מלכים ב, פרק ו׳, פסוק ד׳

Elisha and his students reach the banks of the Jordan River and immediately set to work chopping down trees, following through on their original plan [ביאור שטיינזלץ]. They engage in the heavy labor of cutting the wood, an action that implies a deep and decisive severing, much like King Solomon's famous command to divide the child [מצודת ציון]. While this everyday task of gathering timber seems entirely routine, it actually serves as the quiet setup for the unusual event that is about to unfold involving a lost ax [מדוד ועד לחורבן].