(18) And when they came down to him.--This would mean that the Syrians came down to Elisha. But the prophet was, to begin with, in the city, which lay on the top of the hill; and the heavenly host intervened between him and his enemies, so that the latter must have occupied the lower position. The reading of the Syriac and Josephus ?s, "and they (i.e., Elisha and his servant) went down to them"--i.e., to the Syrian force; and this is apparently right. The sight of the heavenly host guarding his master had inspired the prophet's follower with courage to face any danger in his master's company.

Elisha prayed.--And Elisha; prayed--mentally, as he approached his foes.

This people.--Perhaps in the sense of multitude.

Blindness.--Sanw?rim: the term used in Genesis 19:11, and nowhere besides. It denotes not so much blindness as a dazing effect, accompanied by mental bewilderment and confusion. "They saw, but knew not what they saw" (Rashi). Ewald pronounces the passage in Genesis the model of the present one.

Verse 18. - And when they came down to him. Keil and others suppose this to mean that the Syrians "came down" to Elisha; hut, if they were in the plain that surrounds the hill whereon Dothan was built, as appears from ver. 15, they would have had to ascend in order to reach Elisha, not to descend. We must, therefore, with F. Meyer, Thenius, and Bahr, translate, "When they [Elisha and his servant] came down to them [the Syrians]" - either changing אֵלָיו into אֲלַיהֶם, as Thenius does, or understanding אֵלָיו to refer to the "host" (חַיִל) of the Syrians. Elisha prayed unto the Lord, and said, Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness. Not literal blindness, or they could not have followed Elisha's lead, and marched a distance of twelve miles to Samaria; but a state of confusion and Bewilderment, in which" seeing they saw, but did not perceive" (compare the "blindness" of the men of Sodom, in Genesis 19:11). And he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.

6:13-23 What Elisha said to his servant is spoken to all the faithful servants of God, when without are fightings, and within are fears. Fear not, with that fear which has torment and amazement; for they that are with us, to protect us, are more than they that are against us, to destroy us. The eyes of his body were open, and with them he saw the danger. Lord, open the eyes of our faith, that with them we may see thy protecting hand. The clearer sight we have of the sovereignty and power of Heaven, the less we shall fear the troubles of earth. Satan, the god of this world, blinds men's eyes, and so deludes them unto their own ruin; but when God enlightens their eyes, they see themselves in the midst of their enemies, captives to Satan, and in danger of hell, though, before, they thought their condition good. When Elisha had the Syrians at his mercy, he made it appear that he was influenced by Divine goodness as well as Divine power. Let us not be overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. The Syrians saw it was to no purpose to try to assault so great and so good a man.And when they came down to him,.... The Syrian army, from the hill on which they were first seen, who came down from thence to the bottom of the hill on which the city stood; and whither Elisha came out, in order both to meet them, and proceed on his journey to Samaria:

Elisha prayed unto the Lord, and said, smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness; or "blindnesses" (g); with great blindness, such as the men of Sodom were smitten with; the same word is here used as of them, Genesis 19:11.

and he smote them with blindness, according to the word of Elisha; not in such manner that they could discern no object, for then they could not have followed Elisha; but their sight was so altered, that they knew not the objects they saw; they appeared quite otherwise to them than they were; they saw the city, but knew it not to be the same, and Elisha, but knew him not to be the man of God, though they might have some in the host that knew him personally.

(g) "in caecitatibus", Pagninus, Montanus, &c.