Week 17 2 Kings 9
The story catches me by surprise. Elisha tells one of his men to go to Ramoth-gilead with a message for an army commander named Jehu. Here’s the exact message Elisha dictated: this is what the Lord says: I anoint you to be king over Israel. That’s it – a 14-word message.
But when Elisha’s man goes and speaks to Jehu he gives him a longer message – five-verses long – about 110-words. There’s an obvious discrepancy and I think about what to make of it.
Maybe Elisha gave the young prophet a 14-word message but then his man went off half-cocked and added a bunch of extra gobbledygook when he met Jehu.
Or maybe Elisha gave the young prophet the brief 14-word message but the man was able to expand & develop it – which he could do because he was a prophet too.
Or maybe Elisha gave the young prophet the full 110-word forecast but the writer of 2 Kings didn’t want to repeat the 110-words twice so be abbreviated Elisha to 14-words (and assumed I’d figure it out).
The last option makes good sense to me.
And it’s a reminder that the writer’s decisions are part of the reading mix. He has to make editorial choices – what to include…what to exclude. I need to keep the writer in mind. He had his own limitations & requirements.
I usually figure the bible is plenty long as it is but I sometimes wish the writer added some detail.
Note: quote from 2 Kings 9:3 (NLT)