Josaphat: Let my servants go with thy servants reign over Israel in Samaria, in the seventeenth in the ships. And Josaphat would not. year of Josaphat king of Juda: and he reigned over Israel two years. 51 And Josaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with them in the city of David his ather: and Joram his son reigned in his stead. 52 And Ochozias the son of Achab began to * Would not. He had been reprehended before for admitting such a partner; and therefore would have no more to do with him. 53 And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of his father and his mother, and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin. 54 He served also Baal, and worshipped him, and provoked the Lord the God of Israel, according to all that his father had done. THE FOURTH BOOK OF KINGS. CHAP. 1. Ochozias sendeth to consult Beelzebub: Elias foretelleth his death: and causeth fire to come down from heaven, upon two captains and their companies. ND Moab rebelled against Israel, after the A death of Achab. 2 And Ochozias fell through the lattices of his upper chamber which he had in Samaria, and was sick: and he sent messengers, saying to them: Go, consult Beelzebub the god of Accaron, whether I shall recover of this my illness. 3 And an Angel of the Lord spoke to Elias the Thesbite, saying: Arise, and go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria; and say to them: Is there not a God in Israel, that ye go to consult Beelzebub the god of Accaron? 4 Wherefore thus saith the Lord: From the bed, on which thou art gone up, thou shalt not come down: but thou shalt surely die. And Elias went away. 5 And the messengers turned back to Ochozias. And he said to them: Why are you come back? 6 But they answered him: A man met us, and said to us: Go, and return to the king that sent you; and you shall say to him: Thus saith the Lord: Is it because there was no God in Israel that thou sendest to Beelzebub the god of Accaron? Therefore thou shalt not come down from the bed on which thou art gone up; but thou shalt surely die. 7 And he said to them: What manner of man was he who met you, and spoke these words? 8 But they said: A hairy man, with a girdle of leather about his loins. And he said: It is Elias the Thesbite. 9 And he sent to him a captain of fifty, and the fifty men that were under him. And he went up to him, and as he was sitting on the top of a hill, said to him: Man of God, the king hath commanded that thou come down. 10 And Elias answering, said to the captain of fifty: If I be a man of God, let firet come down from heaven, and consume thee, and thy fifty. And there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him, and the fifty that were with him. 11 And again he sent to him another captain of fifty men, and his fifty with him. And he said to him: Man of God, thus saith the king: Make haste, and come down. 12 Elias answering, said: If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven, and consume and the fifty that were with him. And when he consumed the two first captains of fifty men, and saying: Go down with him; fear not. He arose 15 And the Angel of the Lord spoke to Elias, therefore, and went down with him to the king, 16 And said to him: Thus saith the Lord: Because thou hast sent messengers to consult Beelzebub the god of Accaron, as though there were not a God in Israel, of whom thou mightest inquire the word, therefore from the bed on which thou art gone up, thou shalt not come down: but thou shalt surely die. 17 So he died according to the word of the Lord which Elias spoke: and Joram his brother reigned in his stead, in the second year of Joramt the son of Josaphat king of Juda: because he had no son. 18 But the rest of the acts of Ochozias which he did, are they not written in the Book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel? CHAP. II. Eliseus will not part from Elias. The water of the Jordan is divided by Elias's cloak. Elias is taken up in a fiery chariot, and his double spirit is given to Eliseus. Eliseus healeth the waters by casting in salt. Boys are torn by bears for mocking Eliseus. A take up Elias into heaven by a whirlwind, ND it came to pass, when the Lord would that Elias and Eliseus were going from Galgal. because the Lord hath sent me as far as Bethel. 2 And Elias said to Eliseus: Stay thou here, And Eliseus said to him: As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And when they were come down to Bethel, 3 The sons of the prophets, that were at Bethel, came forth to Eliseus, and said to him: Dost thou know that this day the Lord will take away The second year of Joram, &c. Counted from the time that he was associated to the throne by his father Josaphat. Heaven. By heaven here is meant the air, the lowest of the heavenly regions. Let fire, &c. Elias was inspired to call for fire from heaven upon these captains, who came to apprehend him; not out of a desire to gratify any private passion: but to punish the insult offered ples of the prophets; who seem to have had their The sons of the prophets. That is, the discito religion, to confirm his mission, and to show schools, like colleges or communities, in Bethel, how vain are the efforts of men against God, and Jericho, and other places in the days of Elias and his servants, whom he willeth to protect. Eliseus. things to the king: let thy word therefore be like 15 So he came to the king: and the king said to him: Micheas, shall we go to Ramoth-Galaad to battle, or shall we forbear? He answered him: Go up, and prosper: and the Lord shall deliver it into the king's hands. 16 But the king said to him: I adjure thee again and again, that thou tell me nothing but that which is true in the name of the Lord. 17 And he said: I saw all Israel scattered upon the hills, like sheep that have no shepherd; and the Lord said: These have no master: let every man of them return to his house in peace. 28 And Micheas said: If thou return in peace, the Lord hath not spoken by me. And he said: Hear, all ye people. 29 So the king of Israel, and Josaphat king of Juda went up to Ramoth-Galaad. 30 And the king of Israel said to Josaphat: Take armour, and go into the battle, and put on thy own garments. But the king of Israel changed his dress, and went into the battle. 31 And the king of Syria had commanded the two and thirty captains of his chariots, saying: You shall not fight against any, small or great, but against the king of Israel only. 32 So when the captains of the chariots saw Josaphat, they suspected that he was the king of Israel: and making a violent assault they fought against him: and Josaphat cried out. 33 And the captains of the chariots perceived 18 (Then the king of Israel said to Josaphat: that he was not the king of Israel: and they turnDid I not tell thee, that he prophesieth no gooded away from him. to me, but always evil?) 34 And a certain man bent his bow, shooting 19 And he added, and said: Hear thou there- at a venture, and chanced to strike the king of fore the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sit- Israel between the lungs and the stomach. But ting on his throne, and all the army of heaven he said to the driver of his chariot: Turn thy standing by him on the right hand and on the hand, and carry me out of the army; for I am left: grievously wounded. 20 And the Lord said:† Who shall deceive 35 And the battle was fought that day; and Achab king of Israel, that he may go up, and the king of Israel stood in his chariot against the fall at Ramoth-Galaad? And one spoke words Syrians; and he died in the evening: and the of this manner, and another otherwise. blood ran out of the wound into the midst of the chariot. 21 And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said: I will deceive him. And the Lord said to him: By what means? 22 And he said: I will go forth, and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And the Lord said: Thou shalt deceive him, and shalt prevail: go forth, and do so.‡ 23 Now therefore behold, the Lord hath given a lying spirit in the mouth of all thy prophets that are here: and the Lord hath spoken evil against thee. 24 And Sedecias the son of Chanaana came, and struck Micheas on the cheek; and said: Hath then the spirit of the Lord left me, and spoken to thee? 25 And Micheas said: Thou shalt see in the day when thou shalt go into a chamber§ within a chamber to hide thyself. 26 And the king of Israel said: Take Micheas, and let him abide with Amon the governor of the city, and with Joas the son of Amalech: 27 And tell them: Thus saith the king: Put this man in prison, and feed him with bread of affliction, and water of distress, till I return in peace. *Go up, &c. This was spoken ironically, and by way of jesting at the flattering speeches of the false prophets: and so the king understood it, as appears by his adjuring Micheas, in the following verse, to tell him the truth, in the name of the Lord. †The Lord said, &c. God standeth not in need of any counsellor; nor are we to suppose that things pass in heaven in the manner here described: but this representation was made to the prophet, to be delivered by him in a manner adapted to the common ways and notions of men. 36 And the herald proclaimed through all the army before the sun set, saying: Let every man return to his own city, and to his own country. 37 And the king died, and was carried into Samaria: and they buried the king in Samaria. 38 And they washed his chariot in the pool of Samaria: and the dogs licked up his blood, and they washed the reins, according to the word of the Lord which he had spoken. 39 But the rest of the acts of Achab, and all that he did, and the house of ivory that he made, and all the cities that he built, are they not written in the Book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel? 40 So Achab slept with his fathers: and Ochozias his son reigned in his stead. 41 But Josaphat the son of Asa began to reign over Juda in the fourth year of Achab king of Israel. 42 He was five and thirty years old when he began to reign: and he reigned five and twenty years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Azuba the daughter of Salai. 43 And he walked in all the way of Asa his father: and he declined not from it: and he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord. 44 Nevertheless he took not away the high places: for as yet the people offered sacrifices and burnt incense in the high places. 45 And Josaphat had peace with the king of Israel. 46 But the rest of the acts of Josaphat, and his works which he did, and his battles, are they not written in the Book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda? 47 And the remnant also of the effeminate, who remained in the days of Asa his father, he took out of the land. 48 And there was then no king appointed in Edom. Go forth, and do so. This was not a command; but a permission: for God never ordain- 49 But king Josaphat made navies on the sea, eth lies; though he often permitteth the lying to sail into Ophir for gold: but they could not go: spirit to deceive those who love not the truth. for the ships were broken in Asiongaber. 2 Thessal. ii. 10. And in this sense it is said in 50 Then Ochozias the son of Achab said to the following verse, The Lord hath given a lying spirit in the mouth of all thy prophets. He took not away, &c. He left some of the § Go into a chamber, &c. This happened when high places, viz. those in which they worshiphe heard the king was slain, and justly appre-ped the true God; but took away all others, "2 hended that he should be punished for his false Paralip. xvii. 6. and note ver. 14: of chap xv. prophecy. 3 Kings. Josaphat: Let my servants go with thy servants in the ships. And Josaphat would not.* 51 And Josaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with them in the city of David his ather: and Joram his son reigned in his stead. 52 And Ochozias the son of Achab began to * Would not. He had been reprehended before for admitting such a partner; and therefore would have no more to do with him. reign over Israel in Samaria, in the seventeenth year of Josaphat king of Juda: and he reigned over Israel two years. 53 And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of his father and his mother, and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin. 54 He served also Baal, and worshipped him, and provoked the Lord the God of Israel, according to all that his father had done. THE FOURTH BOOK OF KINGS. CHAP. I. Ochozias_sendeth to consult Beelzebub: Elias foretelleth his death: and causeth fire to come down from heaven, upon two captains and their companies. ND Moab rebelled against Israel, after the A death of Achab. 2 And Ochozias fell through the lattices of his upper chamber which he had in Samaria, and was sick: and he sent messengers, saying to them: Go, consult Beelzebub the god of Accaron, whether I shall recover of this my illness. 3 And an Angel of the Lord spoke to Elias the Thesbite, saying: Arise, and go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria; and say to them: Is there not a God in Israel, that ye go to consult Beelzebub the god of Accaron? 4 Wherefore thus saith the Lord: From the bed, on which thou art gone up, thou shalt not come down: but thou shalt surely die. And Elias went away. 5 And the messengers turned back to Ochozias. And he said to them: Why are you come back? 6 But they answered him: A man met us, and said to us: Go, and return to the king that sent you; and you shall say to him: Thus saith the Lord: Is it because there was no God in Israel that thou sendest to Beelzebub the god of Accaron? Therefore thou shalt not come down from the bed on which thou art gone up; but thou shalt surely die. 7 And he said to them: What manner of man was he who met you, and spoke these words? 8 But they said: A hairy man, with a girdle of leather about his loins. And he said: It is Elias the Thesbite. 9 And he sent to him a captain of fifty, and the fifty men that were under him. And he went up! to him; and as he was sitting on the top of a hill, said to him: Man of God, the king hath commanded that thou come down. let fire come down from heaven, and consume 13 Again he sent a third captain of fifty men, and the fifty that were with him. And when he was come, he fell upon his knees before Elias, and besought him, and said: Man of God, despise not my life, and the lives of thy servants that are with me. 14 Behold, fire came down from heaven, and consumed the two first captains of fifty men, and the fifties that were with them: but now I beseech thee to spare my life. 15 And the Angel of the Lord spoke to Elias, saying: Go down with him; fear not. He arose therefore, and went down with him to the king, 16 And said to him: Thus saith the Lord: Because thou hast sent messengers to consult Beelzebub the god of Accaron, as though there were not a God in Israel, of whom thou mightest inquire the word, therefore from the bed on which thou art gone up, thou shalt not come down: but thou shalt surely die. 17 So he died according to the word of the Lord which Elias spoke: and Joram his brother reigned in his stead, in the second year of Joramt the son of Josaphat king of Juda: because he had no son. 18 But the rest of the acts of Ochozias which he did, are they not written in the Book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel? СНАР. ІІ. Eliseus will not part from Elias. The water of the Jordan is divided by Elias's cloak. Elias is taken up in a fiery chariot, and his double spirit is given to Eliseus. Eliseus healeth the waters by casting in salt. Boys are torn by bears for mocking Eliseus. AND it came to pass, when the Lord would up Elias into heaven§ by a whirlwind, that Elias and Eliseus were going from Galgal. 2 And Elias said to Eliseus: Stay thou here, 10 And Elias answering, said to the captain of because the Lord hath sent me as far as Bethel. fifty: If I be a man of God, let firet come down And Eliseus said to him: As the Lord liveth, and from heaven, and consume thee, and thy fifty. as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And And there came down fire from heaven, and when they were come down to Bethel, consumed him, and the fifty that were with him. 3 The sons of the prophets, that were at Beth11 And again he sent to him another captain el, came forth to Eliseus, and said to him: Dost of fifty men, and his fifty with him. And he said thou know that this day the Lord will take away to him: Man of God, thus saith the king: Make haste, and come down. 12 Elias answering, said: If I be a man of God, Let fire, &c. Elias was inspired to call for fire from heaven upon these captains, who came to apprehend him; not out of a desire to gratify any private passion: but to punish the insult offered to religion, to confirm his mission, and to show how vain are the efforts of men against God, and his servants, whom he willeth to protect. The second year of Joram, &c. Counted from the time that he was associated to the throne by his father Josaphat. § Heaven. By heaven here is meant the air, the lowest of the heavenly regions. The sons of the prophets. That is, the disciples of the prophets; who seem to have had their schools, like colleges or communities, in Bethel, Jericho, and other places in the days of Elias and Eliseus. 27 And when she came to the man of God to 42 And a certain man came from Baalsalisa, the mount, she caught hold on his feet: and Giezi bringing to the man of God bread of the firstcame to remove her. And the man of God said: fruits, twenty loaves of barley, and new corn in Let her alone; for her soul is in anguish: and the his scrip. And he said: Give to the people, that Lord hath hid it from me, and hath not told me. they may eat. 28 And she said to him: Did I ask a son of my lord? did I not say to thee: Do not deceive me? 29 Then he said to Giezi: Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thy hand, and go. If any man meet thee, salute him not:* and if any man salute thee, answer him not: and lay my staff upon the face of the child. 30 But the mother of the child said: As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. He arose, therefore, and followed her. 31 But Giezi was gone before them, and laid the staff upon the face of the child:† and there was no voice nor sense; and he returned to meet 32 Eliseus therefore went into the house: and behold, the child lay dead on his bed: 33 And going in he shut the door upon him, and upon the child, and prayed to the Lord. 34 And he went up, and lay upon the child: and he put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands: and he bowed himself upon him; and the child's flesh grew warm. 35 Then he returned, and walked in the house, once to and fro: and he went up, and lay upon him: and the child gaped seven times, and opened his eyes. 36 And he called Giezi, and said to him: Call this Sunamitess. And she being called, went in to him: and he said: Take up thy son. 37 She came, and fell at his feet, and worshipped upon the ground; and took up her son, and went out. 38 And Eliseus returned to Galgal; and there was a famine in the land; and the sons of the prophets dwelt before him. And he said to one of his servants: Set on the great pot, and boil pottage for the sons of the prophets. 39 And one went out into the field to gather wild herbs: and he found something like a wild vine, and gathered of it wild gourds of the field, and filled his mantle; and coming back, he shred them into the pot of pottage: for he knew not what it was. 40 And they poured it out for their companions to eat: and when they had tasted of the pottage, they cried out, saying: Death is in the pot, Oman of God. And they could not eat thereof. 41 But he said: Bring some meal. And when they had brought it, he cast it into the pot, and said: Pour out for the people, that they may eat. And there was now no bitterness in the pot. * Salute him not: He that is sent to raise to life the sinner spiritually dead, must not suffer himself to be called off, or diverted from his enterprise, by the salutations or ceremonies of the world. 43 And his servant answered him: How much is this, that I should set it before a hundred men? He said again: Give to the people, that they may eat: for thus saith the Lord: They shall eat; and there shall be left. 44 So he set it before them: and they ate; and there was left according to the word of the Lord. CHAP. V. Naaman the Syrian is cleansed of his leprosy. He professeth his belief in one God, promising to serve him. Giezi taketh gifts of Naaman; and is struck with leprosy. NAAMAN, general of the aw of master, army king and honourable: for by him the Lord gave deliverance to Syria; and he was a valiant man, and rich, but a leper. 2 Now there had gone out robbers from Syria, and had led away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited upon Naaman's wife. 3 And she said to her mistress: I wish my master had been with the prophet that is in Samaria; he would certainly have healed him of the leprosy which he hath. 4 Then Naaman went in to his lord, and told him, saying: Thus and thus said the girl from the land of Israel. 5 And the king of Syria said to him: Go, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel. And he departed; and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment; 6 And brought the letter to the king of Israel, in these words: When thou shalt receive this letter, know that I have sent to thee Naaman my servant, that thou mayst heal him of his leprosy. 7 And when the king of Israel had read the letter, he rent his garments, and said: Am I God, to be able to kill and give life, that this man hath sent to me, to heal a man of his leprosy? mark, and see how he seeketh occasions against me. 8 And when Eliseus the man of God had heard this, to wit, that the king of Israel had rent his garments, he sent to him, saying: Why hast thou rent thy garments? let him come to me, and let him know that there is a prophet in Israel. 9 So Naaman came with his horses and chariots, and stood at the door of the house of Eliseus. 10 And Eliseus sent a messenger to him, saying: Go, and wash seven times in the Jordan; and thy flesh shall recover health; and thou shalt be clean. 11 Naaman was angry, and went away, saying: I thought he would have come out to me, and standing would have invoked the name of the Lord his God, and touched with his hand the place of the leprosy, and healed me. 12 Are not the Abana, and the Pharphar, rivers St. Augustine considers a great mystery in of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel, this miracle wrought by the prophet Eliseus, that I may wash in them, and be made clean? So thus: By the staff sent by his servant is figured as he turned, and was going away with indigthe rod of Moses, or the Old Law, which was nation, thing, surely thou shouldst have done it: how much rather what he now hath said to thee: Wash, and thou shalt be clean? not sufficient to bring mankind to life, then dead 13 His servants came to him, and said to him: in sin. It was necessary that Christ himself should Father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great come, and by taking on human nature, become flesh of our flesh, and restore us to life. In this Eliseus was a figure of Christ, as it was necessary that he should come himself to bring the dead child to life, and restore him to his mother, who is here, in a mystical sense, a figure of the Church. Wild gourds of the field. Colocynthidas. They are extremely bitter, and therefore are called the gall of the earth; and are poisonous if taken in a great quantity. 14 Then he went down, and washed in the Jordan seven times, according to the word of the man of God: and his flesh was restored, like the flesh of a little child; and he was made clean. 15 And returning to the man of God with all his train, he came, and stood before him, and said: In truth I know there is no other God in all the earth, but only in Israel: I beseech thee therefore take a blessing* of thy servant. 16 But he answered: As the Lord liveth, before whom I stand, I will receive none. And when he pressed him, he still refused. 3 And one of them said: But come thou also with thy servants. He answered: I will come. 4 So he went with them. And when they were come to the Jordan, they cut down wood. 5 And it happened, as one was felling some 17 And Naaman said: As thou wilt; but I be-timber, that the head of the axe fell into the seech thee, grant to me thy servant, to take from hence two mules burden of earth: for thy servant will not henceforth offer holocaust, or victim to other gods, but to the Lord. 18 But there is only this, for which thou shalt intreat the Lord for thy servant; when my master goeth into the temple of Remmon, to worship, and he leaneth upon my hand, if I bow down in the temple of Remmon, when he boweth down in the same place, that the Lord pardon me thy servant for this thing. 19 And he said to him: Go in peace. So he departed from him in the spring time of the earth. 20 But Giezi the servant of the man of God said: My master hath spared Naaman this Syrian, in not receiving of him that which he brought: as the Lord liveth, I will run after him, and take some thing of him. 21 And Giezi followed after Naaman: and when he saw him running after him, he leapt down from his chariot to meet him, and said: Is all well? 22 And he said: Well: my master hath sent me to thee, saying: Just now there are come to me from mount Ephraim, two young men of the sons of the prophets: give them a talent of silver, and two changes of garments. 23 And Naaman said: It is better that thou take two talents. And he forced him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, and two changes of garments; and laid them upon two of his servants: and they carried them before him. 24 And when he was come, and now it was the evening, he took them from their hands, and laid them up in the house, and sent the men away; and they departed. 25 But he went in, and stood before his master. And Eliseus said: Whence comest thou, Giezi? He answered: Thy servant went no whither. 26 But he said: Was not my heart present, when the man turned back from his chariot to meet thee? So now thou hast received money, and received garments, to buy olive-yards, and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and men-servants, and maid-servants. 27 But the leprosy of Naaman shall also stick to thee, and to thy seed for ever. And he went out from him a leper as white as snow. CHAP. VI. water: and he cried out, and said: Alas, alas, alas, my lord, for this same was borrowed. 6 And the man of God said: Where did it fall? and he showed him the place. Then he cut off a piece of wood, and cast it in thither, and the iron swam. 7 And he said: Take it up. his hand, and took it. And he put out 8 And the king of Syria warred against Israel, and took counsel with his servants, saying: In such and such a place let us lay ambushes. 9 And the man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying: Beware that thou pass not to such a place: for the Syrians are there in ambush. 10 And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God had told him, and prevented him, and looked well to himself there not once nor twice. 11 And the heart of the king of Syria was troubled for this thing. And calling together his servants, he said: Why do you not tell me who it is that betrays me to the king of Israel? 12 And one of his servants said: No one, my lord O king: but Eliseus the prophet, that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel all the words that thou speakest in thy privy chamber. 13 And he said to them: Go, and see where he is, that I may send, and take him. And they told him, saying: Behold, he is in Dothan. 14 Therefore he sent thither horses and chariots, and the strength of an army: and they came by night, and beset the city. 15 And the servant of the man of God rising early, went out, and saw an army round about the city, and horses and chariots: and he told him, saying: Alas, alas, alas, my lord; what shall we do? 16 But he answered: Fear not: for there are more with us than with them. 17 And Eliseus prayed, and said: Lord, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the servant; and he saw and behold, the mountain was full of horses, and chariots of fire round about Eliseus. 18 And the enemies came down to him: but Eliseus prayed to the Lord, saying: Strike, I beseech thee, this people with blindness. And the Lord struck them with blindness, according to the word of Eliseus. 19 And Eliseus said to them: This is not the way; neither is this the city: follow me, and I Eliseus maketh iron to swim upon the water: he will show you the man whom you seek. So he teadeth the Syrians that were sent to appre-led them into Samaria. hend him, into Samaria, where their eyes being 20 And when they were come into Samaria, opened, they are courteously entertained. The Eliseus said: Lord, open the eyes of these men, Syrians besiege Samaria; the famine there that they may see. And the Lord opened their exuseth a woman to eat her own child. Upon this the king commandeth Eliseus to be put derstood by the standers by, since he publicly to death. professed himself a worshipper of the only true and living God; but it was no more than doing a civil office to the king his master, whose leaning upon him obliged him to bow at the same time that he bowed. ND the sons of the prophets said to Eliseus: Behold, the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us: 2 Let us go as far as the Jordan, and take out of the wood, every man a piece of timber, that we may build us there a place to dwell in. And he said: Go. Blindness. The blindness here spoken of was of a particular kind, which hindered them from seeing the objects that were really before them; and represented other different objects to A blessing. A present. their imagination: so that they no longer perceivGo in peace. What the prophet here allowed the city of Dothan, nor were able to know ed, was not an outward conformity to an idola- the person of Eliseus; but were easily led by trous worship; but only a service which by his him, whom they took to be another man, to Saoffice he owed to his master: who on all public maria. So that he truly told them, this is not the occasions, leaned on him: so that his bowing way, neither is this the city, &c. because he down when his master bowed himself down, was spoke with relation to the way, and to the city, not in effect adoring the idols; nor was it so un-which was represented to them. |