The Skeptics Annotated Bible (347 page)

15 And
Elisha said unto him, Take bow and arrows. And he took unto him bow and arrows.

(13.15)
“Elisha said unto him, Take bow and arrows. And he took unto him bow and arrows.”

16 And he said to the king of Israel,
Put thine hand upon the bow. And he put his hand upon it: and Elisha put his hands upon the king’s hands.

(13.16)
“Put thine hand upon the bow. And he put his hand upon it: and Elisha put his hands upon the king’s hands.”

17 And he said,
Open the window eastward. And he opened it. Then Elisha said, Shoot. And he shot. And he said, The arrow of the LORD’S deliverance, and the arrow of deliverance from Syria: for thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, till thou have consumed them.

(13.17)
“Open the window eastward. And he opened it. Then Elisha said, Shoot. And he shot. And he said, The arrow of the LORD’s deliverance, and the arrow of deliverance from Syria: for thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, till thou have consumed them.”

(13.18-19) Elisha tells Joash to hit the ground with his arrow. So he smacks the ground three times. Elisha then yells at him, saying he should have struck the ground five or six times. If he had, then he would have completely wiped out Syria, but now since he only struck the ground three times, he’ll only get to smite Syria three times. Shucks!

18 And he said,
Take the arrows. And he took them. And he said unto the king of Israel, Smite upon the ground. And he smote thrice
, and stayed.

(13.18)
“Take the arrows. And he took them. And he said unto the king of Israel, Smite upon the ground. And he smote thrice.”

19
And the man of God was wroth with him, and said, Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times; then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it: whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice.

(13.19)
“And the man of God was wroth with him, and said, Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times; then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it: whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice.”

20 And Elisha died, and they buried him. And the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year.

21 And it came to pass,
as they were burying a man
, that, behold, they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha: and
when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet.

(13.21)
“As they were burying a man … when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet.”
A dead body is brought to life when it accidentally touches the bones of Elisha.
196 Was Jesus the first to rise from the dead?
167 Is death final?

22 But Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz.

23 And
the LORD
was gracious unto them, and had compassion on them, and
had respect unto them,
because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, neither cast he them from his presence as yet.

(13.23)
“The Lord … had respect unto them”
21 Does God respect anyone?

24 So Hazael king of Syria died; and Ben-hadad his son reigned in his stead.

25 And Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz took again out of the hand of Ben-hadad the son of Hazael the cities, which he had taken out of the hand of Jehoahaz his father by war. Three times did Joash beat him, and recovered the cities of Israel.

14
In the second year of Joash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel reigned Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah.

2 He was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem.

3 And
he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD
, yet not like David his father: he did according to all things as Joash his father did.

(14.3, 7)
“He did that which was right in the sight of the LORD … He slew of Edom in the valley of salt ten thousand.
” Amaziah “did that which was right in the sight of the Lord” and killed ten thousand Edomites.
153 How should the Edomites be treated?

4 Howbeit the high places were not taken away: as yet the people did sacrifice and burnt incense on the high places.

5 And it came to pass, as soon as the kingdom was confirmed in his hand, that he slew his servants which had slain the king his father.

6 But the children of the murderers he slew not: according unto that which is written in the book of the law of Moses, wherein the LORD commanded, saying,
The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the children be put to death for the fathers; but every man shall be put to death for his own sin.

(14.6) “The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the children be put to death for the fathers; but every man shall be put to death for his own sin.”
41 Are we punished for the sins of others?

7
He slew of Edom in the valley of salt ten thousand
, and took Selah by war, and called the name of it Joktheel unto this day.

8 Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, Come, let us look one another in the face.