Elisha Causes an Ax to Float
2 Kings 6:1–7
1 And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us.
2 Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell. And he answered, Go ye.
3 And one said, Be content, I pray thee, and go with thy servants. And he answered, I will go.
4 So he went with them. And when they came to Jordan, they cut down wood.
5 But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water: and he cried, and said, Alas, master! for it was borrowed.
6 And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he shewed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither; and the iron did swim.
7 Therefore said he, Take it up to thee. And he put out his hand, and took it.
Elder James E. Talmage wrote:
“When the prophet Elisha caused the ax to float in the river (see 2 Kings 6:5–7), he brought to his service a power superior to that of gravity. Without doubt the iron was heavier than the water; yet by the operation of this higher force it was supported, suspended, or otherwise sustained at the surface, as if it were held there by a human hand or rendered sufficiently buoyant by attached floaters.”
(The Articles of Faith, 12th ed. [1924], 221.)
