Again two kings with the same name ruled over the Northern and Southern Kingdoms at the same time.
Jehoash of Judah (called Joash in v. 1 of the NASB) was already on the throne when Jehoash of Israel (called Joash after that in the NASB) came to power. The northern king ruled for 16 years (798-782 B.C.) the first five as sole ruler and the last 11 as coregent with his son Jeroboam II. Jehoash continued the policies of his predecessors in Israel.
Jehoash (Joash) had respect and affection for Elisha. He anticipated the loss that the death of God's spiritual warrior would be to Israel (v. 14). He recognized that Israel's real defense lay in Yahweh's angelic army and in Elisha's spiritual warfare for her (v. 14; cf. 2:12).
"The prophet is the man whose prayer is better than chariots and horsemen. Trust in the words of the prophet means that horses and chariots can be abandoned."82
Elisha gave the king a prophecy of Israel's future deliverance because Jehoash had humbled himself before God (vv. 15-19).
"Elisha instructed Israel's king to pick up his bow (v. 15). When he had done so, the prophet placed his own hands on those of the king, thereby indicating that what he was about to do would be full of spiritual symbolism (v. 16)."83
The bow and arrows were symbols of the strength and victory God would give Jehoash. By taking them in hand the king was symbolically becoming God's agent of power. Elisha put his own hands on the king's to illustrate that the king's power would come from Yahweh through Elisha. The east window opened toward Aram from Israel. By shooting the first arrow Jehoash was appropriating the victory symbolized by the arrow. As he shot, Elisha explained to him that the arrow represented victory over Aram at Aphek (cf. 1 Kings 20:30). The prophet then instructed Jehoash to shoot the remaining arrows at the ground. The Hebrew makes this translation preferable. He was to strike the ground by shooting the arrows at it.
"It is . . . a symbolic action, like that of Joshua thrusting with a spear at Ai (Jos. 8:18)."84
Elisha was angry when Jehoash shot only three more arrows because in doing so the king was demonstrating weak faith. Jehoash knew what shooting the arrows signified (v. 17). Perhaps the king did not believe God could or would give him as much victory as Elisha had implied. He failed to trust God even though he knew what God had promised.
Elisha's ministry spanned at least 56 years.85When he died, friends evidently buried him in a cave or rock tomb as was customary then. Apparently the men who placed the body of their dead friend in Elisha's tomb observed this man's resuscitation. Undoubtedly they told their story everywhere, and probably King Jehoash heard it. Such a sign of God's power working even through His prophet's corpse would have encouraged the king as he looked forward to meeting Aram in battle. It would also have rebuked him for his lack of faith. The story would have impressed on everyone who heard it the great power of Yahweh that brought blessing (life) to others through His faithful servants. Since Elisha was dead there was no question that the power was Yahweh's, not the prophet's.
"As he was a man of power in life (chaps. 2-7), moving and persuasive even in stories told about him (2 Kgs 8:1-6), so now his awesome powers continue working in death, confirming the prophet and foreshadowing the victory to come."86
The basis of God's continuing mercy to Israel was not her goodness but God's in remaining faithful to the Abrahamic Covenant (v. 23; cf. 8:47; Gen. 3:23). As Elisha had predicted, Jehoash defeated the Arameans three times (v. 25; cf. vv. 18-19), but he did not destroy them completely (cf. v. 19).
Why did the writer place the record of the resuscitation (vv. 20-21) within the story of the Aramean army's defeat (vv. 14-25)? Probably he intended the resuscitation incident to illustrate the fact that God would also revive Israel by defeating Aram as he had revived the dead man.
In this record of his life Jehoash appears to have been a spiritually sensitive man whose confidence in God was weak, but he also perpetuated the Jeroboam cult.
