Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
2 Kings 4:42-44
Elisha Feeds A ‘Multitude' With A Relatively Few Loaves of Bread (2 Kings 4:42).
While the likeness to the account of the feeding of many thousands by Jesus with five loaves and two fish is limited to the fact of the multiplying of the food, this miracle clearly does not bear comparison with that in level of difficulty. But it was remarkable nonetheless. For when some of the firstfruits were brought to Elisha, he fed a hundred men on twenty small barley loaves, with food left over. The fact that there was some left over demonstrates that it was not just a token meal or a making do with what was available. All ate and were satisfied.
The emphasis is not on the fact that this was a sacramental meal (an invention of commentators) but on the fact that they were all able to eat with something left over. There is an emphasis on the miraculous content of what happened. So little genuinely fed so many.
Analysis.
a And 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 (2 Kings 4:42 a).
b And he said, “Give to the people, that they may eat. (2 Kings 4:42 b).
c And his servant said, “What, should I set this before a hundred men?” (2 Kings 4:43 a).
b But he said, “Give the people, that they may eat, for thus says YHWH, “They shall eat, and shall leave some of it” (2 Kings 4:43 b).
a So he set it before them, and they ate, and left some of it, according to the word of YHWH (2 Kings 4:44).
Note than in ‘a' the food was brought to Elisha, and in the parallel the man sets it before the people, and they all ate and were filled. In ‘b' Elisha commands that it be given to the people, and in the parallel repeats the command with the explanation that YHWH would make it sufficient. Centrally in ‘c' the servant is astonished that so little should be offered to so many people.
‘And there came a man from Baal-shalishah, and brought the man of God bread of the first-fruits, twenty loaves of barley, and freshly plucked ears of grain in his sack. And he said, “Give to the people, that they may eat.” '
Baal-shalisha lay twenty two kilometres (fourteen miles) north of Lydda in the plain of Sharon. From there came a man bearing some of the firstfruits for ‘the man of God'. In Judah the firstfruits (Leviticus 23:20) would be for the priests. But in Israel many did not recognise the priests at the false sanctuaries, and probably therefore saw this as a satisfactory method of making their gift to YHWH. The man brought twenty barley loaves and some freshly plucked ears of grain in a sack. Elisha was present at a gathering of about one hundred men (probably mostly sons of the prophets, some of whom may have had their wives or sons with them) and he therefore commanded that the bread be given to them so that they could eat. It is not said that it was during the famine but it might well have been so.
‘And his servant said, “What, should I set this before a hundred men?” But he said, “Give the people, that they may eat, for thus says YHWH, “They shall eat, and shall leave some of it.” '
The servant was astonished. So little before a hundred men? Elisha's reply confirms that he is aware of how little it is but he asserts that YHWH has promised that they will all eat sufficient and that some will be left over. The emphasis all though is on the miracle of so many being fed with so little. There is not even a hint that any other alternative applied.
‘So he set it before them, and they ate, and left some of it, according to the word of YHWH.'
And the result that in accord with YHWH's prophetic utterance all of them ate of it and some was left over. Any attempt to remove the miraculous ignores the emphasis in the account and must be dismissed as ludicrous. The whole point of the story is that, unlike Baal, YHWH was able to take twenty loaves and multiply them as He wished. He was the Lord of bread and grain. We will accept that in some way it may have been a sacrament, but only because YHWH multiplied the bread so that all had sufficient. It was thus food from YHWH indeed, and fed both body and soul to the full.
It is also a reminder to us that He can take of what few talents we have and multiply them so that our lives can be fully effective for him. But that can only be when we first of all hand it all over to Him and commence whatever we discover that He wants us to do.