2 Kings 8:1

The Shunammite's Land Restored

1 Now Elisha had said to the woman ¹whose son he had restored to life, "Arise, and depart with your household, and sojourn wherever you can, for the LORD ²has called for a famine, and it will come upon the land for ³seven years."

2 Kings 8:1 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 8:1

Then spoke Elisha unto the woman (whose son he had restored
to life)
His hostess at Shunem, ( 2 Kings 4:8-17 ) the following he said to her, not after the famine in Samaria, but before it, as some circumstances show:

saying, arise, and go thou and thine household, and sojourn wheresoever
thou canst sojourn;
with the greatest safety to her person and property, and with the least danger to her moral and religious character:

for the Lord hath called for a famine, and it shall also come upon the
land seven years:
which Jarchi says was the famine that was in the days of Joel; it was, undoubtedly, on account of the idolatry of Israel, and was double the time of that in the days of Elijah.

2 Kings 8:1 In-Context

1 Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, "Arise, and depart with your household, and sojourn wherever you can, for the LORD has called for a famine, and it will come upon the land for seven years."

2 So the woman arose and did according to the word of the man of God. She went with her household and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years.

3 And at the end of the seven years, when the woman returned from the land of the Philistines, she went to appeal to the king for her house and her land.

4 Now the king was talking with Gehazi the servant of the man of God, saying, "Tell me all the great things that Elisha has done."

5 And while he was telling the king how Elisha had restored the dead to life, behold, the woman whose son he had restored to life appealed to the king for her house and her land. And Gehazi said, "My lord, O king, here is the woman, and here is her son whom Elisha restored to life."

Cross References

• 1. 2 Kings 4:35
• 2. Psalms 105:16; Haggai 1:11
• 3. [Genesis 41:27]