2 Kings — Chapter 4

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1Now the wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant, my husband, is dead, and you know that your servant feared the LORD. And now his creditor is coming to take my two children as his slaves!”

2“How can I help you?” asked Elisha. “Tell me, what do you have in the house?” She answered, “Your servant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.”

3“Go,” said Elisha, “borrow empty jars from all your neighbors. Do not gather just a few.

4Then go inside, shut the door behind you and your sons, and pour oil into all these jars, setting the full ones aside.”

5So she left him, and after she had shut the door behind her and her sons, they kept bringing jars to her, and she kept pouring.

6When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another.” But he replied, “There are no more jars.” Then the oil stopped flowing.

7She went and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil, and pay your debt. Then you and your sons can live on the remainder.”

8One day Elisha went to Shunem, and a prominent woman who lived there persuaded him to have a meal. So whenever he would pass by, he would stop there to eat.

9Then the woman said to her husband, “Behold, now I know that the one who often comes our way is a holy man of God.

10Please let us make a small room upstairs and put in it a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp for him. Then when he comes to us, he can stay there.”

11One day Elisha came to visit and went to his upper room to lie down.

12And he said to Gehazi his servant, “Call the Shunammite woman.” And when he had called her, she stood before him,

13and Elisha said to Gehazi, “Now tell her, ‘Look, you have gone to all this trouble for us. What can we do for you? Can we speak on your behalf to the king or the commander of the army?’” “I have a home among my own people,” she replied.

14So he asked, “Then what should be done for her?” “Well, she has no son,” Gehazi replied, “and her husband is old.”

15“Call her,” said Elisha. So Gehazi called her, and she stood in the doorway.

16And Elisha declared, “At this time next year, you will hold a son in your arms.” “No, my lord,” she said. “Do not lie to your maidservant, O man of God.”

17But the woman did conceive, and at that time the next year she gave birth to a son, just as Elisha had told her.

18And the child grew, and one day he went out to his father, who was with the harvesters.

19“My head! My head!” he complained to his father. So his father told a servant, “Carry him to his mother.”

20After the servant had picked him up and carried him to his mother, the boy sat on her lap until noon, and then he died.

21And she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God. Then she shut the door and went out.

22And the woman called her husband and said, “Please send me one of the servants and one of the donkeys, that I may go quickly to the man of God and return.”

23“Why would you go to him today?” he replied. “It is not a New Moon or a Sabbath.” “Everything is all right,” she said.

24Then she saddled the donkey and told her servant, “Drive onward; do not slow the pace for me unless I tell you.”

25So she set out and went to the man of God at Mount Carmel. When the man of God saw her at a distance, he said to his servant Gehazi, “Look, there is the Shunammite woman.

26Please run out now to meet her and ask, ‘Are you all right? Is your husband all right? Is your child all right?’” And she answered, “Everything is all right.”

27When she reached the man of God at the mountain, she clung to his feet. Gehazi came over to push her away, but the man of God said, “Leave her alone, for her soul is in deep distress, and the LORD has hidden it from me and has not told me.”

28Then she said, “Did I ask you for a son, my lord? Didn’t I say, ‘Do not deceive me?’”

29So Elisha said to Gehazi, “Tie up your garment, take my staff in your hand, and go! If you meet anyone, do not greet him, and if anyone greets you, do not answer him. Then lay my staff on the boy’s face.”

30And the mother of the boy said, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So he got up and followed her.

31Gehazi went on ahead of them and laid the staff on the boy’s face, but there was no sound or response. So he went back to meet Elisha and told him, “The boy has not awakened.”

32When Elisha reached the house, there was the boy lying dead on his bed.

33So he went in, closed the door behind the two of them, and prayed to the LORD.

34Then Elisha got on the bed and lay on the boy, mouth to mouth, eye to eye, and hand to hand. As he stretched himself out over him, the boy’s body became warm.

35Elisha turned away and paced back and forth across the room. Then he got on the bed and stretched himself out over the boy again, and the boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes.

36Elisha summoned Gehazi and said, “Call the Shunammite woman.” So he called her and she came. Then Elisha said, “Pick up your son.”

37She came in, fell at his feet, and bowed to the ground. Then she picked up her son and went out.

38When Elisha returned to Gilgal, there was a famine in the land. As the sons of the prophets were sitting at his feet, he said to his attendant, “Put on the large pot and boil some stew for the sons of the prophets.”

39One of them went out to the field to gather herbs, and he found a wild vine from which he gathered as many wild gourds as his garment could hold. Then he came back and cut them up into the pot of stew, though no one knew what they were.

40And they poured it out for the men to eat, but when they tasted the stew they cried out, “There is death in the pot, O man of God!” And they could not eat it.

41Then Elisha said, “Get some flour.” He threw it into the pot and said, “Pour it out for the people to eat.” And there was nothing harmful in the pot.

42Now a man from Baal-shalishah came to the man of God with a sack of twenty loaves of barley bread from the first ripe grain. “Give it to the people to eat,” said Elisha.

43But his servant asked, “How am I to set twenty loaves before a hundred men?” “Give it to the people to eat,” said Elisha, “for this is what the LORD says: ‘They will 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 the LORD.

1Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the LORD: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen.

2And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil.

3Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few.

4And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full.

5So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out.

6And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed.

7Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest.

8And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread.

9And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually.

10Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither.

11And it fell on a day, that he came thither, and he turned into the chamber, and lay there.

12And he said to Gehazi his servant, Call this Shunammite. And when he had called her, she stood before him.

13And he said unto him, Say now unto her, Behold, thou hast been careful for us with all this care; what is to be done for thee? wouldest thou be spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the host? And she answered, I dwell among mine own people.

14And he said, What then is to be done for her? And Gehazi answered, Verily she hath no child, and her husband is old.

15And he said, Call her. And when he had called her, she stood in the door.

16And he said, About this season, according to the time of life, thou shalt embrace a son. And she said, Nay, my lord, thou man of God, do not lie unto thine handmaid.

17And the woman conceived, and bare a son at that season that Elisha had said unto her, according to the time of life.

18And when the child was grown, it fell on a day, that he went out to his father to the reapers.

19And he said unto his father, My head, my head. And he said to a lad, Carry him to his mother.

20And when he had taken him, and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and then died.

21And she went up, and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and shut the door upon him, and went out.

22And she called unto her husband, and said, Send me, I pray thee, one of the young men, and one of the asses, that I may run to the man of God, and come again.

23And he said, Wherefore wilt thou go to him to day? it is neither new moon, nor sabbath. And she said, It shall be well.

24Then she saddled an ass, and said to her servant, Drive, and go forward; slack not thy riding for me, except I bid thee.

25So she went and came unto the man of God to mount Carmel. And it came to pass, when the man of God saw her afar off, that he said to Gehazi his servant, Behold, yonder is that Shunammite:

26Run now, I pray thee, to meet her, and say unto her, Is it well with thee? is it well with thy husband? is it well with the child? And she answered, It is well.

27And when she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught him by the feet: but Gehazi came near to thrust her away. And the man of God said, Let her alone; for her soul is vexed within her: and the LORD hath hid it from me, and hath not told me.

28Then she said, Did I desire a son of my lord? did I not say, Do not deceive me?

29Then he said to Gehazi, Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thine hand, and go thy way: if thou meet any man, salute him not; and if any salute thee, answer him not again: and lay my staff upon the face of the child.

30And the mother of the child said, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And he arose, and followed her.

31And Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff upon the face of the child; but there was neither voice, nor hearing. Wherefore he went again to meet him, and told him, saying, The child is not awaked.

32And when Elisha was come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid upon his bed.

33He went in therefore, and shut the door upon them twain, and prayed unto the LORD.

34And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands: and he stretched himself upon the child; and the flesh of the child waxed warm.

35Then he returned, and walked in the house to and fro; and went up, and stretched himself upon him: and the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes.

36And he called Gehazi, and said, Call this Shunammite. So he called her. And when she was come in unto him, he said, Take up thy son.

37Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground, and took up her son, and went out.

38And Elisha came again to Gilgal: and there was a dearth in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him: and he said unto his servant, Set on the great pot, and seethe pottage for the sons of the prophets.

39And one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered thereof wild gourds his lap full, and came and shred them into the pot of pottage: for they knew them not.

40So they poured out for the men to eat. And it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out, and said, O thou man of God, there is death in the pot. And they could not eat thereof.

41But he said, Then bring meal. And he cast it into the pot; and he said, Pour out for the people, that they may eat. And there was no harm in the pot.

42And there came a man from Baal-shalisha, and brought the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley, and full ears of corn in the husk thereof. And he said, Give unto the people, that they may eat.

43And his servitor said, What, should I set this before an hundred men? He said again, Give the people, that they may eat: for thus saith the LORD, They shall eat, and shall leave thereof.

44So he set it before them, and they did eat, and left thereof, according to the word of the LORD.

1Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear Jehovah: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two children to be bondmen.

2And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me; what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thy handmaid hath not anything in the house, save a pot of oil.

3Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbors, even empty vessels; borrow not a few.

4And thou shalt go in, and shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and pour out into all those vessels; and thou shalt set aside that which is full.

5So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons; they brought [the vessels] to her, and she poured out.

6And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed.

7Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy sons of the rest.

8And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread.

9And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God, that passeth by us continually.

10Let us make, I pray thee, a little chamber on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a seat, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither.

11And it fell on a day, that he came thither, and he turned into the chamber and lay there.

12And he said to Gehazi his servant, Call this Shunammite. And when he had called her, she stood before him.

13And he said unto him, Say now unto her, Behold, thou hast been careful for us with all this care; what is to be done for thee? wouldest thou be spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the host? And she answered, I dwell among mine own people.

14And he said, What then is to be done for her? And Gehazi answered, Verily she hath no son, and her husband is old.

15And he said, Call her. And when he had called her, she stood in the door.

16And he said, At this season, when the time cometh round, thou shalt embrace a son. And she said, Nay, my lord, thou man of God, do not lie unto thy handmaid.

17And the woman conceived, and bare a son at that season, when the time came round, as Elisha had said unto her.

18And when the child was grown, it fell on a day, that he went out to his father to the reapers.

19And he said unto his father, My head, my head. And he said to his servant, Carry him to his mother.

20And when he had taken him, and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and then died.

21And she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and shut [the door] upon him, and went out.

22And she called unto her husband, and said, Send me, I pray thee, one of the servants, and one of the asses, that I may run to the man of God, and come again.

23And he said, Wherefore wilt thou go to him to-day? it is neither new moon nor sabbath. And she said, It shall be well.

24Then she saddled an ass, and said to her servant, Drive, and go forward; slacken me not the riding, except I bid thee.

25So she went, and came unto the man of God to mount Carmel. And it came to pass, when the man of God saw her afar off, that he said to Gehazi his servant, Behold, yonder is the Shunammite:

26run, I pray thee, now to meet her, and say unto her, Is it well with thee? is it well with thy husband? is it well with the child? And she answered, It is well.

27And when she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught hold of his feet. And Gehazi came near to thrust her away; but the man of God said, Let her alone: for her soul is vexed within her; and Jehovah hath hid it from me, and hath not told me.

28Then she said, Did I desire a son of my lord? did I not say, Do not deceive me?

29Then he said to Gehazi, Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thy hand, and go thy way: if thou meet any man, salute him not; and if any salute thee, answer him not again: and lay my staff upon the face of the child.

30And the mother of the child said, As Jehovah liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And he arose, and followed her.

31And Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff upon the face of the child; but there was neither voice, nor hearing. Wherefore he returned to meet him, and told him, saying, The child is not awaked.

32And when Elisha was come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid upon his bed.

33He went in therefore, and shut the door upon them twain, and prayed unto Jehovah.

34And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands: and he stretched himself upon him; and the flesh of the child waxed warm.

35Then he returned, and walked in the house once to and fro; and went up, and stretched himself upon him: and the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes.

36And he called Gehazi, and said, Call this Shunammite. So he called her. And when she was come in unto him, he said, Take up thy son.

37Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground; and she took up her son, and went out.

38And Elisha came again to Gilgal. And there was a dearth in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him; and he said unto his servant, Set on the great pot, and boil pottage for the sons of the prophets.

39And one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered thereof wild gourds his lap full, and came and shred them into the pot of pottage; for they knew them not.

40So they poured out for the men to eat. And it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out, and said, O man of God, there is death in the pot. And they could not eat thereof.

41But he said, Then bring meal. And he cast it into the pot; and he said, Pour out for the people, that they may eat. And there was no harm in the pot.

42And there came a man from Baal-shalishah, and brought the man of God bread of the first-fruits, twenty loaves of barley, and fresh ears of grain in his sack. And he said, Give unto the people, that they may eat.

43And his servant said, What, should I set this before a hundred men? But he said, Give the people, that they may eat; for thus saith Jehovah, They shall eat, and shall leave thereof.

44So he set it before them, and they did eat, and left thereof, according to the word of Jehovah.

1Now a wife of one of the prophets appealed to Elisha for help, saying, “Your servant, my husband is dead. You know that your servant was a loyal follower of the Lord. Now the creditor is coming to take away my two boys to be his servants.”

2Elisha 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.”

3He said, “Go and ask all your neighbors for empty containers. Get as many as you can.

4Go and close the door behind you and your sons. Pour the olive oil into all the containers; set aside each one when you have filled it.”

5So 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.

6When the containers were full, she said to one of her sons, “Bring me another container.” But he answered her, “There are no more.” Then the olive oil stopped flowing.

7She went and told the prophet. He said, “Go, sell the olive oil. Repay your creditor, and then you and your sons can live off the rest of the profit.”

8One day Elisha traveled to Shunem, where a prominent woman lived. She insisted that he stop for a meal. So whenever he was passing through, he would stop in there for a meal.

9She said to her husband, “Look, I’m sure that the man who regularly passes through here is a very special prophet.

10Let’s make a small, private upper room and furnish it with a bed, table, chair, and lamp. When he visits us, he can stay there.”

11One day Elisha came for a visit; he went into the upper room and rested.

12He told his servant Gehazi, “Ask the Shunammite woman to come here.” So he did so and she came to him.

13Elisha said to Gehazi, “Tell her, ‘Look, you have treated us with such great respect. 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.”

14So he asked Gehazi, “What can I do for her?” Gehazi replied, “She has no son, and her husband is old.”

15Elisha told him, “Ask her to come here.” So he did so and she came and stood in the doorway.

16He said, “About this time next year you will be holding a son.” She said, “No, my master! O prophet, do not lie to your servant!”

17The woman did conceive, and at the specified time the next year she gave birth to a son, just as Elisha had told her.

18The boy grew and one day he went out to see his father who was with the harvest workers.

19He said to his father, “My head! My head!” His father told a servant, “Carry him to his mother.”

20So he picked him up and took him to his mother. He sat on her lap until noon and then died.

21She went up and laid him down on the prophet’s bed. She shut the door behind her and left.

22She 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.”

23He said, “Why do you want to go see him today? It is not the new moon or the Sabbath.” She said, “Everything’s fine.”

24She saddled the donkey and told her servant, “Lead on. Do not stop unless I say so.”

25So she went to visit the prophet at Mount Carmel. When he saw her at a distance, he said to his servant Gehazi, “Look, it’s the Shunammite woman.

26Now, run to meet her and ask her, ‘Are you well? Are your husband and the boy well?’” She told Gehazi, “Everything’s fine.”

27But 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. The Lord has kept the matter hidden from me; he didn’t tell me about it.”

28She said, “Did I ask my master for a son? Didn’t I say, ‘Don’t mislead me?’”

29Elisha told Gehazi, “Tuck your robes into your belt, take my staff, and go! Don’t stop to exchange greetings with anyone! Place my staff on the child’s face.”

30The mother of the child said, “As certainly as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So Elisha got up and followed her back.

31Now 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 he told him, “The child did not wake up.”

32When Elisha arrived at the house, there was the child lying dead on his bed.

33He went in by himself and closed the door. Then he prayed to the Lord.

34He got up on the bed and spread his body out over the boy; he put his mouth on the boy’s mouth, his eyes over the boy’s eyes, and the palms of his hands against the boy’s palms. As he bent down across him, the boy’s skin grew warm.

35Elisha went back and walked around in the house. Then he got up on the bed again and bent down over him. The child sneezed seven times and opened his eyes.

36Elisha called to Gehazi and said, “Get the Shunammite woman.” So he did so and she came to him. He said to her, “Take your son.”

37She came in, fell at his feet, and bowed down. Then she picked up her son and left.

38Now Elisha went back to Gilgal, while there was a famine in the land. Some of the prophets were visiting him and he told his servant, “Put the big pot on the fire and boil some stew for the prophets.”

39Someone went out to the field to gather some herbs and found a wild vine. He picked some of its fruit, enough to fill up the fold of his robe. He came back, cut it up, and threw the slices into the stew pot, not knowing they were harmful.

40The stew was poured out 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.

41He said, “Get some flour.” Then he threw it into the pot and said, “Now pour some out for the men so they may eat.” There was no longer anything harmful in the pot.

42Now a man from Baal Shalisha brought some food for the prophet—20 loaves of bread made from the firstfruits of the barley harvest, as well as fresh ears of grain. Elisha said, “Set it before the people so they may eat.”

43But his attendant said, “How can I feed a hundred men with this?” He replied, “Set it before the people so they may eat, for this is what the Lord has said, ‘They will eat and have some left over.’”

44So he set it before them; they ate and had some left over, just as in the Lord’s message.

1Now a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, “Your servant my husband is dead. You know that your servant feared Yahweh. Now the creditor has come to take for himself my two children to be slaves.”

2Elisha said to her, “What should I do for you? Tell me: what do you have in the house?” She said, “Your servant has nothing in the house, except a pot of oil.”

3Then he said, “Go, borrow empty containers from of all your neighbors. Don’t borrow just a few containers.

4Go in and shut the door on you and on your sons, and pour oil into all those containers; and set aside those which are full.”

5So she went from him, and shut the door on herself and on her sons. They brought the containers to her, and she poured oil.

6When the containers were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another container.” He said to her, “There isn’t another container.” Then the oil stopped flowing.

7Then she came and told the man of God. He said, “Go, sell the oil, and pay your debt; and you and your sons live on the rest.”

8One day Elisha went to Shunem, where there was a prominent woman; and she persuaded him to eat bread. So it was, that as often as he passed by, he turned in there to eat bread.

9She said to her husband, “See now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God who passes by us continually.

10Please let us make a little room on the roof. Let us set for him there a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp stand. When he comes to us, he can stay there.”

11One day he came there, and he went to the room and lay there.

12He said to Gehazi his servant, “Call this Shunammite.” When he had called her, she stood before him.

13He said to him, “Say now to her, ‘Behold, you have cared for us with all this care. What is to be done for you? Would you like to be spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the army?’” She answered, “I dwell among my own people.”

14He said, “What then is to be done for her?” Gehazi answered, “Most certainly she has no son, and her husband is old.”

15He said, “Call her.” When he had called her, she stood in the door.

16He said, “At this season, when the time comes around, you will embrace a son.” She said, “No, my lord, you man of God, do not lie to your servant.”

17The woman conceived, and bore a son at that season, when the time came around, as Elisha had said to her.

18When the child was grown, one day he went out to his father to the reapers.

19He said to his father, “My head! My head!” He said to his servant, “Carry him to his mother.”

20When he had taken him, and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees until noon, and then died.

21She went up and laid him on the man of God’s bed, and shut the door on him, and went out.

22She called to her husband, and said, “Please send me one of the servants, and one of the donkeys, that I may run to the man of God, and come again.”

23He said, “Why would you want go to him today? It is not a new moon or a Sabbath.” She said, “It’s alright.”

24Then she saddled a donkey, and said to her servant, “Drive, and go forward! Don’t slow down for me, unless I ask you to.”

25So she went, and came to the man of God to Mount Carmel. When the man of God saw her afar off, he said to Gehazi his servant, “Behold, there is the Shunammite.

26Please run now to meet her, and ask her, ‘Is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with your child?’” She answered, “It is well.”

27When she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught hold of his feet. Gehazi came near to thrust her away; but the man of God said, “Leave her alone; for her soul is troubled within her; and Yahweh has hidden it from me, and has not told me.”

28Then she said, “Did I ask you for a son, my lord? Didn’t I say, ‘Do not deceive me’?”

29Then he said to Gehazi, “Tuck your cloak into your belt, take my staff in your hand, and go your way. If you meet any man, don’t greet him; and if anyone greets you, don’t answer him again. Then lay my staff on the child’s face.”

30The child’s mother said, “As Yahweh lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.” So he arose, and followed her.

31Gehazi went ahead of them, and laid the staff on the child’s face; but there was no voice and no hearing. Therefore he returned to meet him, and told him, “The child has not awakened.”

32When Elisha had come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and lying on his bed.

33He went in therefore, and shut the door on them both, and prayed to Yahweh.

34He went up, and lay on the child, and put his mouth on his mouth, and his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands. He stretched himself on him; and the child’s flesh grew warm.

35Then he returned, and walked in the house once back and forth; and went up, and stretched himself out on him. Then the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes.

36He called Gehazi, and said, “Call this Shunammite!” So he called her. When she had come in to him, he said, “Take up your son.”

37Then she went in, fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground; then she picked up her son, and went out.

38Elisha came again to Gilgal. There was a famine in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him; and he said to his servant, “Get the large pot, and boil stew for the sons of the prophets.”

39One went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered a lap full of wild gourds from it, and came and cut them up into the pot of stew; for they didn’t recognize them.

40So they poured out for the men to eat. As they were eating some of the stew, they cried out, and said, “Man of God, there is death in the pot!” And they could not eat it.

41But he said, “Then bring meal.” He threw it into the pot; and he said, “Serve it to the people, that they may eat.” And there was nothing harmful in the pot.

42A man from Baal Shalishah came, and brought the man of God some bread of the first fruits: twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack. He said, “Give to the people, that they may eat.”

43His servant said, “What, should I set this before a hundred men?” But he said, “Give the people, that they may eat; for Yahweh says, ‘They will eat, and will have some left over.’”

44So he set it before them, and they ate, and had some left over, according to Yahweh’s word.

Summary
Authorship & Background
Map & Geography
Commentary
Videos
Articles
Reflection

Summary

Elisha multiplies a widow's small jar of oil to fill many borrowed vessels, providing enough to pay off her creditors and live on the rest (vv. 1-7). A wealthy Shunammite woman builds Elisha a room to stay in, and he promises that she, though barren and married to an old husband, will have a son within a year (vv. 8-17). Years later the boy dies suddenly, and the woman travels to fetch Elisha, who returns with her, prays, and stretches himself over the child until he revives (vv. 18-37). Elisha also purifies a pot of stew that had been made poisonous by wild gourds, telling the company to eat safely (vv. 38-41). Finally, he multiplies twenty loaves of barley bread and fresh grain to feed a hundred men with some left over, according to the Lord's word (vv. 42-44).

Authorship & Background

Author: Unknown, traditionally attributed to Jeremiah or a prophetic school. Originally one book with 1 Kings. Covers approximately 250 years (850-586 BC) from Elijah's translation through the Babylonian exile.
Historical Context: Chapter 4 is the great miracle chapter of Elisha's ministry — four distinct miracles that demonstrate the double portion at work. Where Elijah's miracles were often dramatic and confrontational (fire from heaven, drought), Elisha's miracles are predominantly compassionate and restorative: providing for a widow, giving a son, raising the dead, healing poison, multiplying food. These miracles parallel and exceed Elijah's: Elijah multiplied oil for one widow (1 Kings 17:14-16); Elisha multiplies oil to pay all debts. Elijah raised one child (1 Kings 17:22); Elisha raises one here and later revives a dead man by his bones (13:21). The chapter reveals Elisha as a prophet of grace — God's power directed toward ordinary people in ordinary need. The Shunammite woman's story is one of the most detailed and emotionally powerful narratives in the Old Testament, showing both the gift of life and the agony of its loss — and the God who restores both.
Classification: Historical Narrative
Key Themes: Two questions, what shall I do for thee and what hast thou in the house, beginning a miracle with what a widow already owns rather than what she lacks, a Shunammite woman's hospitality sustained rather than sporadic, earning a promise she initially refuses to trust, a boy's death met with as the LORD liveth, I will not leave thee, the same vow Elisha once made to Elijah, poison neutralized by meal cast into a pot that has no natural power to counteract it, and a hundred fed from twenty loaves with food left over, foreshadowing a feeding still centuries away
The Widow's Oil (vv.1-7): A prophet's widow faces the loss of her sons to debt slavery — a legal practice in ancient Israel (cf. Leviticus 25:39; Nehemiah 5:5). Her husband "feared the LORD" but died in poverty — faithfulness does not guarantee prosperity. Elisha asks two questions: "What shall I do for thee?" and "What hast thou in the house?" God's miracles often begin with what we already have. She has "a pot of oil" — almost nothing. Elisha's instruction: borrow empty vessels, "not a few." The miracle's extent depends on her faith and preparation — the oil flows until the vessels run out. "The oil stayed" (v.6) — it stopped not because God's supply was exhausted but because her vessels were. The limitation was human capacity, not divine provision. She sells the oil, pays her debts, and lives on the surplus. God provides abundantly — enough to solve the crisis and sustain the future.
The Shunammite's Son — Birth (vv.8-17): A wealthy woman in Shunem recognizes Elisha as "a holy man of God" and provides him a permanent room — bed, table, stool, candlestick. Her hospitality is deliberate and sustained. When Elisha asks what he can do for her, she declines political favors: "I dwell among mine own people" — she is content, not ambitious. Gehazi identifies her hidden sorrow: no son, and her husband is old. Elisha promises: "thou shalt embrace a son." Her response — "do not lie unto thine handmaid" — reveals not doubt but the pain of hope deferred. She has learned not to hope for what seems impossible. But God gives what He promises: the son is born "according to the time of life."
The Shunammite's Son: Death and Raising (vv.18-37): The boy grows, goes out to his father among the reapers, says my head, my head, and dies on his mother's knees at noon. What follows is the most closely observed sequence in the Elisha stories, and it is driven entirely by the woman. She lays the body on the prophet's own bed, tells her husband nothing except that it shall be well, rides to Carmel, and when Gehazi meets her with the polite question she answers it, It is well, and keeps going. She catches Elisha by the feet, and when he sends Gehazi ahead with the staff she refuses to leave without him, as the LORD liveth, I will not leave thee. The staff does not work: Gehazi lays it on the child and there is neither voice nor hearing. Elisha shuts the door, prays, and lies on the boy twice, mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hands to hands, and the flesh waxes warm. The child sneezes seven times. The prophet's method here is contact and prayer rather than word and gesture, and the woman's persistence is what got him into the room.
Death in the Pot (vv.38-41): During famine, a prophet unknowingly adds poisonous wild gourds to the communal stew. "There is death in the pot!" — the cry of those who recognize danger. Elisha casts in meal (flour) and the poison is neutralized. The flour does not naturally counteract poison — this is miraculous. God uses simple means (flour, salt, a mantle) to accomplish supernatural results. The prophet who raises the dead also removes death from daily bread.
Feeding a Hundred (vv.42-44): Twenty barley loaves and fresh grain — enough for perhaps ten men — are brought to Elisha. He commands: "Give unto the people, that they may eat." The servant protests: "What, should I set this before an hundred men?" Elisha repeats the command with God's promise: "They shall eat, and shall leave thereof." They eat and have leftovers. This miracle directly foreshadows Christ's feeding of the 5,000 (John 6:9-13) — the same pattern of inadequate supply, divine command, human obedience, and supernatural abundance with surplus.

Map & Geography

Places on this map

  • SamariaSebastia, West BankOmri bought a bare hill and built a capital on it, which gave the northern kingdom a fortress with no prior claim on it, the same calculation David made with Jerusalem. It commands the pass west toward the coastal plain. The name later spread to the whole region between Galilee and Judea. Wikipedia
  • Assyrianorthern IraqThe upper Tigris heartland around Nineveh, Calah and Asshur. Its armies reached Israel by following the Fertile Crescent north-west and then south down the coast, so the threat always arrived from the north even though Assyria lay to the east. Wikipedia
  • JerusalemJerusalemA hill town about 2,500 feet up in the central spine of Judah, roughly 35 miles inland from the Mediterranean and 15 miles west of the Jordan. It sits on no trade route and has no river, which is why it mattered as a fortress and a sanctuary rather than as a market. Wikipedia
  • Babylonnear Hillah, IraqOn the Euphrates about 55 miles south of modern Baghdad. Judah's exiles were marched roughly 900 miles to get here, the long way round the Arabian desert, which is why the journey took months and the return was a genuine undertaking rather than a short trip home. Wikipedia
  • Jordan RiverIsrael / Jordan borderRuns about 65 miles as the crow flies from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea, dropping from 700 to 1,400 feet below sea level. Narrow enough to wade at most fords, it was still the boundary that divided wilderness from inheritance. Wikipedia
  • DamascusDamascus, SyriaAn oasis city where the Barada river runs out of the Anti-Lebanon into the desert, about 135 miles north-east of Jerusalem. It sat astride the caravan roads to Mesopotamia and Arabia, which made Aram rich and made it Israel's most persistent northern rival. Wikipedia
  • NinevehMosul, IraqAssyria's last capital, on the east bank of the Tigris across from modern Mosul, about 500 miles north-east of Israel. Sennacherib walled in an enormous city here, which is the scale behind Jonah's three days' journey and its 120,000 who cannot tell right from left. Wikipedia
  • AramSyriaThe Syrian interior north-east of Israel, a set of city-states rather than one kingdom, with Damascus the strongest. Aramaic, its language, became the everyday speech of the whole region including Judea. Wikipedia

Towns sit on their excavated or traditional site. Regions, rivers and seas are ringed rather than dotted, because for those a single point is only an anchor. Coastlines from Natural Earth.

Commentary

  • Enduring Word (David Guzik): enduringword.com Guzik emphasizes that the widow's oil miracle teaches that God's provision is limited only by our capacity to receive. "Borrow not a few" — God wanted to give more than she was prepared to contain. On the Shunammite, Guzik notes that her faith was tested to the extreme: the gift became grief, yet she pressed through to the prophet rather than accepting death as final. Her persistence models the prayer that will not take no for an answer.
  • Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (1871): blueletterbible.org A critical and explanatory commentary on the whole Bible, more concise than Matthew Henry and closer to the Hebrew and Greek, with attention to historical and geographical detail. Public domain.
  • Matthew Henry's Exposition (1710): blueletterbible.org A devotional verse-by-verse commentary in the Puritan tradition, still among the most widely read three centuries on. Public domain.

Videos

The Feeding Of The 100 - 2 Kings 4:42-44
David Guzik

Receiving New Life - 2 Kings 4:32-33
David Guzik

Filling Empty Vessels - 2 Kings 4:3-4
David Guzik

Death in the Pot - 2 Kings 4:39-41
David Guzik

2 Kings 4 | Elisha Raises the Dead | Bible Study
Spoken Gospel

Articles

  • GotQuestions.org: gotquestions.org On the whole book: an overview of the book of 2 Kings -- who wrote it, when, why, and how it fits the rest of Scripture.

Links open on the publisher's own site. Nothing here is reproduced on this page.

Reflection

  • Starting With What You Have (v.2) — Elisha doesn't ask the widow what she's missing, but what's already in her house — just a small pot of oil. What small resource are you overlooking because it seems too little for God to use?
  • Capacity Limits the Blessing (v.6) — The oil keeps flowing until she runs out of borrowed vessels to hold it, not because God's supply ran dry. Where might you be limiting what God wants to provide by not preparing room to receive it?
  • Contentment Without Ambition (v.13) — Offered a favor from the king or the army commander, the Shunammite woman simply says she is content among her own people. Are you seeking God's presence for what He gives, or for who He is?
  • Faith That Refuses Despair (v.26) — With her son dead on the prophet's bed, the Shunammite tells Gehazi "it is well" — not denial, but a refusal to treat the situation as beyond God's reach. What crisis are you tempted to call hopeless before you've even brought it to God?
  • Resurrection Requires Presence (v.34) — Elisha doesn't send his staff from a distance; he comes personally, prays, and stretches himself over the child until life returns. Where in your life, or someone else's, does the situation need your full, personal presence rather than a distant gesture?
  • Abundance With Leftovers (v.44) — Twenty loaves feed a hundred men and still leave food behind, exactly as Elisha promised. Do you trust God for just enough, or for the kind of provision that leaves something to spare?