Useful Bible Studies > 2 Kings Commentary > chapter 6
A miracle of God is an astonishing and wonderful act that God carries out by his power. However, the Bible describes many miracles without any mention of God, his work or his power. Here, the only mention of God is the description of Elisha as a ‘man of God’. The passage then describes only what Elisha and the man did. It is for the reader to recognise what God did.
There is not even any mention of prayer here. However, Elisha had learnt from Elijah to pray much (James 5:17-18), or even continuously (1 Thessalonians 5:17). God directed Elisha very clearly: Elisha seemed very aware of exactly what God wanted him to do. However, God did not show Elisha everything that he wanted to know. Elisha did not know where the head of the axe was. He had to ask the man to take him to the place where it had fallen into the river.
Elisha knew however what God wanted him to do next. He cut a stick and he threw it into the water. That seems a strange thing to do; and we cannot clearly say what the purpose was. Wood floats, but iron does not. Even if the wood attached itself to the iron, that would not cause the axe head to float. Rather, the heavy iron of the axe head would pull the stick down into the water. However, that was not what happened. The iron axe head rose up to, or towards, the surface of the water. It was as if the iron was learning to float from the actions of the stick.
Of course, that is only possible by the power of God. However, Elisha directed the man to carry out the final action to regain the axe head. He had to take it out of the water. So the man reached out in faith (belief and trust in God). He took the axe head out of the water; God had dealt with his problem.
Next part: Elisha prevents attacks against Israel (2 Kings 6:8-10)
Please use the links at the top of the page to find our other articles in this series. You can download all our articles if you go to the download page for our free 1000+ page course book.
© 2025, Keith Simons.