Chapter 13 of Melachim B deals with two kings from the house of Yehu: Yehoachaz son of Yehu and his son Yoash (Yehoash). This is a chapter in which we see how far the situation of the kingdom of Israel had deteriorated, to the point that its army had almost ceased to exist, and on the other hand, how great is the power of prayer to annul a decree. In this chapter we take leave of Elisha the prophet: his illness, his passing, and the great miracle that occurred at his grave after his death.
בִּשְׁנַת עֶשְׂרִים וְשָׁלֹשׁ שָׁנָה לְיוֹאָשׁ בֶּן־אֲחַזְיָהוּ מֶלֶךְ יְהוּדָה, מָלַךְ יְהוֹאָחָז בֶּן־יֵהוּא עַל־יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּשֹׁמְרוֹן שְׁבַע עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה. וַיַּעַשׂ הָרַע בְּעֵינֵי ה', וַיֵּלֶךְ אַחַר חַטֹּאת יָרָבְעָם בֶּן־נְבָט אֲשֶׁר־הֶחֱטִיא אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵל, לֹא־סָר מִמֶּנָּה. - In the twenty third year of Yoash son of Achazyahu, king of Yehuda, Yehoachaz son of Yehu began to reign over Israel in Shomron, for seventeen years. He did what was evil in the eyes of Hashem, and followed the sins of Yaravam son of Nevat, who caused Israel to sin; he did not turn away from them.
Yehoachaz son of Yehu continues in the ways of his fathers, and so he is a wicked man, son of a wicked man. We have already learned the pattern that the Malbim set out for us: when the first king is wicked, the Holy One, blessed be He, is patient with him; but when his son continues in his wickedness, the Holy One, blessed be He, exacts punishment from him.
וַיִּחַר־אַף ה' בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל, וַיִּתְּנֵם בְּיַד חֲזָאֵל מֶלֶךְ־אֲרָם וּבְיַד בֶּן־הֲדַד בֶּן־חֲזָאֵל כָּל־הַיָּמִים. - The anger of Hashem burned against Israel, and He gave them into the hand of Chazael king of Aram and into the hand of Ben Hadad son of Chazael, all the days.
The Holy One, blessed be He, decrees that Israel will be given into the hand of Chazael and into the hand of Ben Hadad his son "all the days," meaning all the days of Chazael and Ben Hadad. The Malbim adds that this decree became known to Israel in practice: it was conveyed to them by a prophet.
וַיְחַל יְהוֹאָחָז אֶת־פְּנֵי ה', וַיִּשְׁמַע אֵלָיו ה', כִּי רָאָה אֶת־לַחַץ יִשְׂרָאֵל כִּי־לָחַץ אֹתָם מֶלֶךְ אֲרָם. - Yehoachaz beseeched Hashem, and Hashem listened to him, for He saw the oppression of Israel, how the king of Aram oppressed them.
Through the power of Yehoachaz's prayer, the Holy One, blessed be He, eased the decree from upon them. "This poor man called out and Hashem heard" - the Holy One, blessed be He, listened to the voice of their prayer, and saw the oppression with which Israel was being oppressed.
וַיִּתֵּן ה' לְיִשְׂרָאֵל מוֹשִׁיעַ, וַיֵּצְאוּ מִתַּחַת יַד־אֲרָם, וַיֵּשְׁבוּ בְנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּאָהֳלֵיהֶם כִּתְמוֹל שִׁלְשׁוֹם. - Hashem gave Israel a savior, and they came out from under the hand of Aram, and the children of Israel dwelt in their tents as before.
The savior that Hashem gave Israel was Yoash son of Yehoachaz. As we will see later in the chapter, he was told three times to strike Aram, and he saved them from the hand of Aram. Here we learn a great principle: even though there was an explicit decree, through the power of prayer that decree was annulled.
אַךְ לֹא־סָרוּ מֵחַטֹּאת בֵּית־יָרָבְעָם אֲשֶׁר־הֶחֱטִי אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵל, בָּהּ הָלָךְ, וְגַם הָאֲשֵׁרָה עָמְדָה בְּשֹׁמְרוֹן. - But they did not turn away from the sins of the house of Yaravam, which he caused Israel to sin; in it they walked, and the Asheirah also still stood in Shomron.
The verse comes to teach us that the salvation did not come because they repented. For you see that in truth they did not turn away from the sins of Yaravam, and not only that, but the Asheirah still stood in Shomron and they worshiped it.
כִּי לֹא הִשְׁאִיר לִיהוֹאָחָז עָם כִּי אִם־חֲמִשִּׁים פָּרָשִׁים וַעֲשָׂרָה רֶכֶב וַעֲשֶׂרֶת אֲלָפִים רַגְלִי, כִּי אִבְּדָם מֶלֶךְ אֲרָם וַיְשִׂמֵם כֶּעָפָר לָדֻשׁ. - For he did not leave to Yehoachaz any people except fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand foot soldiers, for the king of Aram had destroyed them and made them like dust for threshing.
Here was fulfilled what was said by Eliyahu: "And I will leave in Israel seven thousand, all the knees that have not bowed to the Baal" - nothing at all remained to them. Fifty horsemen are neither a company nor a battalion; and ten thousand foot soldiers, when we see wars in which a million or two million foot soldiers took part, this is at most a royal guard, but not an army fit to fight. So much so that the king of Aram destroyed them and made them like dust for threshing.
From here comes the explanation for the previous verses: the Holy One, blessed be He, saw that if He left them in this state, with a poor and wretched army facing the exalted and mighty king of Aram, Israel would be completely destroyed. Therefore the verse prefaced "And Yehoachaz beseeched... and Hashem heeded him because He saw the oppression of Israel" - not because He saw that they had repented and not because they changed their ways, for the verse informs you that they continued to sacrifice to the Asheirah that stood in Shomron and did not turn away from the sins of the house of Yaravam, but because He saw that if He did not save them they would come, Heaven forbid, to destruction, and the Holy One, blessed be He, is faithful to His covenant, as we will see later on.
וְיֶתֶר דִּבְרֵי יְהוֹאָחָז וְכָל־אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה וּגְבוּרָתוֹ, הֲלוֹא־הֵם כְּתוּבִים עַל־סֵפֶר דִּבְרֵי הַיָּמִים לְמַלְכֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל. וַיִּשְׁכַּב יְהוֹאָחָז עִם־אֲבֹתָיו וַיִּקְבְּרֻהוּ בְּשֹׁמְרוֹן, וַיִּמְלֹךְ יוֹאָשׁ בְּנוֹ תַּחְתָּיו. - And the rest of the acts of Yehoachaz, and all that he did, and his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? And Yehoachaz lay with his fathers, and they buried him in Shomron, and Yoash his son reigned in his place.
בִּשְׁנַת שְׁלֹשִׁים וָשֶׁבַע שָׁנָה לְיוֹאָשׁ מֶלֶךְ יְהוּדָה, מָלַךְ יְהוֹאָשׁ בֶּן־יְהוֹאָחָז עַל־יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּשֹׁמְרוֹן שֵׁשׁ עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה. וַיַּעֲשֶׂה הָרַע בְּעֵינֵי ה', לֹא סָר מִכָּל־חַטֹּאות יָרָבְעָם בֶּן־נְבָט אֲשֶׁר־הֶחֱטִיא אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵל, בָּהּ הָלָךְ. - In the thirty seventh year of Yoash king of Yehuda, Yehoash son of Yehoachaz began to reign over Israel in Shomron for sixteen years. And he did what was evil in the eyes of Hashem; he did not turn away from all the sins of Yaravam son of Nevat, which he caused Israel to sin; in it he walked.
Yehoash son of Yehoachaz continues in his father's sinful ways. And do not be surprised that at times the verse calls him Yehoash and at times Yoash: it is the same person, and sometimes the name comes one way and sometimes another. So too Zecharyah and Zecharyahu, and likewise in this manner: there are letters that sometimes appear in a name and sometimes are missing from it. And take note that all this is long years after Yaravam son of Nevat, who lived back in the time of Shlomo, about two hundred years earlier.
וְיֶתֶר דִּבְרֵי יוֹאָשׁ וְכָל־אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה וּגְבוּרָתוֹ אֲשֶׁר נִלְחַם עִם אֲמַצְיָה מֶלֶךְ־יְהוּדָה, הֲלֹא־הֵם כְּתוּבִים עַל־סֵפֶר דִּבְרֵי הַיָּמִים לְמַלְכֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל. וַיִּשְׁכַּב יוֹאָשׁ עִם־אֲבֹתָיו וְיָרָבְעָם יָשַׁב עַל־כִּסְאוֹ, וַיִּקָּבֵר יוֹאָשׁ בְּשֹׁמְרוֹן עִם מַלְכֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל. - And the rest of the acts of Yoash, and all that he did, and his might, how he fought with Amatzyah king of Yehudah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? And Yoash slept with his fathers, and Yeravam sat upon his throne, and Yoash was buried in Shomron with the kings of Israel.
The Yeravam mentioned here is a different Yeravam, the son of Yoash, and not Yeravam the son of Nevat. But here a great difficulty arises: these pesukim are seemingly the final conclusion of the story of Yoash's life, and we have already buried him with the kings of Israel. And behold, immediately in the next pasuk it says that Elisha fell ill, "and Yoash king of Israel came down to him." How did he come down to him? Did he come out of his grave? It is clear that this is the same Yoash, and the navi is as if telling us: Yoash lived in this period, died and was buried, and now come and let me tell you what he went through. But this is not the navi's way of writing: he always first tells all that the king went through, and only at the end "and he was buried with his fathers," which is the conclusion of the account of that king. Yet here they buried him and only afterward begins to tell about him.
The Malbim explains that all these pesukim are an elaboration of the pesukim before them. The proof for this: in chapter fourteen, in pesukim fifteen and sixteen, the navi again describes the death of Yoash. And if his death was written there, why was it also written here? Rather, here the verse does not come to tell of his death, but to explain what was said earlier. We said "and Hashem gave Israel a savior" - who is he? This is Yehoash, and he began to save Israel already during his father's lifetime. We said "but they did not turn away from the sins of Yeravam" - here he details: "and he did what was evil in the eyes of Hashem." And we said that He raised up a savior for them - here "and the rest of the acts of Yoash and his might," for in the book of Divrei HaYamim it is described in detail how he saved Israel for a long period, until the days of Yeravam. Therefore he concludes here "and Yeravam sat upon his throne," to tell you that Yeravam too was a savior like his father.
The Radak explains in a different way: the verse placed the beginning of his son's reign next to the end of his own reign, to inform us that Yoash made his son king during his own lifetime. This is the way of kings: when they fear that someone else might rise to rebel, they immediately appoint a crown prince. So did David, who anointed Shlomo as king during his own lifetime. Here too Yoash feared that there might be other sons who would contest him, and therefore he placed Yeravam's reign next to his own. And this is precise in the language of the verse: it does not say "and Yeravam his son reigned in his place," but "and Yeravam sat upon his throne," which means during his lifetime and not after his death.
And Rashi explains in the way of derash: these pesukim were written only as an interruption, so as not to place the account of Elisha's deathbed next to a verse about idolatry. For if it were written "and he did what was evil in the eyes of Hashem" and immediately "and Elisha fell ill with the illness of which he was to die," it would have implied that Elisha's death came in proximity to idolatry. Therefore the verse interrupted and told of Yoash's death and his burial in the burial place of the kings, and only afterward opened with Elisha's illness.
וֶאֱלִישָׁע חָלָה אֶת־חָלְיוֹ אֲשֶׁר יָמוּת בּוֹ, וַיֵּרֶד אֵלָיו יוֹאָשׁ מֶלֶךְ־יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיֵּבְךְּ עַל־פָּנָיו וַיֹּאמַר: אָבִי אָבִי, רֶכֶב יִשְׂרָאֵל וּפָרָשָׁיו. - And Elisha fell ill with the illness of which he was to die, and Yoash king of Israel came down to him and wept over his face and said: My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen.
Chazal expound the language of the verse: "fell ill" is one, "his illness" is two, "of which he was to die" is three - three illnesses did Elisha suffer, and this last one is the illness of which he died. And the illness that preceded it came upon him for having incited bears against the youths.
And behold, Elisha is the one through whom Chazael was anointed as king of Aram. At the moment he anointed him, Elisha wept, for he saw through prophecy what he was destined to do to Israel and how he would rip open their pregnant women, and Chazael answered him: "Is your servant a dog," who am I and what am I that I should do this? And Elisha revealed to him that he had seen that Hashem had anointed him as king over Aram. And let us remember: the prophecy of the anointing was first given to Eliyahu, and only following Elisha's request "let a double portion of your spirit be upon me" was the privilege given to Elisha to transmit this prophecy - the anointing of Chazael as king over Aram and the anointing of Yehu as king over Israel, these two matters were placed in his hands.
And since this was so, as long as Elisha lived, it was impossible for that which was anointed through him to be nullified during his lifetime. Chazael, concerning whom a prophecy had been given that he would distress Israel, his prophecy was to be fulfilled as long as Elisha lived. But now, when he fell ill with his illness and was near his passing, Yoash came down to him. This was at the beginning of his reign, when Yehoachaz his father was still alive, and he came and pleaded before him that the navi have mercy on him and remove from him that decree of Chazael king of Aram who was anointed through him.
And when he says "my father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen" - this is the language that Elisha himself said to Eliyahu. And its meaning is: you are better for Israel than chariots and horsemen. When Israel wish to be saved from their enemies they need chariots and horsemen, but when the navi was among them they needed neither chariots nor horsemen, for the navi would pray to Hashem and the Holy One, blessed be He, would put their enemies to flight.
וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ אֱלִישָׁע: קַח קֶשֶׁת וְחִצִּים, וַיִּקַּח אֵלָיו קֶשֶׁת וְחִצִּים. וַיֹּאמֶר לְמֶלֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל: הַרְכֵּב יָדְךָ עַל־הַקֶּשֶׁת, וַיַּרְכֵּב יָדוֹ, וַיָּשֶׂם אֱלִישָׁע יָדָיו עַל־יְדֵי הַמֶּלֶךְ. - And Elisha said to him: Take a bow and arrows, and he took to himself a bow and arrows. And he said to the king of Israel: Set your hand upon the bow, and he set his hand upon it, and Elisha placed his hands upon the king's hands.
Elisha commands him to bring a bow and arrows, and he brings them. Then he tells him to set his hand upon the bow: one hand on the string and the other on the bow itself. And Elisha places his hands upon the king's hands, so that the king's hands are held.
וַיֹּאמֶר: פְּתַח הַחַלּוֹן קֵדְמָה, וַיִּפְתָּח. וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלִישָׁע: יְרֵה, וַיּוֹר. וַיֹּאמֶר: חֵץ־תְּשׁוּעָה לַה' וְחֵץ תְּשׁוּעָה בַאֲרָם, וְהִכִּיתָ אֶת־אֲרָם בַּאֲפֵק עַד־כַּלֵּה. - And he said: Open the window eastward, and he opened it. And Elisha said: Shoot, and he shot. And he said: An arrow of deliverance for Hashem, and an arrow of deliverance against Aram, and you shall strike Aram in Afek until they are consumed.
At first glance this is puzzling: how can he open the window when his hands are held on the bow? The Radak explains that he told him to open the window before he set his hands upon the bow. And there is an even simpler explanation: the verse does not say to whom he spoke, and it may be that he turned to one of those standing there, for the king is never alone but comes with attendants and helpers.
And in which direction did he shoot? Aram was to the east of the Land of Israel, as it is written "Aram from the east," and therefore he told him to shoot eastward, toward Aram. "An arrow of deliverance for Hashem, and an arrow of deliverance against Aram" - that there be deliverance for Hashem through his overthrowing Aram. In this he told him that the first victory would be miraculous, for Israel would be few in number.
וַיֹּאמֶר: קַח הַחִצִּים, וַיִּקָּח. וַיֹּאמֶר לְמֶלֶךְ־יִשְׂרָאֵל: הַךְ־אַרְצָה, וַיַּךְ שָׁלֹשׁ־פְּעָמִים וַיַּעֲמֹד. - And he said: Take the arrows, and he took them. And he said to the king of Israel: Strike the ground, and he struck three times and stopped.
וַיִּקְצֹף עָלָיו אִישׁ הָאֱלֹהִים וַיֹּאמֶר: לְהַכּוֹת חָמֵשׁ אוֹ־שֵׁשׁ פְּעָמִים, אָז הִכִּיתָ אֶת־אֲרָם עַד־כַּלֵּה, וְעַתָּה שָׁלֹשׁ פְּעָמִים תַּכֶּה אֶת־אֲרָם. - And the man of God was angry with him and said: You should have struck five or six times, then you would have struck Aram until they were consumed, but now you shall strike Aram only three times.
The prophet told him to strike the ground with the arrows, and he struck only three times, for he did not understand that the prophet meant that he should strike many times. And the prophet said to him: you should have struck five or six times upon the ground, and then you would have merited to overthrow Aram until they were consumed; but now you shall strike Aram only three times, and you will not succeed in striking them more, corresponding to the number of times you struck the ground.
At first glance this whole performance seems unnecessary. When a person goes to a prophet, he expects the prophet to bless and to pray, and through this deliverance will come. Why here does he suddenly tell him: bring arrows, shoot toward Aram, and then strike the ground?
The Malbim explains in his characteristically original way: how was Chazael anointed as king of Aram? Through the words of Elisha, who told him in the name of Hashem that he would be king, and with those same words Israel was handed over to him, for he told him that he would strike Israel. The rule is that a word has no power to nullify another word; the Gemara says "a deed comes and nullifies a word" - to nullify a word one needs something stronger, one needs to perform a deed. Therefore a deed was needed here that would carry more power than the power of the word spoken to Chazael that he would rule over and strike Israel, and through the deed there would be power to nullify that word.
A further explanation is that of the Ramban in Parashat Bereishit (Bereishit 12, 6), and it is a very important principle for all the prophecies in which we see that a deed is performed. The Ramban says: "Know that every decree of the watchers" - that is, a decree from on high through angels - "when it goes out from the potential of a decree into an act of similitude, the decree is fulfilled in any event." That is: as long as the matter is merely a decree, merely a word, it can be nullified, for every evil decree can be nullified and the Holy One, blessed be He, retracts it. But once a deed is performed on earth resembling it, an act of similitude, the decree is fulfilled and is not nullified.
This is why the prophets would perform a deed within their prophecies. As Yirmiyahu commanded Baruch: "And when you finish reading the words of this scroll, tie a stone to it and cast it into the Euphrates," and say "so shall Bavel sink" - he performs a deed that shows sinking, and once the deed is done the matter is sealed and cannot be nullified. So too Tzidkiyah ben Kenaanah took horns of iron and said "with these you shall gore Aram" - and this was a false prophet, and you can see how well he learned the techniques: he made himself horns of iron, as if to say that this is a prophecy from which there is no retraction, and come what may the matter will surely be fulfilled. And the Ramban says that this is also the matter of Elisha placing his arm upon the bow, our very verses.
We saw the same by Shmuel: when Shaul turned to leave, "he grabbed the corner of his robe and it tore," and he said to him "Hashem has torn the kingdom of Israel from you." And why does he inform him of this in a final way only now? Because until now it had been merely in the category of prophecy, and once the tearing was done, a deed and an image on earth resembling it, the matter was sealed and the prophecy would surely be fulfilled. Here too Elisha wanted to perform a deed, to make clear that the matter would be fulfilled and there was no retraction from it.
Yet we must still ask: if the prophet wanted him to strike six times, why did he not say so openly? Why does he come afterward and tell him "you should have struck"? You told me to strike and I struck, you did not tell me how many; had you said so, I would have struck even a hundred times. So why did "the man of God grow angry with him"?
The Me'am Lo'ez brings that in order to draw down the divine abundance, a person must first act from below: an awakening from below, and then comes the awakening from above. And since he struck only three times, in the awakening from below he was lax, and consequently so too would be the awakening from above.
I read about Rav Kaduri, and I also heard a very similar story, that this was his way. A young man came to him who for many years had had no children. The Rav told him to take a few grains of wheat, sprout them, and come to him after some time. He did so and came to him with two grains of wheat that had sprouted. The Rav grew angry with him and said: why did you put only two? You should have put ten! And indeed two children were born to him through the power of his blessing. From here we see the idea of an awakening from below. And in truth, the righteous also conceal their deeds in this way, and perform these things as if by way of a segulah, as if by natural means, in order to conceal their deeds.
וַיָּמָת אֱלִישָׁע וַיִּקְבְּרֻהוּ, וּגְדוּדֵי מוֹאָב יָבֹאוּ בָאָרֶץ בָּא שָׁנָה. - And Elisha died and they buried him, and the raiding bands of Moav would come into the land at the coming of the year.
Elisha was ill, and as a result of that illness he passed away and was buried. And now Scripture tells us of another miracle that occurred after his death. "At the coming of the year" means at the completion of the year: after a year had passed from his burial, the raiding bands of Moav came.
וַיְהִי הֵם קֹבְרִים אִישׁ, וְהִנֵּה רָאוּ אֶת־הַגְּדוּד, וַיַּשְׁלִיכוּ אֶת־הָאִישׁ בְּקֶבֶר אֱלִישָׁע, וַיֵּלֶךְ וַיִּגַּע הָאִישׁ בְּעַצְמוֹת אֱלִישָׁע וַיְחִי וַיָּקָם עַל־רַגְלָיו. - And it happened, as they were burying a man, that behold, they saw the raiding band, and they cast the man into the grave of Elisha, and the man went down and touched the bones of Elisha, and he came to life and rose up on his feet.
The verse describes: they were burying a man, and just as they were bringing him to burial, the raiding bands of Moav arrived. Had the bands reached them, they would have plundered them, struck them, or killed them; there was no choice but to flee. But there was a corpse here that had to be dealt with somehow, and so "they threw the man into the grave of Elisha." Elisha's grave was apparently in a cave, and it was far simpler to open the cave and throw the body in than to dig a grave, place the body, and cover it. "And the man went and touched" - this does not mean that he walked, but that in all the haste the corpse rolled and touched the bones of Elisha, and immediately "he revived and stood up on his feet."
And why did Elisha merit this? Because it was said to him, "Please let a double portion of your spirit be upon me." Eliyahu the prophet revived the son of the woman of Tzarfat, and Elisha revived the son of the Shunamite woman - that is one. And where is the second? This is that case: Elisha revives a person, one during his lifetime and one after his death. And this is even greater, that he revived after his own death.
First opinion: that man was Shalum ben Tikvah, one of the great men of the generation, who performed acts of charity every day. What would he do? He would fill a waterskin and sit at the entrance of the city, and everyone who came along the road he would give to drink and revive his soul. And by the merit of those acts of charity, the divine spirit rested upon his wife, as it says, "to Chuldah the prophetess, wife of Shalum ben Tikvah." It turns out that he had such merit that even after his passing his life was restored to him by the merit of all those acts of charity. And when he died, Israel went to perform kindness with him and bury him, and since he touched the bones of Elisha he came to life. And after he returned to life he fathered Chanamel, that is Chanamel your cousin who came concerning the purchase of the field. And so says the Tosefta in the Targum: he is Shalum ben Tikvah, and he fathered Chanamel afterward. So he returned to life, returned to his home, and even fathered children.
Second opinion: he did not truly live on for many years, but rather, so that he would not be buried with a righteous man, it was arranged from Heaven that he be roused to life so that he would leave from there, based on "Do not gather my soul with sinners." For a righteous man is pained when a wicked person is buried beside him. I brought in the book "Bemishnat HaChalomot" quite a few stories of righteous men who, when wicked people were buried beside them, had great pain from this, and came in a dream to their relatives and said: Why did you place a lavatory next to me? There is a terrible smell here that I cannot bear, or there is smoke here. And what is done in such a case? Usually a partition is created and a wall of ten handbreadths is built, and even though the wall is above, this suffices as far as the soul of the righteous man is concerned, so that the proximity of the wicked one will not disturb him. And according to this opinion the verse is precise: "he stood up on his feet": he arose on his feet, but he did not go to his house, and not like the first opinion that he went to his house, but only that he would not remain there, and not that he continued to live.
And if so, according to this opinion how was the blessing "Please let a double portion of your spirit be upon me" fulfilled? They explain that the second time he revived a dead person was with Naaman: Naaman was a leper, and a leper is considered as dead, and by curing him of his leprosy it is considered as though he revived a dead person a second time.
Third opinion: the one buried was a false prophet, that old prophet who misled Iddo the prophet. Iddo came to prophesy against Yaravam ben Nevat in Beit El, and the old prophet said to him: You have nothing to worry about, you may eat with me and return by the way you came, for God gave me a prophecy to tell you that what was told to you is null and void. But Iddo should not have listened to his words. He was punished, and when the false prophet returned to his home he received a prophecy within his house: Tell the true prophet, because you did not listen to the voice of Hashem and listened to the voice of the false prophet, you shall not live. And so it was: when Iddo left the house, the lion killed him, and the donkey remained standing by the corpse. The lion, whose nature would have been to attack the donkey and not the man, attacked specifically the man and did nothing to the donkey, and from this it was clear to all that this was not a natural matter but the fulfillment of a prophecy. And when the false prophet died some days later, they buried him beside Elisha. And since it was entirely unfitting for Elisha to be buried beside such a false prophet, a corrupt wicked man who caused the death of the true prophet, immediately the false prophet arose and went away from there, and died again, and did not continue to live a long life.
וַחֲזָאֵל מֶלֶךְ אֲרָם לָחַץ אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵל כֹּל יְמֵי יְהוֹאָחָז. - And Chazael king of Aram oppressed Israel all the days of Yehoachaz.
וַיָּחָן ה' אֹתָם וַיְרַחֲמֵם וַיִּפֶן אֲלֵיהֶם לְמַעַן בְּרִיתוֹ אֶת־אַבְרָהָם יִצְחָק וְיַעֲקֹב, וְלֹא אָבָה הַשְׁחִיתָם וְלֹא־הִשְׁלִיכָם מֵעַל־פָּנָיו עַד־עָתָּה. - And Hashem was gracious to them and had mercy on them, and turned toward them for the sake of His covenant with Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov, and He was unwilling to destroy them and did not cast them from His presence until now.
After describing to us the troubles of Israel, and after describing to us that their spiritual state was not such that they would be worthy of mercy, the prophet comes and says "And Hashem was gracious to them" - a term of grace, a free gift, for which they were not worthy. And why did He turn to them? "For the sake of His covenant with Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov": there is a promise and a prophecy given to the forefathers, that the seed of Israel would never cease to exist - "If these laws should cease from before Me, then the seed of Israel would cease from being a nation before Me for all time," "And you, the children of Israel, are not consumed." Only for the sake of that promise, in order to fulfill His covenant, did the Holy One, blessed be He, come and save them.
And if we put it in our own language today, this is a certificate of poverty for the people of Israel: the only reason the Holy One, blessed be He, needed to save them is the promise to the forefathers. On your own part, God forbid, you have no merit to be saved; but what is to be done, as it were, I promised the forefathers that I would save the people of Israel and that they would endure before Me, and therefore I am saving them for the sake of that promise. And this comes to teach us to what a state of degradation they had reached.
וַיָּמָת חֲזָאֵל מֶלֶךְ־אֲרָם, וַיִּמְלֹךְ בֶּן־הֲדַד בְּנוֹ תַּחְתָּיו. - And Chazael king of Aram died, and Ben Hadad his son reigned in his place.
Chazael died, and Ben Hadad his son arose in his place, and now there is room for salvation to come to the people of Israel, for in the days of Ben Hadad the decree was annulled.
וַיָּשָׁב יְהוֹאָשׁ בֶּן־יְהוֹאָחָז וַיִּקַּח אֶת־הֶעָרִים מִיַּד בֶּן־הֲדַד בֶּן־חֲזָאֵל אֲשֶׁר לָקַח מִיַּד יְהוֹאָחָז אָבִיו בַּמִּלְחָמָה, שָׁלֹשׁ פְּעָמִים הִכָּהוּ יוֹאָשׁ וַיָּשֶׁב אֶת־עָרֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל. - And Yehoash son of Yehoachaz took back the cities from the hand of Ben Hadad son of Chazael, which he had taken from the hand of Yehoachaz his father in war. Three times Yoash struck him, and he recovered the cities of Israel.
Notice the turnabout: if until now this had been a war of survival, now it is already a war of attack. Yoash son of Yehoachaz goes and attacks Ben Hadad, and takes back those very cities that Chazael and Ben Hadad had taken from the hand of Yehoachaz his father in war, "and he recovered the cities of Israel." And how many times did he strike him? Only three times, and he did not manage to root him out completely, since he did not strike with the arrows more than three times. But in those three times he succeeded in bringing Israel to a state where they prevailed over the nations.
In this chapter we learned how a harsh decree that had been decreed upon Israel, to be in the hand of Chazael and Ben Hadad all the days, was annulled through the power of Yehoachaz's prayer, even though Israel did not repent, but rather because the Holy One, blessed be He, saw their oppression and the poverty of their army, and in order to fulfill His covenant with Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov. We learned the ways of reconciling the order of the pesukim concerning Yoash, in the Malbim, the Radak, and Rashi; we saw the deed of the bow and the arrows and the striking of the arrows to the ground, and the two great principles that stand behind it: the Malbim's "the deed comes and nullifies the word," and the Ramban's principle that a decree that has emerged from the realm of mere word into an act of symbolic representation is fulfilled in any case. And we learned from the anger of the prophet the matter of the awakening from below: as the measure of the awakening below, so is the measure of the abundance above. And finally we saw the greatness of Elisha, that even after his death a touch of his bones revived a dead man, and the kindness of the Holy One, blessed be He, who never breaks His covenant with our forefathers.