2nd Kings Chapter 6 verse 31 Holy Bible
Then he said, God do so to me, and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stand on him this day.
read chapter 6 in ASV
Then he said, May God's punishment come on me if Elisha, the son of Shaphat, keeps his head on his body after this day.
read chapter 6 in BBE
And he said, God do so, and more also to me, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall remain on him this day!
read chapter 6 in DARBY
Then he said, God do so and more also to me, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stand on him this day.
read chapter 6 in KJV
Then he said, God do so and more also to me, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stand on him this day.
read chapter 6 in WBT
Then he said, God do so to me, and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stand on him this day.
read chapter 6 in WEB
And he saith, `Thus doth God do to me, and thus He doth add -- if it remain -- the head of Elisha son of Shaphat -- upon him this day.'
read chapter 6 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 31. - Then he said, God do so and more also to me, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stand on him - i.e. "continue on him" - this day. The form of oath was a common one (comp. Ruth 1:17; 1 Samuel 3:17; 1 Samuel 25:22; 2 Samuel 19:13; 1 Kings 2:23; 1 Kings 19:2, etc.). It was an imprecation of evil on one's self, if one did, or if one failed to do, a certain thing. Why Jehoram should have considered Elisha as responsible for all the horrors of the siege is not apparent; but perhaps he supposed that it was in Elisha's power to work a miracle of any kind at any moment that he liked. If so, he misunderstood the nature of the miraculous gift. In threatening to behead Elisha, he is not making himself an executor of the Law, which nowhere sanctioned that mode of punishment, but assuming the arbitrary power of the other Oriental monarchs of his time, who regarded themselves as absolute masters of the lives and liberties of their subjects. Beheading was common in Egypt, in Babylonia, and in Assyria.
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(31) Then he said.--And he (i.e., the king), said.God do so . . . to me.--Literally, So may God do to me, and so may he add: a common form of oath. (Comp. Ruth 1:17; 1Samuel 3:17; 1Kings 2:23.)If the head of Elisha . . . this day.--The king's horror at the woman's dreadful story is succeeded by indignation against Elisha, who had probably counselled an unyielding resistance to the foe, in the steadfast faith that Jehovah would help His own; and who, prophet though he was, and endued with miraculous powers, had yet brought no help in this hour of urgent need. (Comp. with the oath that of Jezebel against Elijah, 1Kings 19:2.)
