2 Kings 6:8

ELISHA REVEALED THE MANEUVERS OF THE SYRIANS TO JORAM

"Now the king of Syria was warring against Israel; and he took counsel with his servants, saying, In such and such a place shall be my camp. And the man of God sent unto the king of Israel, saying, Beware thou pass not such a place; for thither the Syrians are coming down. And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of; and he saved himself there, not once nor twice. And the heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled for this thing; and he called his servants, and said unto them, Will ye not show me which of you is for the king of Israel? And one of his servants said, Nay, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber. And he said, Go, and see where he is, that I may send and fetch him. And it was told him, saying, Behold, he is in Dothan."

The war mentioned here was not an all-out operation, but a kind of guerilla attack carried out by bands of soldiers making sudden forays into Israel, striking first in one place and then in another. This is evident from 2 Kings 6:23.

"He saved himself there, not once, nor twice" (2 Kings 6:10). These words indicate that there were multiple occasions (a half dozen or more), upon which the band of Syrians had laid a careful ambush against Israel, only to have it completely frustrated by the Israelites' prior knowledge of it. This became so obvious that the king of the Syrians believed that a traitor in his own staff was a secret spy for Israel. However, when he mentioned this possibility in a staff meeting, he was told that his real problem was the prophet Elisha. He then ordered them to find and capture the prophet.