2 Kings 4:2

2 Elisha said to her, "What can I do for you? Tell me what you still have left in the house." She said, "Your servant has nothing at all in the house except a small jar of oil."

2 Kings 4:2 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 4:2

And Elisha said unto her, what shall I do for thee?
&c.] Or can I do, being poor himself, and unable to relieve her out of his substance, and not knowing where to get anything for her; and so what could she expect from him? signifying, that he pitied her case, but all that he could do was to give her his best advice, and pray for her:

tell me what thou hast in thy house?
that she could part with and dispose of, in order to pay her debt; and satisfy her creditor:

and she said, thine handmaid hath not anything in the house, save a
pot of oil;
that is, nothing of any value; she might have some things, some sort of household goods, though perhaps she had parted with most of them in her poverty; this was the most valuable thing she had.

2 Kings 4:2 In-Context

1 Now there was a woman who had been married to a member of a group of prophets. She appealed to Elisha, saying, "My husband, your servant, is dead. You know how he feared the LORD. But now someone he owed money to has come to take my two children away as slaves."

2 Elisha said to her, "What can I do for you? Tell me what you still have left in the house." She said, "Your servant has nothing at all in the house except a small jar of oil."

3 He said, "Go out and borrow containers from all your neighbors. Get as many empty containers as possible.

4 Then go in and close the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all those containers. Set each one aside when it's full."

5 She left Elisha and closed the door behind her and her sons. They brought her containers as she kept on pouring.