2 Kings 4

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 2 Kings 4

Great service Elisha had done, in he 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... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 2 Kings 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. I. Elisha readily receives a poor widow's complaint. She was a prophet's widow; to whom therefore should she apply, but to him that was a father to the sons of the prophets, and concerned himself in the welfare of their families? It seems, the... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 2 Kings 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, I. The kindness of the Shunammite woman to Elisha. Things are bad enough in Israel,... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 2 Kings 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, I. The sudden death of the child, though so much a darling. He was... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 2 Kings 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, 2 Kgs. 8:1. It continued seven years, just as long again as that in Elijah's time. A famine of bread there was, but not... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Kings 4

INTRODUCTION TO 2 KINGS 4 This chapter treats of the miracles of Elisha, of his multiplying a poor widow's pot of oil for the payment of her husband's debts, 2 Kings 4:1 of obtaining a son for a Shunamitish woman, who had been very hospitable to him, 2 Kings 4:8 , of his raising up her son to life when dead, 2 Kings 4:18 , of his curing the deadly pottage made of wild gourds, 2 Kings 4:38 , and of his feeding one hundred men with twenty barley loaves, 2 Kings 4:42 . read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Kings 4:1

Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha ,.... This, according to the Targum, was the wife of Obadiah, who had hid the prophets by fifty in a cave in the times of Ahab; and so Josephus F17 Antiqu. l. 9. c. 4. sect. 2. , and it is the commonly received notion of the Jewish writers; though it does not appear that he was a prophet, or the son of a prophet, but the governor or steward of Ahab's house; she was more likely to be the wife of a... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Kings 4:2

And Elisha said unto her, what shall I do for thee ?.... Or can I do, being poor himself, and unable to relieve her out of his substance, and not knowing where to get anything for her; and so what could she expect from him? signifying, that he pitied her case, but all that he could do was to give her his best advice, and pray for her: tell me what thou hast in thy house ? that she could part with and dispose of, in order to pay her debt; and satisfy her creditor: and she said, thine... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Kings 4:3

Then he said, go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours ,.... For he perceived that she had none: even empty vessels ; which they might more readily lend her: borrow not a few ; but as many as she could get; the prophet, under a divine impulse, was directed to say this to her, foreseeing, by a spirit of prophecy, that a large quantity of oil would be given her. read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Kings 4:4

And when thou art come in ,.... Into her house: thou shall shut the door upon thee, and upon thy sons ; that they might be alone in the house while the miracle was working; that they might not be interrupted in what they were to do, by the creditor coming in upon them, or by neighbours, who would be for getting the oil from them in the vessels they had lent them: and that the miracle might appear the plainer, no oil being brought into the house by any: and shalt pour out into all... read more

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