2 Kings 2:21

21 He went to the spring and threw the salt into it. Then he said, "This is what the LORD says: I have purified this water. No more deaths or crop failures will come from this water."

2 Kings 2:21 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 2:21

And he went forth unto the spring of the waters
The fountain from whence they flowed, the head of them:

and cast the salt in there;
which was an unlikely means of making bad water good, since that makes it brackish, and not so drinkable, and what makes ground barren; but this method, contrary to nature, was taken, that the miracle might appear the greater; or, as the Jews express it, be a miracle within a miracle:

and said, thus saith the Lord, I have healed these waters;
he did not pretend to heal them in his own name, and by his own power, but in the name and by the power of the Lord, to whom he would have it ascribed:

there shall not be from thence any more death, or barren land;
or miscarrying; no more noxious and mortal diseases should be got by drinking them, nor any abortions occasioned by them in women, cattle, and fruit trees, as had been.

2 Kings 2:21 In-Context

19 The people of the city [of Jericho] told Elisha, "This city's location is as good as you will ever find. But the water is bad, and the land cannot grow crops."

20 Elisha said, "Bring me a new jar, and put salt in it." They brought it to him.

21 He went to the spring and threw the salt into it. Then he said, "This is what the LORD says: I have purified this water. No more deaths or crop failures will come from this water."

22 To this day the water is still pure, as Elisha had said.

23 From there he went to Bethel. As he walked along the road, some boys came out of the city and mocked him. They said, "Go away, baldy! Go away!"