And said: Open the window to the east. And when he had opened it, Eliseus said: Shoot an arrow. And he shot. And Eliseus said: The arrow of the Lord's deliverance, and the arrow of the deliverance from Syria: and thou shalt strike the Syrians in Aphec, till thou consume them.
What does 2 Kings 13:17 mean?
The prophet Eliseus lies on his deathbed in Samaria, and King Joas of Israel has come to visit him in grief. Recognizing the prophet as the true strength of the nation, the king weeps before him. Eliseus has commanded the king to take up a bow and arrows, placing his own hands over the hands of the king to prepare for a symbolic act. In chapter 13, verse 17, the prophet instructs the king to open the window toward the east and shoot, declaring this action a sign of the coming victory over the Syrians.
In Second Kings chapter 13, verse 17, the dying prophet Eliseus orchestrates a sacred drama of cosmic warfare. What appears to be an eccentric deathbed ritual is an unveiling of instrumental causality, covenantal geography, and sacramental physics. God does not vanquish historical evil through an abstract fiat; He binds His sovereign deliverance to human flesh, material wood, and an east-facing window.
Instrumental Causality and the Imposition of Hands
When Eliseus lays his dying hands upon the hands of Joas to bend the bow, the prophetic sign operates through what Saint Thomas Aquinas defines as instrumental causality.