And Elisha died, and they buried him. And the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year.
Elisha died. Enjoying a happier life than Elijah, as he possessed a milder character, and bore a less hard commission, his rough garment was honoured even at the court.
The bands of the Moabites invaded the land. The people of Moab and Ammon began at this time to cause constant annoyance to the Israelites: for centuries they made periodical inroads upon the country west of Jordan, devastating the land and driving off the cattle, as the wild Arab tribes do to the peaceful settlers in the present day. The time chosen for these predatory incursions was-
At the coming in of the year - i:e., the spring, the usual season of beginning campaigns in ancient times. Predatory band from Moab generally made incursions at that time on the lands of Israel, because the crops were ripe. The bearers of a corpse, alarmed by the appearance in the distance of one of these bands, hastily deposited, as they passed that way, their load in Elisha's sepulchre, which might be easily done by removing the stone at the mouth of the cave. According to the Jewish and Eastern custom, his body, as well as that of the man who was miraculously restored, was not laid in a coffin, but only swathed, so that the bodies could be brought into contact; and the object of the miracle was to stimulate the king and people of Israel's faith in the still unaccomplished predictions of Elisha respecting the war with the Syrians. Accordingly the historian forthwith records the historical fulfillment of the prediction (2 Kings 13:22-25) in the defeat of the enemy, in the recovery of the cities that had been taken, and their restoration to the kingdom of Israel.