1 And a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets hath cried unto Elisha, saying, `Thy servant, my husband, is dead, and thou hast known that thy servant was fearing Jehovah, and the lender hath come to take my two children to him for servants.'
2 And Elisha saith unto her, `What do I do for thee? declare to me, what hast thou in the house?' and she saith, `Thy maid-servant hath nothing in the house except a pot of oil.'
3 And he saith, `Go, ask for thee vessels from without, from all thy neighbours -- empty vessels -- let `them' not be few;
4 and thou hast entered, and shut the door upon thee, and upon thy sons, and hast poured out into all these vessels, and the full ones thou dost remove.'
5 And she goeth from him, and shutteth the door upon her, and upon her sons; they are bringing nigh unto her, and she is pouring out,
6 and it cometh to pass, at the filling of the vessels, that she saith unto her son, `Bring nigh unto me a vessel more,' and he saith unto her, `There is not a vessel more;' and the oil stayeth.
7 And she cometh and declareth to the man of God, and he saith, `Go, sell the oil, and repay thy loan; and thou `and' thy sons do live of the rest.'
8 And the day cometh that Elisha passeth over unto Shunem, and there `is' a great woman, and she layeth hold on him to eat bread, and it cometh to pass, at the time of his passing over, he turneth aside thither to eat bread,
9 and she saith unto her husband, `Lo, I pray thee, I have known that a holy man of God he is, passing over by us continually;
10 let us make, I pray thee, a little upper chamber of the wall, and we set for him there a bed, and a table, and a high seat, and a candlestick; and it hath been, in his coming in unto us, he doth turn aside thither.'
11 And the day cometh, that he cometh in thither, and turneth aside unto the upper chamber, and lieth there,
12 and he saith unto Gehazi his young man, `Call for this Shunammite;' and he calleth for her, and she standeth before him.
13 And he saith to him, `Say, I pray thee, unto her, Lo, thou hast troubled thyself concerning us with all this trouble; what -- to do for thee? is it to speak for thee unto the king, or unto the head of the host?' and she saith, `In the midst of my people I am dwelling.'
14 And he saith, `And what -- to do for her?' and Gehazi saith, `Verily she hath no son, and her husband `is' aged.'
15 And he saith, `Call for her;' and he calleth for her, and she standeth at the opening,
16 and he saith, `At this season, according to the time of life, thou art embracing a son;' and she saith, `Nay, my lord, O man of God, do not lie unto thy maid-servant.'
17 And the woman conceiveth and beareth a son, at this season, according to the time of life, that Elisha spake of unto her.
18 And the lad groweth, and the day cometh that he goeth out unto his father, unto the reapers,
19 and he saith unto his father, `My head, my head;' and he saith unto the young man, `Bear him unto his mother;'
20 and he beareth him, and bringeth him in unto his mother, and he sitteth on her knees till the noon, and dieth.
21 And she goeth up, and layeth him on the bed of the man of God, and shutteth `the door' upon him, and goeth out,
22 and calleth unto her husband, and saith, `Send, I pray thee, to me, one of the young men, and one of the asses, and I run unto the man of God, and return.'
23 And he saith, `Wherefore art thou going unto him to-day? -- neither new moon nor sabbath!' and she saith, `Peace `to thee'!'
24 And she saddleth the ass, and saith unto her young man, `Lead, and go, do not restrain riding for me, except I have said `so' to thee.'
25 And she goeth, and cometh in unto the man of God, unto the hill of Carmel, and it cometh to pass, at the man of God's seeing her from over-against, that he saith unto Gehazi his young man, `Lo, this Shunammite;
26 now, run, I pray thee, to meet her, and say to her, Is there peace to thee? is there peace to thy husband? is there peace to the lad?' and she saith, `Peace.'
27 And she cometh in unto the man of God, unto the hill, and layeth hold on his feet, and Gehazi cometh nigh to thrust her away, and the man of God saith, `Let her alone, for her soul `is' bitter to her, and Jehovah hath hidden `it' from me, and hath not declared `it' to me.'
28 And she saith, `Did I ask a son from my lord? did I not say, Do not deceive me?'
29 And he saith to Gehazi, `Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thy hand, and go; when thou dost meet a man, thou dost not salute him; and when a man doth salute thee, thou dost not answer him; and thou hast laid my staff on the face of the youth.'
30 And the mother of the youth saith, `Jehovah liveth, and thy soul liveth -- if I leave thee;' and he riseth and goeth after her.
31 And Gehazi hath passed on before them, and layeth the staff on the face of the youth, and there is no voice, and there is no attention, and he turneth back to meet him, and declareth to him, saying, `The youth hath not awaked.'
32 And Elisha cometh in to the house, and lo, the youth is dead, laid on his bed,
33 and he goeth in and shutteth the door upon them both, and prayeth unto Jehovah.
34 And he goeth up, and lieth down on the lad, and putteth his mouth on his mouth, and his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands, and stretcheth himself upon him, and the flesh of the lad becometh warm;
35 and he turneth back and walketh in the house, once hither and once thither, and goeth up and stretcheth himself upon him, and the youth sneezeth till seven times, and the youth openeth his eyes.
36 And he calleth unto Gehazi, and saith, `Call unto this Shunammite;' and he calleth her, and she cometh in unto him, and he saith, `Lift up thy son.'
37 And she goeth in, and falleth at his feet, and boweth herself to the earth, and lifteth up her son, and goeth out.
38 And Elisha hath turned back to Gilgal, and the famine `is' in the land, and the sons of the prophets are sitting before him, and he saith to his young man, `Set on the great pot, and boil pottage for the sons of the prophets.'
39 And one goeth out unto the field to gather herbs, and findeth a vine of the field, and gathereth of it gourds of the field -- the fulness of his garment -- and cometh in and splitteth `them' into the pot of pottage, for they knew `them' not;
40 and they pour out for the men to eat, and it cometh to pass at their eating of the pottage, that they have cried out, and say, `Death `is' in the pot, O man of God!' and they have not been able to eat.
41 And he saith, `Then bring ye meal;' and he casteth into the pot, and saith, `Pour out for the people, and they eat;' and there was no evil thing in the pot.
42 And a man hath come from Baal-Shalishah, and bringeth in to the man of God bread of first-fruits, twenty loaves of barley, and full ears of corn in its husk, and he saith, `Give to the people, and they eat.'
43 And his minister saith, `What -- do I give this before a hundred men?' and he saith, `Give to the people, and they eat, for thus said Jehovah, Eat and leave;'
44 and he giveth before them, and they eat and leave, according to the word of Jehovah.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on 2 Kings 4
Commentary on 2 Kings 4 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 4
Great service Elisha had done, in the foregoing chapter, for the three kings: to his prayers and prophecies they owed their lives and triumphs. One would have expected that the next chapter would tell us what honours and what dignities were conferred on Elisha for this, that he should immediately be preferred at court, and made prime-minister of state, that Jehoshaphat should take him home with him, and advance him in his kingdom. No, the wise man delivered the army, but no man remembered the wise man, Eccl. 9:15. Or, if he had preferment offered him, he declined it: he preferred the honour of doing good in the schools of the prophets before that of being great in the courts of princes. God magnified him, and that sufficed him-magnified him indeed, for we have him here employed in working no fewer than five miracles.
2Ki 4:1-7
Elisha's miracles were for use, not for show; this recorded here was an act of real charity. Such also were the miracles of Christ, not only great wonders, but great favours to those for whom they were wrought. God magnifies his goodness with his power.
2Ki 4:8-17
The giving of a son to such as were old, and had been long childless, was an ancient instance of the divine power and favour, in the case of Abraham, and Isaac, and Manoah, and Elkanah; we find it here among the wonders wrought by Elisha. This was wrought in recompence for the kind entertainment which a good woman gave him, as the promise of a son was given to Abraham when he entertained angels. Observe here,
2Ki 4:18-37
We may well suppose that, after the birth of this son, the prophet was doubly welcome to the good Shunammite. He had thought himself indebted to her, but henceforth, as long as she lives, she will think herself in his debt, and that she can never do too much for him. We may also suppose that the child was very dear to the prophet, as the son of his prayers, and very dear to the parents, as the son of their old age. But here is,
2Ki 4:38-44
We have here Elisha in his place, in his element, among the sons of the prophets, teaching them, and, as a father, providing for them; and happy it was for them that they had one over them who naturally cared for their state, under whom they were well fed and well taught. There was a dearth in the land, for the wickedness of those that dwelt therein, the same that we read of, ch. 8:1. It continued seven years, just as long again as that in Elijah's time. A famine of bread there was, but not of hearing the word of God, for Elisha had the sons of the prophets sitting before him, to hear his wisdom, who were taught, that they might teach others. Two instances we have here of the care he took about their meat. Christ twice fed those to whom he preached. Elisha was in the more care about it now because of the dearth, that the sons of the prophets might not be ashamed in this evil time, but, even in the days of famine, might be satisfied, Ps. 37:19.