Chapter 13
Melachim ב (Kings II (A Teachers' Guide
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Chapter 13
Verses 1-3
בשנת עשרים ושלוש
שנה... מלך יהואחז בן יהוא על ישראל בשומרון שבע עשרה שנה
ויעש הרע בעיני ה'
וילך אחרי חטאות ירבעם בן נבט ויחר אף ה' בישראל ויתנם ביד חזאל מלך ארם...
The following five chapters continue with the stories of the kings of Yehudah and Israel, detailing in a set format:
The time of coronation as related to the neighboring kingdom
The name of the king
In the case of a king of Yehudah - the name of his mother
The number of years that he ruled
His deeds - good or bad - and the people's deeds during that time
"And the rest of the history of... is written in the history book for the kings of...."
The death of the king, his burial, and the accession of his successor.
For the kingdom of Israel, these chapters detail the decline of the kingdom, until its final fall in the hands of Assyria.
It is important to emphasize - as the text itself does in chapter 17 - that the destruction of both kingdoms is a direct result of the Jews' worshipping idols and not keeping the mitzvas of the Torah. They continued in these bad practices, despite the constant admonitions of the prophets. It is, indeed, the purpose of the Book of Kings to show the connection between sin and punishment.
בשנת עשרים ושלוש שנה
ליואש
According to the simple calculation, it would seem that Yehoahaz came to the throne in the twenty-first year of Yoash. Therefore, it must be that part of a year is considered like a whole year: Yoash started his reign at the beginning of the seventh year of Yehu, and Yehoahaz started his reign at the beginning of Yoash's twenty-third year, resulting in twenty-one years being counted as twenty-three. (Rashi)
As will be seen later on, there are other, similar, problems in the chronology of the kings. The teacher can choose to relate to them or not - depending on how important it seems to be to the students. In some of the cases the solution is in the special way kings' years are counted (as above), and sometimes the scriptures themselves indicate that kings began their reign while their fathers were still alive - an overlapping of their reigns.
Verses 4-5:
ויחל יהואחז את פני ה'
וישמע אליו ה' כי ראה את לחץ ישראל... ויתן ה' לישראל מושיע ויצאו מתחת יד ארם
וישבו בני ישראל באהליהם כתמול שלשום
כי ראה את לחץ ישראל
Yehoahaz's prayer to Hashem was accepted not for his own merit (which he didn't have) but because of the severity of the situation: If Hashem had not relieved some of Aram's pressure on Israel, the tribes of Israel would have been destroyed (see verse 7). Hashem was obligated to uphold His covenant with the Patriarchs, that no tribe of Israel would ever be wiped out. (Ralbag)
ויתן ה' לישראל מושיע
The savior was not Yehoahaz, but his son, Yehoash (see verses 14-25). In Yehoahaz's time, the pressure still continued. (Radak)
Verse 6:
אך לא סרו מחטאות בית
ירבעם אשר החטי את ישראל בה הלך וגם האשרה עמדה בשומרון
אך לא סרו מחטאות בית
ירבעם... וגם האשרה
Yehu had wiped out the worship of the Ba'al (see 10:31), but he did not do away with the other forms of idol worship.
Verse 7:
כי לא השאיר ליהואחז
עם כי אם חמישים פרשים ועשרה רכב ועשרת אלפים רגלי כי אבדם מלך ארם וישימם כעפר
לדוש
וישימם כעפר לדוש
Aram had trampled the army of the kingdom of Israel as one would trample earth, leaving a truly meagre force, unable to withstand any further assault. (Metzudat David)
Verses 8-13
ויתר דברי יהואחז וכל
אשר עשה... הלוא הם כתובים על ספר דברי הימים למלכי ישראל. וישכב יהואחז עם אבותיו
ויקברוהו בשומרון וימלוך יואש בנו תחתיו... שש עשרה שנה
ויעשה הרע בעיני ה'...
ויתר דברי יואש וכל אשר עשה... הלוא הם כתובים על ספר דברי הימים למלכי ישראל
וישכב יואש עם אבותיו
וירבעם ישב על כסאו...
ויתר דברי יואש וכל
אשר עשה...
1.* Later on (verses 14-19, 25, and chapter 14) there are many more details of Yoash's reign, including a repetition of the account of his death. So what is the purpose of this verse? The answer is that this encapsulated account of Yoash's life is coming to complete the previous issue: As mentioned above, Yoash was the agent sent by Hashem to save Israel from Aram, bringing about a relief that lasted until the days of his son, Yerovam II. This serves as further emphasis to the idea that Hashem helped Israel even though they were still worshipping the Asherah. (Malbim)
2. Verses 12-13 are brought here so that the story of Elisha's death (verses 14-20) will not come immediately after the description of the idol worship that Yoash engaged in (verse 11). (Rashi)
Verse 14:
ואלישע חלה את חליו
אשר ימות בו וירד אליו יואש מלך ישראל ויבך על פניו ויאמר אבי אבי רכב ישראל
ופרשיו
ואלישע חלה את חליו
אשר ימות בו
The midrash says that this was the third time that Elisha was sick - and that this was his final illness, preceding death. (Radak)
וירד אליו יואש מלך
ישראל
Yoash began his reign while his father Yehoahaz was still alive. It was during this time that he came to Elisha, the scene with Elisha being the source of the relief of Aram's pressure, as promised to Yehoahaz. (Malbim)
אבי אבי
Elisha was Yoash's mentor, his "father", so to speak. And that is how Yoash addresses him (compare with Eliyahu's ascension, Melachim II 2:12). (Abarbanel)
רכב ישראל ופרשיו
Yoash sees Elisha as being the source of strength for Israel, its "chariots and horsemen", namely, the one who is capable of helping them with his advice and his prayers to Hashem. (Abarbanel)
Verses 15-16:
ויאמר לו אלישע קח קשת
וחצים ויקח אליו קשת וחצים
ויאמר למלך ישראל הרכב
ידך על הקשת וירכב ידו וישם אלישע ידיו על ידי המלך
ויאמר לו אלישע
Elisha was moved by Yoash's tears, and had pity on him. (Abarbanel, Malbim)
וישם אלישע ידיו על
ידי המלך
1. By laying his hands on the king's hands, Elisha was influencing them, that the king should be successful in his wars. (Abarbanel)
2.* The laying on of the hands was so that Elisha's hands will be with Yoash's, even after Elisha's death, as in other cases where the miracles performed by prophets (such as the manna in the desert) continued after their deaths as well. (Ralbag)
Verse 17:
ויאמר פתח החלון קדמה
ויפתח ויאמר אלישע ירה ויור ויאמר חץ תשועה לה' וחץ תשועה בארם והכית את ארם באפק
עד כלה
ויאמר פתח החלון
The king was already holding his bow and arrows ready (see previous verse). How could he have opened the window? Either Elisha had told him to open the window before he arranged his bow and arrow, or else he told someone else to open the window. (Radak)
קדמה
To the east - because Aram - the "target" of this arrow - was to the east of Israel. (Radak)
ויאמר חץ תשועה לה' וחץ
תשועה בארם
This first arrow was to be a symbol of victory, and since it was shot eastward, it was to be specifically a symbol of the victory against Aram. (Radak, Metzudat David)
והכית את ארם באפק עד
כלה
The Afek mentioned here is the place in Yehudah, where Israel was victorious in its battle with Aram. This time, too, the battle was to take place in Afek, and Israel would have destroyed Aram totally, had Yoash not stopped shooting arrows after the third one (see verses 18-19). (Radak)
Verses 18-19
ויאמר קח החיצים ויקח
ויאמר למלך ישראל הך ארצה ויך שלוש פעמים ויעמוד
ויקצוף עליו איש
האלוקים ויאמר להכות חמש או שש פעמים אז הכית את ארם עד כלה ועתה שלוש פעמים תכה
את ארם
אז הכית את ארם עד
כלה
The original prophecy given to Elisha was that Israel should strike Aram again and again, until total victory (עד כלה). This was assuming that Yoash would continue to shoot arrows into the ground until he would be told to stop. Since he shot only three arrows, he was ensured that he would win three battles - but not the entire war. Elisha was therefore angry at him for not having continued to shoot. (Radak)
Verse 20:
וימת אלישע ויקברוהו
וגדודי מואב יבואו בארץ בא שנה
וגדודי מואב יבואו
בארץ
Elisha had been the agent through which Israel were able to vanquish their enemies. When he died, they were no longer protected by him, and Moav began once again to raid the land. (Radak)
בא שנה
1. The aleph in the word בא should really be a heh - meaning in the same year that Elisha died, the Moabites began their raids.
2. It had been a year since Elisha died, and still a miracle was performed by his body, as will be seen in the next verse. (Ralbag)
3. It was the beginning of the year, when there was plenty of grass in the fields for the horses, so it is a convenient time for raiding and warfare. (Rashi)
Verse 21:
ויהי הם קוברים איש
והנה ראו את הגדוד וישליכו את האיש בקבר אלישע וילך ויגע האיש בעצמות אלישע ויחי
ויקם על רגליו
ויהי הם קוברים איש
Some Jews were burying a man. (Abarbanel)
והנה ראו את הגדוד
וישליכו את האיש בקבר אלישע וילך ויגע האיש בעצמות אלישע
They saw the Moabite forces, and in their haste to avoid them, they opened the nearest burial cave, which happened to be Elisha's, and placed the body in there. The body rolled (וילך) into the cave, and touched Elisha's bones. (Radak)
ויחי ויקם על רגליו
There are several opinions in Chazal about this event:
a) That the man was a righteous person and a leader - Shalum ben Tikva (see Yirmiyahu 32) - and the husband of the prophetess Hulda, and that after he came back to life, he begat Hanam'el (also mentioned in Yirmiyahu);
b) That the man was a wicked person, and he was brought back to life just so that he would not have the honor of being buried with Elisha. It says that he got up, but not that he went back to his family: The resurrection was short-term, just to get his body away from Elisha's (See Sanhedrin 47a). (Abarbanel, Radak)
Verses 22-23:
וחזאל מלך ארם לחץ את
ישראל כל ימי יהואחז
ויחן ה' אותם וירחמם
ויפן אליהם למען בריתו את אברהם יצחק ויעקב ולא אבה השחיתם ולא השליכם מעל פניו עד
עתה
כל ימי יהואחז
The text goes on to tell us how Elisha's prophecy came true: During Yehoahaz's reign the people of Israel still suffered from the pressure from Aram. (Malbim)
ויחן ה' אותם
After Yehoahaz died, Hashem pardoned them. (Malbim)
וירחמם
In addition to the pardon, Hashem had mercy on them. (Malbim)
ויפן אליהם למען בריתו
את אברהם את יצחק ואת יעקב
Besides pardoning and having mercy on them, Hashem saved them in the merit of the Patriarchs and His covenant with them. (Malbim)
ולא אבה השחיתם
As mentioned above (verse 4), Hashem could not allow Aram to annihilate the kingdom of Israel. Their sufferings were meant to make them do teshuva, but not if the result would have been annihilation. (Malbim)
Verses 24-25
וימת חזאל מלך ארם
וימלוך בן הדד בנו תחתיו
וישב יהואש בן יהואחז
ויקח את הערים מיד בן הדד בן חזאל אשר לקח מידי יהואחז אביו במלחמה שלוש פעמים
היכהו יואש וישב את ערי ישראל
וימת חזאל
Elisha had prophesied that Haza'el would be a cruel oponent of Israel (See Melachim I 19:15, and Melachim II 8:12). Therefore, the salvation could only begin after his death, in the reign of his son, Ben Haddad. (Malbim)
* Although there had been a decree that Ben Haddad, too, would bother Israel (see verse 3, above), this decree was revoked. (Malbim)
שלוש פעמים היכהו
יואש וישב את ערי ישראל
As Elisha had prophesied, Yehoash was victorious against Ben
Haddad only three times, enough to relieve Israel temporarily from the yoke of
Aram
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