2 Kings 4
4
Elisha Helps a Widow and Her Sons
1 Now a wife of one of the prophets#tn Heb “a wife from among the wives of the sons of the prophets.” appealed#tn Or “cried out.” to Elisha for help, saying, “Your servant, my husband is dead. You know that your servant was a loyal follower of the Lord.#tn Heb “your servant feared the Lord.” “Fear” refers here to obedience and allegiance, the products of healthy respect for the Lord’s authority. Now the creditor is coming to take away my two boys to be his servants.” 2 Elisha said to her, “What can I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” She answered, “Your servant has nothing in the house except a small jar of olive oil.” 3 He said, “Go and ask all your neighbors for empty containers.#tn Heb “Go, ask for containers from outside, from all your neighbors, empty containers.” Get as many as you can.#tn Heb “Do not borrow just a few.” 4 Go and close the door behind you and your sons. Pour the olive oil into all the containers;#tn Heb “all these vessels.” set aside each one when you have filled it.” 5 So she left him and closed the door behind her and her sons. As they were bringing the containers to her, she was pouring the olive oil. 6 When the containers were full, she said to one of her sons,#tn Heb “to her son.” “Bring me another container.” But he answered her, “There are no more.” Then the olive oil stopped flowing. 7 She went and told the prophet.#tn Heb “man of God” (also in vv. 16, 22, 25, 27 [twice]). He said, “Go, sell the olive oil. Repay your creditor, and then you and your sons can live off the rest of the profit.”
Elisha Gives Life to a Boy
8 One day Elisha traveled to Shunem, where a prominent#tn Heb “great,” perhaps “wealthy.” woman lived. She insisted that he stop for a meal.#tn Or “she urged him to eat some food.” So whenever he was passing through, he would stop in there for a meal.#tn Or “he would turn aside there to eat some food.” 9 She said to her husband, “Look, I’m sure#tn Heb “I know.” that the man who regularly passes through here is a very special prophet.#tn Heb “holy man of God.” 10 Let’s make a small private upper room#tn Heb “a small upper room of a wall”; according to HALOT 832 s.v. עֲלִיָּה, this refers to “a fully walled upper room.” and furnish it with#tn Heb “and let’s put there for him.” a bed, table, chair, and lamp. When he visits us, he can stay there.”
11 One day Elisha#tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity. came for a visit; he went#tn Heb “turned aside.” into the upper room and rested.#tn Or “slept there.” 12 He told his servant Gehazi, “Ask the Shunammite woman to come here.”#tn Heb “Call for this Shunammite woman.” So he did so and she came to him.#tn Heb “and he called for her and she stood before him.” 13 Elisha said to Gehazi,#tn Heb “he said to him.” “Tell her, ‘Look, you have treated us with such great respect.#tn Heb “you have turned trembling to us with all this trembling.” The exaggerated language is probably idiomatic. The point seems to be that she has taken great pains or gone out of her way to be kind to them. Her concern was a sign of her respect for the prophetic office. What can I do for you? Can I put in a good word for you with the king or the commander of the army?’” She replied, “I’m quite secure.”#tn Heb “Among my people I am living.” This answer suggests that she has security within the context of her family. 14 So he asked Gehazi,#tn Heb “and he said.” “What can I do for her?” Gehazi replied, “She has no son, and her husband is old.” 15 Elisha told him, “Ask her to come here.”#tn Heb “Call for her.” So he did so#tn Heb “and he called her.” and she came and stood in the doorway.#tn Heb “and he called for her and she stood in the door.” 16 He said, “About this time next year#tn Heb “at this appointed time, at the time [when it is] reviving.” For a discussion of the second phrase see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 57. you will be holding a son.” She said, “No, my master! O prophet, do not lie to your servant!” 17 The woman did conceive, and at the specified time the next year she gave birth to a son, just as Elisha had told her.
18 The boy grew and one day he went out to see his father who was with the harvest workers.#tn Heb “to his father, to the harvesters.” 19 He said to his father, “My head! My head!” His father#tn Heb “He”; the referent (the boy’s father) has been specified in the translation for clarity. told a servant, “Carry him to his mother.” 20 So he picked him up and took him to his mother. He sat on her lap#tn Heb “knees.” until noon and then died. 21 She went up and laid him down on the prophet’s#tn Heb “man of God’s.” bed. She shut the door behind her and left. 22 She called to her husband, “Send me one of the servants and one of the donkeys, so I can go see the prophet quickly and then return.” 23 He said, “Why do you want to go see him today? It is not the new moon#sn The new moon was a time of sacrifice and special feasts (Num 28:14; 1 Sam 20:5). Apparently it was a convenient time to visit a prophet. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 57. or the Sabbath.” She said, “Everything’s fine.”#tn Heb “peace.” 24 She saddled the donkey and told her servant, “Lead on.#tn Heb “lead [the donkey on] and go.” Do not stop unless I say so.”#tn Heb “do not restrain for me the riding unless I say to you.”
25 So she went to visit#tn Heb “went and came.” the prophet at Mount Carmel. When he#tn Heb “the man of God.” The phrase has been replaced by the relative pronoun “he” in the translation for stylistic reasons. saw her at a distance, he said to his servant Gehazi, “Look, it’s the Shunammite woman. 26 Now, run to meet her and ask her, ‘Are you well? Are your husband and the boy well?’” She told Gehazi,#tn Heb “she said.” The narrator streamlines the story at this point, omitting any reference to Gehazi running to meet her and asking her the questions. “Everything’s fine.” 27 But when she reached the prophet on the mountain, she grabbed hold of his feet. Gehazi came near to push her away, but the prophet said, “Leave her alone, for she is very upset.#tn Heb “her soul [i.e., ‘disposition’] is bitter.” The Lord has kept the matter hidden from me; he didn’t tell me about it.” 28 She said, “Did I ask my master for a son? Didn’t I say, ‘Don’t mislead me?’” 29 Elisha#tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity. told Gehazi, “Tuck your robes into your belt, take my staff,#tn Heb “take my staff in your hand.” and go! Don’t stop to exchange greetings with anyone!#tn Heb “If you meet a man, do not greet him with a blessing; if a man greets you with a blessing, do not answer.” Place my staff on the child’s face.” 30 The mother of the child said, “As certainly as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So Elisha#tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity. The referent must be Elisha here, since the following verse makes it clear that Gehazi had gone on ahead of them. got up and followed her back.
31 Now Gehazi went on ahead of them. He placed the staff on the child’s face, but there was no sound or response. When he came back to Elisha#tn Heb “to meet him.” he told him, “The child did not wake up.” 32 When Elisha arrived at the house, there was#tn Heb “look.” the child lying dead on his bed. 33 He went in by himself and closed the door.#tn Heb “and closed the door behind the two of them.” Then he prayed to the Lord. 34 He got up on the bed and spread his body out over#tn Heb “he went up and lay down over.” the boy; he put his mouth on the boy’s#tn Heb “his” (also in the next two clauses). mouth, his eyes over the boy’s eyes, and the palms of his hands against the boy’s palms. He bent down over him, and the boy’s skin#tn Or perhaps, “body”; Heb “flesh.” grew warm. 35 Elisha#tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity. went back and walked around in the house.#tn Heb “and he returned and went into the house, once here and once there.” Then he got up on the bed again#tn Heb “and he went up.” and bent down over him. The child sneezed seven times and opened his eyes. 36 Elisha#tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity. called to Gehazi and said, “Get the Shunammite woman.” So he did so#tn Heb “and he called for her.” and she came to him. He said to her, “Take your son.” 37 She came in, fell at his feet, and bowed down. Then she picked up her son and left.
Elisha Makes a Meal Edible
38 Now Elisha went back to Gilgal, while there was famine in the land. Some of the prophets were visiting him#tn Heb “the sons of the prophets were sitting before him.” and he told his servant, “Put the big pot on the fire#tn The words “the fire” are added for clarification. and boil some stew for the prophets.”#tn Heb “sons of the prophets.” 39 Someone went out to the field to gather some herbs and found a wild vine.#tn Heb “a vine of the field.” He picked some of its fruit,#tn Heb “[some] of the gourds of the field.” enough to fill up the fold of his robe. He came back, cut it up, and threw the slices#tn Heb “he came and cut [them up].” into the stew pot, not knowing they were harmful.#tc The Hebrew text reads, “for they did not know” (יָדָעוּ, yada’u) but some emend the final shureq (וּ, indicating a third plural subject) to holem vav (וֹ, a third masculine singular pronominal suffix on a third singular verb) and read “for he did not know it.” Perhaps it is best to omit the final vav as dittographic (note the vav at the beginning of the next verb form) and read simply, “for he did not know.” See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 59. 40 The stew was poured out#tn Heb “and they poured out [the stew].” The plural subject is probably indefinite. for the men to eat. When they ate some of the stew, they cried out, “Death is in the pot, O prophet!” They could not eat it. 41 He said, “Get some flour.” Then he threw it into the pot and said, “Now pour some out for the men so they may eat.”#tn Or “and let them eat.” There was no longer anything harmful in the pot.
Elisha Miraculously Feeds a Hundred People
42 Now a man from Baal Shalisha brought some food for the prophet#tn Heb “man of God.” – twenty loaves of bread made from the firstfruits of the barley harvest, as well as fresh ears of grain.#tn On the meaning of the word צִקְלוֹן (tsiqlon), “ear of grain,” see HALOT 148 s.v. בָּצֵק and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 59. Elisha#tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity. said, “Set it before the people so they may eat.” 43 But his attendant said, “How can I feed a hundred men with this?”#tn Heb “How can I set this before a hundred men?” He replied, “Set it before the people so they may eat, for this is what the Lord says, ‘They will eat and have some left over.’”#tn The verb forms are infinitives absolute (Heb “eating and leaving over”) and have to be translated in light of the context. 44 So he set it before them; they ate and had some left over, just as the Lord predicted.#tn Heb “according to the word of the Lord.”
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1996 - 2007 by Biblical Studies Press, LLC
2 Kings 4
4
Elisha Answers a Widow’s Request
1A certain woman from the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, “Your servant my husband is dead. Now you know that your servant was a fearer of Yahweh, but the creditor came to take two of my children for himself as slaves. 2Elisha asked her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” Then she said, “Your servant has nothing in the house except a jar of olive oil.” 3Then he said to her, “Go, ask for yourself some containers from the streets, from all your neighbors. You must collect as many empty containers as you can!#Literally “You must not collect only a few empty containers” 4You must also go and shut the door behind you and your children, and you must pour out oil into all of these containers and set the filled ones aside.” 5So she went from him, and she shut the door behind her and her children. They were bringing containers to her, and she kept pouring. 6It happened that when the containers were full, she said to her son, “Bring near me another container,” but he said to her, “There is not another container.” Then the olive oil stopped flowing. 7So she came and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the olive oil and repay your debt. You and your sons can live on what is left over.”
Elisha at Shunem
8It happened one day that Elisha passed through to Shunem where there was a wealthy woman, and she urged him to eat bread; so it happened each time he passed through, he would stop there to eat. 9She said to her husband, “Please now, I know that he is a holy man of God who is passing our way#Literally “upon us” regularly; 10let us make a small enclosed room upstairs and put a bed, table, chair, and lampstand there for him, so that when he comes to us, he can turn and stay there. 11One day it happened that he came there and went to the upper room and lay down there. 12He said to Gehazi his servant, “Call to this Shunammite,” so he called to her, and she stood before him. 13He said to him, “Please say to her, ‘Look, you took all this trouble, showing care for us; what is there for me to do for you? To speak for you to the king or to the commander of the army?’ ” She said, “I am living among my people.” 14Then he said, “What may be done for her?” Gehazi said, “Well, she has no son, and her husband is old.” 15And he said, “Call for her,” so he called for her and she stood in the doorway. 16And he said, “At this time next spring,#Literally “about that season as the time of life” you will be embracing a son.” She said, “No, my lord, O man of God! You must not tell a lie to your servant!” 17But the woman conceived, and she bore a son in the spring,#Literally “about that season as the time of life” which Elisha had promised to her.
Elisha Restores the Shunammite’s Son
18The child grew older, and it happened one day that he went out to his father and to the reapers. 19Then he said to his father, “My head, my head!” So he said to the servant, “Carry him to his mother.” 20So they carried him and brought him to his mother; he sat on her lap until noon and then died. 21She went up, laid him on the bed of the man of God, closed the door, and went out behind it. 22She called to her husband and said, “Please send one of the servants and one of the female donkeys for me, so that I can go quickly up to the man of God and return.” 23And he said, “Why are you going to him today? It is neither the new moon nor the Sabbath!” And she said, “Peace.” 24She saddled the female donkey, and she said to her servant, “Drive along and go; you must not hold me back from riding, unless I tell you.” 25So she went and came to the man of God by Mount Carmel. It happened when the man of God saw her at a distance,#Literally “from opposite” he said to Gehazi his servant, “There is this Shunammite. 26Now, please run to meet her and ask her, ‘Is it peace for you? Is it peace for your husband? Is it peace for the boy?’ ” She said, “Peace.” 27So she came to the man of God at the mountain, and she caught hold of his feet. Then Gehazi came near to push her away, but the man of God said, “Let her alone, for her soul is bitter, and Yahweh has hidden it from me and has not told me.” 28Then she said, “Did I ask for a son from my lord? Did I not say that you must not mislead me?”
29Then he said to Gehazi, “Gird up your loins and take my staff in your hand and go. If you meet anyone, you must not greet them; if anyone greets you, you must not answer them. You must put my staff on the face of the boy.” 30Then the mother of the boy said, “As Yahweh lives#Literally “The life of Yahweh” and as your soul lives,#Literally “life of your soul” I will surely not leave you.” So he got up and went after her. 31Gehazi crossed over before them, and he put the staff on the face of the boy; but there was no sound, and there was no sign of life, so he returned to meet him. He told him, saying, “The boy did not wake up.”
32When Elisha came to the house, here was the boy dead, lying on his bed. 33He went and closed the door behind the two of them and prayed to Yahweh. 34Then he went up and lay upon the child and put his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes, and his palms on his palms. As he bent down over him, the flesh of the boy became warm. 35He returned and went to and fro#Literally “here first and here” in the house one time, then he went up and bent over him. Then the boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes. 36Elisha called to Gehazi and said, “Call this Shunammite.” So he called her and she came to him; then he said, “Pick up your son.” 37She came and fell at his feet and bowed down to the ground; then she picked up her son and went out.
Elisha Secures the Food
38So Elisha returned to Gilgal. Now the famine was in the land, and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him. He said to his servant, put on the large pot and cook a stew for the sons of the prophets. 39One went out to the field to gather herbs, and he found a wild vine#Literally “a vine of the field” and gathered wild gourds from it and filled his cloak. Then he came and cut them into the pot of stew, but they did not know what they were. 40They served the men to eat, but when they ate from the stew, they cried out and said, “There is death in the pot, O man of God!” They were not able to eat it. 41Then he said, “Bring some flour,” and he threw it into the pot. He then said, “Serve the people and let them eat.” There was nothing harmful in the pot.
42A man came from Baal-Shalishah and brought food to the man of God: firstfruits and twenty loaves of barley bread, with ripe grain in his sack. He said, “Give it to the people and let them eat.” 43Then his servant said, “How can I set this before a hundred men?” He said, “Give it to the people and let them eat, for thus Yahweh says, ‘They shall eat and have some left over.’ ” 44So he set it before them, and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of Yahweh.
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