מלכים ב, פרק ו׳, פסוק ו׳

A man loses his heavy work tool in the depths of a river, and the prophet Elisha steps in to help, bending the very laws of nature to retrieve it. Elisha begins by asking for the exact location where the iron sank [מצודת דוד, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. He then cuts a piece of wood [מצודת דוד, מצודת ציון] and throws it into the water, causing the heavy iron to rise and float on the surface [רש"י, מצודת ציון, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. Some understand this action as the prophet actively bringing the iron up to the surface himself [רד"ק].

How exactly this miracle occurred is a matter of distinct perspectives. One approach suggests a physical connection formed between the wood and the iron. The prophet cut a new piece of wood to perfectly match the hole in the sunken iron tool. When he threw it into the river, the wood fit right into the iron, acting as a new handle so that both could float to the surface together [רד"ק, רלב"ג]. He used a newly cut piece of wood rather than retrieving the original handle because miracles are uniquely performed through new objects [רד"ק]. To make this work, the wood was thrown with enough force to reach the riverbed and was cut large enough so that its natural ability to float would overpower the heavy weight of the iron [רלב"ג].

In contrast, other commentators firmly reject any natural explanation, viewing the event as a complete reversal of the laws of nature [מלבי"ם, אברבנאל]. According to this view, the wood never attached to the iron. Instead, the prophet threw the wood into the exact spot where the tool sank, as if sending the wood down to call the iron up. The miracle was a total swap of natural properties: the light wood sank to the bottom like lead, while the heavy iron floated to the top like wood. This dramatic inversion was meant to show that the laws of nature are entirely subject to the will of God, who can alter them however He pleases [אברבנאל].

This remarkable event is recorded as the twelfth miracle in Elisha's series of wonders. It serves as a smaller, personal echo of the grand miracle of the splitting of the Jordan River [מלבי"ם, אברבנאל].