2 Kings 4:8

8 Forsooth a day was made, and Elisha passed by a city, Shunem; and a great woman was there, which held him, that he should eat bread, that is, busily prayed (him to come) to meat. And when he passed oft thereby, he turned to her, that he would eat bread with her (And often when he passed by, he would turn in at her home, so he could share a meal with her).

2 Kings 4:8 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 4:8

And it fell on a day
Or so it was at a certain time:

that Elisha passed to Shunem;
a city in the tribe of Issachar; of which see ( Joshua 19:18 ) ,

where was a great woman;
of great wealth and riches, of great benevolence and hospitality, and of great grace and piety; that feared sin, as the Targum paraphrases it; a woman of great credit and reputation on all accounts. The Jews say ^F21 she was the sister of Abishag the Shunammite, and the mother of Iddo the prophet:

and she constrained him to eat bread;
she had observed him at all times pass that way, and guessed by his habit and deportment that he was a religious man, and therefore took an opportunity to invite him into her house, and take a dinner with her; but he being modest and shy, she was obliged to use some pressing language, and be importunate with him, that he would accept of her invitation, which he did:

and so it was, that, as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to
eat bread;
being made very welcome, and encouraged by the free and kind entertainment he met with, as often as he had occasion to come that way, he called and took a meal with her; and this it seems was pretty often, for Shunem was not far from Carmel, which he frequented, and lay in the way to Samaria, Bethel, and Jericho, places he often visited, the schools of the prophets being there.

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FOOTNOTES:

F21 T. Bab. Bava Bathra, fol. 57. 2.

2 Kings 4:8 In-Context

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.)

7 Forsooth she came, and showed it to the man of God; and he said, Go thou, sell the oil, and yield to thy creancer; and thou and thy children live ye off the remnant, or the residue. (And she came, and showed it to the man of God; and he said, Go thou, sell the oil, and yield what thou owest to thy creditor; and then thou and thy children live ye on the rest.)

8 Forsooth a day was made, and Elisha passed by a city, Shunem; and a great woman was there, which held him, that he should eat bread, that is, busily prayed (him to come) to meat. And when he passed oft thereby, he turned to her, that he would eat bread with her (And often when he passed by, he would turn in at her home, so he could share a meal with her).

9 And she said to her husband, I perceive that this is an holy man of God, that passeth oft by us (who often passeth by us);

10 therefore make we a little solar to him, and put we therein a little bed to him, and a board, and a chair, and a candlestick; that when he cometh to us, he dwell there. (and so let us make a solarium for him, and put we a bed in it, and a table, and a chair, and a candlestick for him; so that when he cometh to us, he can rest there.)