John Gill Commentary 2 Kings 6:5

"But as one was felling a beam, the axe-head fell into the water; and he cried, and said, Alas, my master! for it was borrowed." — 2 Kings 6:5 (ASV)

But as one was felling a beam
Cutting down a tree, or a branch of it:

the axe head fell into the water :
into the waters of Jordan; or "the iron" ^F4 , 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.

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FOOTNOTES:

• F4: (lzrbh) "ferrum", Pagninus, Montanus