2 Kings4

Elisha performs several miracles, beginning with the multiplication of a widow's oil to pay her debts. He then blesses a hospitable Shunammite woman with a son, whom he later miraculously raises from the dead after the child suddenly dies. The chapter concludes with Elisha purifying poisoned food and miraculously feeding one hundred men with limited provisions during a famine.

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Elisha Multiplies the Widow's Oil

Now 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!”

“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.”

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

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

So 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.

When 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.

She 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.”

The Shunammite Woman Shows Hospitality

One 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.

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

Please 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.”

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

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

and 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.

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

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

And 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.”

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

The Shunammite’s Son Dies

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

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

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

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

And 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.”

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

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

So 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.

Please 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.”

When 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.”

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

So 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.”

And 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.

Gehazi 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.”

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

Elisha Raises the Boy

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

Then 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.

Elisha 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.

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

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

Elisha Purifies the Poisoned Stew

When 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.”

One 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.

And 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.

Then 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.

Elisha Feeds a Hundred Men

Now 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.

But 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.’”

So he set it before them, and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of the LORD.

Study Notes for 2 Kings 4

Verse 1

The 'sons of the prophets' were a dedicated community group. The widow’s desperation stems from the law that allowed creditors to take children as bondmen (cf. Exod 21:7; Lev 25:39), highlighting her immediate financial and familial crisis.

Verse 2

Elisha’s question focuses on what God can work *with*. Even the smallest resource possessed by the faithful—a pot of oil—becomes the catalyst for divine provision.

Verse 3

The command to borrow 'not a few' vessels tests the woman's faith and obedience. The extent of the miracle depended directly on her preparation and expectation.

Verse 6

The oil stopped only when there were no more vessels to fill, illustrating that God’s provision is often limited only by the capacity of human faith or need.

Verse 7

Elisha ensures the woman not only pays her debt but also has enough resources remaining to sustain her and her children, demonstrating holistic divine care and security.

Verse 8

Shunem was a town in the Jezreel Valley. The description 'a great woman' (Hebrew: *ishshah g'dolah*) implies she was wealthy, influential, and pious, recognizing Elisha’s status.

Verse 10

Building a separate chamber on the roof ('alîyah) shows extraordinary reverence and hospitality, aiming to provide the prophet a quiet, dedicated space for rest and prayer.

Verse 13

Elisha offers to use his influence with the royal court. Her reply, 'I dwell among mine own people,' expresses contentment and independence, suggesting she trusts God’s provision over political favor.

Verse 14

Gehazi, Elisha's servant, identifies the woman's deep, unspoken need. Having a son was vital for inheritance, security, and continuation of the family line in Israelite society.

Verse 16

The promise of a son 'according to the time of life' (i.e., the next year) parallels the miraculous promise given to Abraham and Sarah (Gen 18:10), signaling a divine intervention in nature.

Verse 18

The child is old enough to join his father in the field during the harvest, suggesting several years have passed since his miraculous birth.

Verse 23

New Moons and Sabbaths were typical days for seeking prophetic counsel or instruction. Her brief answer, 'It shall be well,' expresses determined faith, masking the tragedy from her husband.

Verse 25

The woman travels approximately 20 miles to Mount Carmel, a significant location associated with Elisha’s powerful ministry, demonstrating her urgency and faith.

Verse 26

Her repeated affirmation, 'It is well' (shalom), is a powerful statement of belief, refusing to confess the death until she reaches the prophet himself.

Verse 27

Elisha admits that God had intentionally concealed the tragedy from him, demonstrating that prophetic knowledge is a gift received from God, not an inherent human quality.

Verse 28

Her grief-stricken question reminds Elisha that the pain of losing a miraculous gift is greater than the pain of never having received it at all.

Verse 29

Gehazi is sent ahead with Elisha's staff, symbolizing delegated authority. The command not to salute anyone emphasizes the extreme urgency of the mission (cf. Luke 10:4).

Verse 30

The mother’s refusal to leave Elisha shows she has faith not in the object (the staff) or the servant, but in Elisha's personal presence and God's power working through him directly.

Verse 31

The failure of the staff alone indicates that God's power sometimes requires the prophet's direct engagement, prayer, and sustained physical effort.

Verse 33

Elisha shuts the door, emphasizing the necessity of solitary prayer and direct communion with God when undertaking a momentous miracle.

Verse 34

This physical contact (mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes) is an intense act of identification and prayer, replicating the actions of Elijah when he raised the widow's son (1 Kings 17:21).

Verse 35

The process involves sustained prayer and effort. The boy sneezing seven times marks the completion of the restoration of life.

Verse 37

The woman's reaction is profound gratitude and worship, recognizing God’s miraculous power delivered through the prophet, receiving her son back as a second gift.

Verse 38

Elisha returns to Gilgal, a location associated with covenant renewal. The 'dearth in the land' (famine) demonstrates the ongoing hardship faced by the prophetic community.

Verse 39

The 'wild gourds' were likely colocynth, known for its bitter, purgative, and occasionally lethal properties, mistaken for edible vegetables due to starvation.

Verse 41

The addition of meal (flour) acts as a symbolic agent of purification. The miracle demonstrates God's ability to transform death and toxic situations into life and safety through the prophet's word.

Verse 42

The man brought 'firstfruits' (barley loaves and corn), an act of pious devotion that acknowledges God’s sovereignty. This offering becomes the source material for the next miracle.

Verse 43

The servant's disbelief highlights the extreme scarcity. Elisha’s confident command, 'for thus saith the LORD,' establishes the multiplication as a divinely guaranteed act, not human probability.

Verse 44

This miracle of mass feeding foreshadows the later ministry of Jesus (e.g., Matt 14:13-21) and concludes the chapter by demonstrating God's abundant provision through his prophet.

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2 Kings4

Elisha Multiplies the Widow's Oil

The Shunammite Woman Shows Hospitality

The Shunammite’s Son Dies

Elisha Raises the Boy

Elisha Purifies the Poisoned Stew

Elisha Feeds a Hundred Men

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