2 Kings 4:2

2 Elisha said to her, "What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?" She answered, "Your servant has nothing in the house, except a 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 the wife of a member of the company of prophets cried to Elisha, "Your servant my husband is dead; and you know that your servant feared the Lord, but a creditor has come to take my two children as slaves."

2 Elisha said to her, "What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?" She answered, "Your servant has nothing in the house, except a jar of oil."

3 He said, "Go outside, borrow vessels from all your neighbors, empty vessels and not just a few.

4 Then go in, and shut the door behind you and your children, and start pouring into all these vessels; when each is full, set it aside."

5 So she left him and shut the door behind her and her children; they kept bringing vessels to her, and she kept pouring.