general resurrection.

He answered: Fear not; for there are more with us than with them. Lapide, citing S. Ambrose (Serm. De Eliseo): Elisha encourages his servant with the words \"More are with us\" — for the angels who guard the just are more than all the armies of men. \"Divine fear drives out human terror. Our weapons are those with which the Saviour has armed us: prayer, mercy, and fasting. Prayer wounds the enemy farther than any arrow.\" The vision of the mountain filled with fiery horses and chariots shows that every holy soul is surrounded by angelic protection.

The Lord opened the eyes of the servant, and he saw; and behold the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Eliseus. Lapide: The fiery horses and chariots of angels formed themselves from fire and radiant cloud to reveal to the servant their celestial nature — swift as lightning, ardent as fire, unconquerable. Elisha, as heir to the spirit of Elijah, inherited his angelic guard. \"It is no wonder,\" says S. Ambrose, \"if those who merit celestial assistance should have celestial visions, for our conversation is in heaven.\"

He said: Thou shalt not kill them: for didst thou take them with thy sword and bow, that thou shouldest kill them? Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master. Lapide, with S. Chrysostom (Hom. de Eliseo et Syrorum insidiis): Elisha refuses to let the Syrian soldiers be killed, but instead orders them to be fed — defeating them with charity instead of the sword. \"Elisha first taught that enemies are to be cherished; first taught that the fallen are to be spared; first taught that a banquet should be given to adversaries instead of punishment.\" This was a type of Christ, who came to save sinners, not destroy them.

There was a great famine in Samaria; and the siege was prolonged, until an ass's head was sold for four score pieces of silver. Lapide: God permitted the Samaritans to be reduced to this extreme — even to the horror of a mother eating her own child (v. 29) — as punishment for their schism and idolatry, and so that their deliverance would be the more glorious and the prophecy of Elisha the more manifest. \"In matters naturally desperate, one must hope most in God, who is wont to succour in them: Deus ex machina.\"