2 Kings 4:1-10

1 Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying , Thy servant my husband is dead ; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the LORD: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen.

2 And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said , Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil.

3 Then he said , Go , borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few .

4 And when thou art come in , thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full.

5 So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out .

6 And it came to pass, when the vessels were full , that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed .

7 Then she came and told the man of God. And he said , Go , sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest .

8 And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, that as oft as he passed by , he turned in thither to eat bread.

9 And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually.

10 Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither.

2 Kings 4:1-10 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.

Footnotes

• [a]. debt: or, creditor
• [b]. it fell on a day: Heb. there was a day