2 Kings 6:5

“But as one was felling a beam, etc.] Cutting down a tree, or a branch of it: the axe head fell into the water: into the waters of Jordan; or “the iron” f78, the iron part of it, with which the wood was cut; that flew off from the helve into the water: and he cried, and said, alas, master! for it was borrowed: it grieved him to lose his axe, because he could do no more work, and the more because it was not his own, but he had borrowed it of his neighbour; and still more, because, as it seems, he was poor, and not able to pay for it, which, being of an honest disposition, gave him distress.”

“it was borrowed--literally, "begged." The scholar's distress arose from the consideration that it had been presented to him; and that, owing to his poverty, he could not procure another.”

“The ax head - literally, as in the margin. The Jews used iron for the heads of axes at a very early date (see Deuteronomy 19:5). They probably acquired a knowledge of the smelting process in Egypt, where iron was employed at least from the time of the third Rameses. return to 'Top of Page'”

“6:5 The Hebrew text indicates that the ax head was made of iron, quite valuable in a time when few iron tools were available. Because it was . . . borrowed, the loss was even more acute.”

“ax head: Heb. iron, Ecc 10:10; Isa 10:34 master: Kg2 6:15, Kg2 3:10; Rev 18:10, Rev 18:16, Rev 18:19 for it was borrowed: Kg2 4:7; Exo 22:14, Exo 22:15; Psa 37:21 4 Kings (2 Kings) 6:6”

“In the felling of the beams, the iron, i.e., the axe, of one of the pupils of the prophets fell into the water, at which he exclaimed with lamentation: "Alas, my lord (i.e., Elisha), and it was begged!" The sorrowful exclamation implied a petition for help. ואת־הבּרזל: "and as for the iron, it fell into the water;" so that even here את does not stand before the nominative, but serves to place the noun in subjection to the clause (cf. Ewald, 277, a.). שׁאוּל does not mean borrowed, but begged. The meaning to borrow is attributed to שׁאל from a misinterpretation of particular passages (see the Comm. on Exo 3:22). The prophets' pupil had begged the axe, because from his poverty he was unable to…”