2 Kings 4:1-6

1 Forsooth a woman of the wives of prophets cried to Elisha, and said, Thy servant, mine husband, is dead, and thou knowest that thy servant dreaded God; and lo! the creancer, that is, he to whom debt is owed, cometh to take my two sons to serve him. (And a woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried to Elisha, and said, Thy servant, my husband, is dead, and thou knowest that thy servant feared God/revered God; and lo! the creditor cometh to take away my two sons to serve him.)
2 To whom Elisha said, What wilt thou that I do to thee? (What wilt thou that I do for thee?) say thou to me, what hast thou in thine house? And she answered, I thine handmaid have not anything in mine house, no but a little of oil, with which I shall be anointed.
3 To whom he said, Go thou, and ask by borrowing of all thy neighbours void vessels, not a few. (To whom he said, Go thou, and ask to borrow empty vessels from all of thy neighbours, and borrow not just a few.)
4 And enter, and close thy door, when thou art within, thou and thy sons (And go inside, and when thou and thy sons be within, close the door); and put ye thereof into all these vessels; and when those shall be full, thou shalt take (them, and put them) away.
5 Therefore the woman went, and closed the door on herself and on her sons, (and) they brought the vessels, and she poured in(to them).
6 And when the vessels were full, she said to her son, Bring yet a vessel to me. And he answered, I have not. And then the oil stood, increasing no more. (And when all the vessels were full, she said to her son, Bring me another vessel. And he answered, I have no more. And then the oil stood still, or stopped, and increased no more.)

2 Kings 4:1-6 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO 2 KINGS 4

This chapter treats of the miracles of Elisha, of his multiplying a poor widow's pot of oil for the payment of her husband's debts, 2Ki 4:1-7 of obtaining a son for a Shunamitish woman, who had been very hospitable to him, 2Ki 4:8-17, of his raising up her son to life when dead, 2Ki 4:18-37, of his curing the deadly pottage made of wild gourds, 2Ki 4:38-41, and of his feeding one hundred men with twenty barley loaves, 2Ki 4:42-44.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.