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2 Kings 3:15
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Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
bring me: This was evidently intended to soothe and tranquillize the prophet's mind, which had been agitated and discomposed with holy indignation by the presence of the idolatrous king, and the recollection of his abomination. The soothing influence of music is generally acknowledged in every civilized nation. 1 Samuel 10:5, 1 Samuel 16:23, 1 Samuel 18:10, 1 Chronicles 25:2, 1 Chronicles 25:3, Ephesians 5:18, Ephesians 5:19
the hand: 1 Kings 18:46, Ezekiel 1:3, Ezekiel 3:14, Ezekiel 3:22, Ezekiel 8:1, Acts 11:21
Reciprocal: 1 Samuel 16:16 - play 2 Samuel 6:5 - David 2 Kings 4:13 - to the king 1 Chronicles 13:8 - David 1 Chronicles 25:1 - prophesy Hosea 9:8 - with
Cross-References
Now the serpent was more subtle than any animal of the field which the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Yes, has God said, 'You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?'"
Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal which Yahweh God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God indeed say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden'?"
Now the snake was the most clever of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day the snake said to the woman, "Did God really say that you must not eat fruit from any tree in the garden?"
Now the serpent was more shrewd than any of the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, "Is it really true that God said, ‘You must not eat from any tree of the orchard'?"
Now the serpent was more crafty (subtle, skilled in deceit) than any living creature of the field which the LORD God had made. And the serpent (Satan) said to the woman, "Can it really be that God has said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?"
Now the serpent was more cunning than any animal of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Has God really said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?"
Nowe the serpent was more subtill then any beast of the fielde, which the Lord God had made: and he said to the woman, Yea, hath God in deede said, Ye shall not eate of euery tree of the garden?
Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which Yahweh God had made. And he said to the woman, "Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?"
The snake was sneakier than any of the other wild animals that the Lord God had made. One day it came to the woman and asked, "Did God tell you not to eat fruit from any tree in the garden?"
Gill's Notes on the Bible
But now bring me a minstrel,.... A piper, a man that knows how to play upon the harp, as the Targum; according to Procopius Gazaeus, this was one of the Levites he ordered to be fetched, who was used to the spiritual melody of David, and could play on musical instruments as he directed. This he did to allay his passion, and compose his spirits, ruffled at the sight of Jehoram, and to fit him to receive prophetic inspiration, which sometimes came upon the Lord's prophets when thus employed, see 1 Samuel 10:5. Some think h the music the prophet called for is that sort the Greeks call "harmony", which is the gravest and saddest, and settles the affections:
and it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the Lord came upon him; the spirit of prophecy, as the Targum, which came by the power of God, and as a gift from his hand.
h Weemse's Christ. Synagog. l. 1. c. 6. sect. 4. p. 143.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Music seems to have been a regular accompaniment of prophecy in the “schools of the prophets” (marginal reference), and an occasional accompaniment of it elsewhere Exodus 15:20.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse 2 Kings 3:15. Bring me a minstrel. — A person who played on the harp. The rabbins, and many Christians, suppose that Elisha's mind was considerably irritated and grieved by the bad behaviour of the young men at Beth-el, and their tragical end, and by the presence of the idolatrous king of Israel; and therefore called for Divine psalmody, that it might calm his spirits, and render him more susceptible of the prophetic influence. To be able to discern the voice of God, and the operation of his hand, it is necessary that the mind be calm, and the passions all in harmony, under the direction of reason; that reason may be under the influence of the Divine Spirit.
The hand of the Lord came upon him. — The playing of the harper had the desired effect; his mind was calmed, and the power of God descended upon him. This effect of music was generally acknowledged in every civilized nation. Cicero, in his Tusculan Questions, lib. iv., says, that "the Pythagoreans were accustomed to calm their minds, and soothe their passions, by singing and playing upon the harp." Pythagoraei mentes suas a cogitationum intentione cantu fidibusque ad tranquillitatem traducebant. I have spoken elsewhere of the heathen priests who endeavoured to imitate the true prophets, and were as actually filled with the devil as the others were with the true God. The former were thrown into violent agitations and contortions by the influence of the demons which possessed them, while the latter were in a state of the utmost serenity and composure.
