📖WEB · 2 Kings 6:5
What does 2 Kings 6:5 mean?
"But as one was cutting down a tree, the ax head fell into the water. Then he cried, and said, “Alas, my master! For it was borrowed.”"
— 2 Kings 6:5 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
Please let us go to the Jordan, and each man take a beam from there, and let us make us a place there, where we may live.” He answered, “Go!”
One said, “Please be pleased to go with your servants.” He answered, “I will go.”
So he went with them. When they came to the Jordan, they cut down wood.
But as one was cutting down a tree, the ax head fell into the water. Then he cried, and said, “Alas, my master! For it was borrowed.”
The man of God asked, “Where did it fall?” He showed him the place. He cut down a stick, threw it in there, and made the iron float.
He said, “Take it.” So he put out his hand and took it.
Now the king of Syria was at war against Israel; and he took counsel with his servants, saying, “My camp will be in such and such a place.”
Explanation
This short verse comes from a narrative in which the company of prophets under Elisha's guidance had grown too large for their living quarters. They proposed building a new place to live by the Jordan River, and Elisha agreed to accompany them. As one of the young prophets was cutting down a tree to help with the construction, the iron head of his axe slipped off the handle and fell into the water. Losing the tool visibly distressed him, and he cried out to Elisha, addressing him as "master," explaining that the axe had been borrowed rather than owned.
The context matters here. This event takes place during the ministry of Elisha, the prophet who succeeded Elijah, in the northern kingdom of Israel. The "sons of the prophets" refers to a community of prophetic disciples who lived and trained together under Elisha's oversight, much as they had under Elijah before him. Iron was a valuable and relatively scarce commodity in ancient Israel, so an axe head was not a trivial possession—it represented real cost and value. The fact that the tool was borrowed heightened the young man's anxiety, since losing someone else's property to the river meant he could not simply replace it easily; he would be indebted for something that could not be recovered, since iron does not float.
Theologically, this small detail sets the stage for what follows in the next verses, where Elisha performs a miracle by making the iron axe head float to the surface so it can be retrieved. The verse itself, before the miracle, emphasizes human helplessness and honest concern over a real, practical loss. It shows the young prophet's integrity—he c
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