2 Kings 6:23

23 So he prepared a huge feast for them. After they ate and drank their fill he dismissed them. Then they returned home to their master. The raiding bands of Aram didn't bother Israel anymore.

2 Kings 6:23 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 6:23

And he prepared great provision for them
Or a great feast, as the Targum; so obedient was he to the prophet's orders:

and when they had eaten and drank;
and refreshed themselves, which they needed, having marched all night and that morning from place to place:

he sent them away;
that is, the king of Israel dismissed them:

and they went to their master;
the king of Syria, but without the prophet Elisha they were sent to fetch:

so the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel;
not as yet, or for some time; or rather the sense is, that the Syrians came not any more in small bodies, as troops of robbers making excursions, and carrying off booty in a private manner, and by surprise; but afterwards came with a large army in an open hostile manner, as follows.

2 Kings 6:23 In-Context

21 When the king of Israel saw them, he said to Elisha, "Father, shall I massacre the lot?"

22 "Not on your life!" said Elisha. "You didn't lift a hand to capture them, and now you're going to kill them? No sir, make a feast for them and send them back to their master."

23 So he prepared a huge feast for them. After they ate and drank their fill he dismissed them. Then they returned home to their master. The raiding bands of Aram didn't bother Israel anymore.

24 At a later time, this: Ben-Hadad king of Aram pulled together his troops and launched a siege on Samaria.

25 This brought on a terrible famine, so bad that food prices soared astronomically. Eighty shekels for a donkey's head! Five shekels for a bowl of field greens!