2 Kings 6:12

And one of his servants said, None, my lord, O king: but Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(12) One of his servants.—The old interpreters thought of Naaman, but Elisha’s fame may have been otherwise known at Damascus.

None.—Nay.

The words.—The LXX. and Vulg.,”all the words.”

Telleth.—From time to time, as the Hebrew form denotes.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

6:8-12 The king of Israel regarded the warnings Elisha gave him, of danger from the Syrians, but would not heed the warnings of danger from his sins. Such warnings are little heeded by most; they would save themselves from death, but will not from hell. Nothing that is done, said, or thought, by any person, in any place, at any time, is out of God's knowledge.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

In thy bedchamber - literally, "in the secret place of thy bedchamber," i. e.," in the greatest possible secrecy." The seclusion of the harem must be taken into account for the full appreciation of the force of the phrase. Probably the Syrian lord who answered Benhadad had received his intelligence from some of the Israelites.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

2Ki 6:8-17. Discloses the King of Syria's Counsel.

8-12. the king of Syria warred against Israel—This seems to have been a sort of guerrilla warfare, carried on by predatory inroads on different parts of the country. Elisha apprised King Jehoram of the secret purpose of the enemy; so, by adopting precautionary measures, he was always enabled to anticipate and defeat their attacks. The frequency of his disappointments having led the Syrian king to suspect some of his servants of carrying on a treacherous correspondence with the enemy, he was informed about Elisha, whose apprehension he forthwith determined to effect. This resolution was, of course, grounded on the belief that however great the knowledge of Elisha might be, if seized and kept a prisoner, he could no longer give information to the king of Israel.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And one of his servants said, none, my lord, O king,.... He believed everyone of his counsellors were true and faithful to him:

but Elisha the prophet, that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber; what is said in the most private place, and in the most secret manner: this man had heard much of Elisha, by Naaman, very probably; or perhaps he had attended him in his journey to Israel for a cure, and so might have personal knowledge of Elisha, and be acquainted with the affair of Gehazi; from whence he concluded, that he, who had the thoughts of men revealed to him, had knowledge of their words and counsels, though ever so secret; see Ecclesiastes 10:20.

Geneva Study Bible

And one of his servants said, None, my lord, O king: but Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy {e} bedchamber.

(e) There is nothing so secret that you can go about, but he knows it, and reveals it to his king.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

12. Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel] This mention of Elisha points to such a knowledge of him as might have been gained through Naaman’s cure. It may however be that communications of other kinds passed between Syria and Israel, and that in some of these the precise nature of Elisha’s conduct was described. Nothing in the story of Naaman could suggest that Elisha gave information to the king of Israel.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 12. - And one of his servants said - i.e. one of those interrogated, answered - None, my lord, O king; literally, Nay, my lord, the king - meaning, "Think not so; it is not as thou supposest; there is no traitor in thy camp or in thy court; we are all true men. The explanation of the circumstances that surprise thee is quite different." But Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel - compare "the man of God" (ver. 9); so much above the others, that he is spoken of as if there were no other - telleth the King of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber; literally, in the secret place of thy bedchamber. How the Syrian lord knew this, or whether he merely made a shrewd guess, we cannot say. Elisha's miraculous gifts had, no doubt, become widely known to the Syrians through the cure of Naaman's leprosy; and the lord, who may possibly have been Naaman himself, concluded that a man who could cure s leper could also read a king's secret thoughts without difficulty. 2 Kings 6:12

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Then one of the servants answered, "No, my lord king," i.e., it is not we who disclose thy plans to the king of Israel, "but Elisha the prophet tells him what thou sayest in thy bed-chamber;" whereupon the king of Syria inquired where the prophet lived, and sent a powerful army to Dothan, with horses and chariots, to take him prisoner there. Dothan (see Genesis 37:17), which according to the Onom. was twelve Roman miles to the north of Samaria, has been preserved under its old name in a Tell covered with ruins to the south-west of Jenin, on the caravan-road from Gilead to Egypt (see Rob. Bibl. Res. p. 158, and V. de Velde, Journey, i. pp. 273,274).