2 Kings 4:1-2 NASB

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Kings 4:1-7

The miracles of Elisha: the pot of oil. The next few chapters relate a number of the miracles of Elisha—all of them works of mercy. I. THE WIDOW 'S TROUBLE . The story told in these verses is one of sore distress. It is a story: 1. Of bereavement . A poor woman, widow of one of "the sons of the prophets," cried to Elisha, "Thy servant my husband is dead." We learn from this that the prophetic communities were not monastic. Marriage was permitted, and members of the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Kings 4:1-44

TYPICAL MIRACLES WROUGHT BY ELISHA . General introduction . The miracles of this chapter are all of them miracles of mercy. The first and last consist in the multiplying of food, and thus belong to the same class as our Lord's feeding the four and the five thousands, and Elijah's increasing the meal and oil of the widow of Zarephath ( 1 Kings 17:10-16 ). It serves no useful purpose to ask how miracles of this class were wrought. The inspired writers have not told us; and... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Kings 4:2

And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? Elisha acknowledges at once the call upon him to do something for the woman. This is, no doubt, in part, because she is a widow. Widows were, in the Law, especially commended to the attention and care of the faithful. As Bahr says, "It is a well-known feature of the Mosaic Law, one which is distinctly prominent, that it often and urgently commands to succor the widows and the fatherless, and to care for them ( Exodus 22:22-24 ; ... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 2 Kings 4:1

The creditor is come ... - The Law of Moses, like the Athenian and the Roman law, recognized servitude for debt, and allowed that pledging of the debtor’s person, which, in a rude state of society, is regarded as the safest and the most natural security (see the marginal reference). In the present case it would seem that, so long as the debtor lived, the creditor had not enforced his right over his sons, but now on his death he claimed their services, to which he was by law entitled. read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 2 Kings 4:2

A pot of oil - Or, “an anointing of oil” - so much oil, i. e., as would serve me for one anointing of my person. The word used occurs only in this passage. read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - 2 Kings 4:1

2 Kings 4:1. A certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets Who, though they were wholly devoted to sacred employments, yet were not excluded from marriage, any more than the priests and Levites. My husband did fear the Lord His poverty, therefore, was not procured by his idleness or prodigality, but by his piety, because he would not comply with the king’s way of worship, and therefore lost all worldly advantages. The creditor is come to take my two sons to be bond-men ... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - 2 Kings 4:2

2 Kings 4:2. Elisha said, What shall I do for thee? How shall I relieve thee, who am myself poor? Tell me, what hast thou in the house? Toward the discharge of thy husband’s debts. read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - 2 Kings 4:1-44

Miracles of care for the remnant (4:1-44)The widow of one of the prophets was in desperate trouble. She had hardly any food left and was about to lose her only means of income; for her sons were to be taken from her in payment for a debt. Elisha’s miraculous provision of oil enabled her to pay the debt and so preserve a few of God’s faithful in days of extreme hardship (4:1-7).Another of Israel’s faithful was the wife of a wealthy landowner. She recognized Elisha as God’s representative and... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - 2 Kings 4:1

husband = man. Hebrew ' ish . App-14 . bondmen. Compare Leviticus 25:39 and Nehemiah 5:5 . read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - 2 Kings 4:1

FIVE OF ELISHA'S MIRACLES OF MERCY"All of the miracles of this chapter are miracles of mercy. The first and the last consist of multiplying food, thus belonging to the same class as our Lord's feeding of the four and the five thousands and Elijah's increasing the meal and the oil of the widow of Sarepta (1 Kings 17:10-16)."[1] Nobody knows how these miracles were performed. The sacred author has not informed us, and the speculative guesses of scholars are of no value whatever. "Rationalistic... read more