2 Kings 4:3

3 And he said, Go, borrow for thyself vessels abroad from all thy neighbours, empty vessels; let it not be few;

2 Kings 4:3 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 4:3

Then he said, go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy
neighbours
For he perceived that she had none:

even empty vessels;
which they might more readily lend her:

borrow not a few;
but as many as she could get; the prophet, under a divine impulse, was directed to say this to her, foreseeing, by a spirit of prophecy, that a large quantity of oil would be given her.

2 Kings 4:3 In-Context

1 And a woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried to Elisha saying, Thy servant my husband is dead, and thou knowest that thy servant feared Jehovah; and the creditor is come to take my two children to be bondmen.

2 And Elisha said to her, What shall I do for thee? Tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thy handmaid has not anything at all in the house but a pot of oil.

3 And he said, Go, borrow for thyself vessels abroad from all thy neighbours, empty vessels; let it not be few;

4 and go in, and shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and pour out into all those vessels, and set aside what is full.

5 And she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons: they brought [the vessels] to her, and she poured out.

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit. 'make it not ...'