2 Kings 6:5

5 One of them was cutting down a tree when his ax head fell into the water. He cried out, "Oh, no! Master, it was a borrowed ax!"

2 Kings 6:5 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 6:5

But as one was felling a beam
Cutting down a tree, or a branch of it:

the axe head fell into the water:
into the waters of Jordan; or "the iron" ^F4, the iron part of it, with which the wood was cut; that flew off from the helve into the water:

and he cried, and said, alas, master! for it was borrowed:
it grieved him to lose his axe, because he could do no more work, and the more because it was not his own, but he had borrowed it of his neighbour; and still more, because, as it seems, he was poor, and not able to pay for it, which, being of an honest disposition, gave him distress.

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FOOTNOTES:

F4 (lzrbh) "ferrum", Pagninus, Montanus

2 Kings 6:5 In-Context

3 One of them said, "Please come with us, your servants." Elisha said, "Okay, I'll go."

4 So he went with them. They came to the Jordan River and began cutting down trees.

5 One of them was cutting down a tree when his ax head fell into the water. He cried out, "Oh, no! Master, it was a borrowed ax!"

6 The man of God said, "Where did it fall?" He showed Elisha the place. Elisha then cut a piece of wood, threw it into the river there, and the ax head floated up.

7 "Lift it out," Elisha said. So the man then reached out and grabbed it.