Useful Bible Studies > 2 Kings Commentary > chapter 6
King Joram seemed to express surprise and excitement when Elisha brought the soldiers from Aram to him. He called Elisha ‘my father’, to express deep respect to him. However, as we see later in the chapter, he did not really respect Elisha (6:31). Rather, he was showing Elisha honour because he wanted Elisha to allow him to kill the men (compare verse 32). He saw how Elisha was in control of the situation. So, he did not dare to order the deaths of the men unless Elisha permitted it.
Elisha replied with a question: Would Joram kill the prisoners that his army had taken in a battle?
Let us try to answer that question. Joram was a cruel and evil king; and a cruel and evil king would not care about the lives of his enemies. He might kill them to express his anger against their nation, or even simply to amuse himself. However, he might save them, because their lives had a value even to him. He could sell them as slaves; or, for a great price, he could agree to return them to their families. Even Ahab, Joram’s father, freed his enemy, Ben-Hadad. Ahab did that because he wanted a peace agreement with Ben-Hadad (1 Kings 20:30-34). Ahab was wrong to allow Ben-Hadad to live, because God’s judgment was against Ben-Hadad (1 Kings 20:42).
However, God’s judgment was not against this group of soldiers from Aram. Elisha told Joram to accept them as his guests. Joram might not kill the prisoners that he took in war – but he certainly should not kill his guests. Instead, it was his duty to act kindly and generously towards them.
Next part: How Aram's attacks to rob Israel's people ended (2 Kings 6:23)
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