CHAPTER IV _A widow of one of the prophets, oppressed by a merciless_ _creditor, applies to Elisha, who multiplies her oil; by a part_ _of which she pays her debt, abut subsists on the rest_, 1-7. _His entertainment at the house of a respectable woman in_ _Shunem_, 8-10. _He foretells to his h... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 4:2. _SAVE A POT OF OIL._] Oil was used as _aliment_, for anointing the _body_ after bathing, and to anoint the _dead_. Some think that this pot of oil was what this widow had kept for her burial: see Matthew 26:12.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 4:6. _AND THE OIL STAYED._] While there was a vessel to fill, there was oil sufficient; and it only ceased to flow when there was no vessel to receive it. This is a good emblem of the grace of God. While there is an empty, longing heart, there is a continual overflowing fountain of sal... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 4:7. _GO, SELL THE OIL, AND PAY THY DEBT_] He does not inveigh against the cruelty of this creditor, because the law and custom of the country gave him the authority on which he acted; and rather than permit a poor honest widow to have her children sold, or that even a Philistine shoul... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 4:8. _ELISHA PASSED TO SHUNEM_] This city was in the tribe of Issachar, to the south of the brook Kishon, and at the foot of Mount Tabor. _WHERE_ WAS _A GREAT WOMAN_] In _Pirkey Rab. Eliezer_, this woman is said to have been the sister of Abishag, the Shunammite, well known in the his... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 4:9. _THIS IS A HOLY MAN OF GOD_] That is, _a prophet_, as the _Chaldee_ interprets it. _WHICH PASSETH BY US CONTINUALLY._] It probably lay in his way to some school of the prophets that he usually attended.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 4:10. _LET US MAKE A LITTLE CHAMBER_] Judges 1:3:20. As the woman was convinced that Elisha was a prophet, she knew that he must have need of more privacy than the general state of her house could afford; and therefore she proposes what she knew would be a great acquisition to him, as... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 4:12. _GEHAZI HIS SERVANT_] This is the first time we hear of this very indifferent character.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 4:13. _WOULDEST THOU BE SPOKEN FOR TO THE KING_] Elisha must have had considerable influence with the king, from the part he took in the late war with the Moabites. Jehoram had reason to believe that the prophet, under God, was the sole cause of his success, and therefore he could have... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 4:14. _WHAT THEN_ IS _TO BE DONE FOR HER?_] It seems that the woman retired as soon as she had delivered the answer mentioned in the preceding verse.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 4:16. _THOU SHALT EMBRACE A SON._] This _promise_, and the _circumstances_ of the parties, are not very dissimilar to that relative to the birth of Isaac, and those of Abraham and Sarah. _DO NOT LIE_] That is, Let thy words become true; or, as the rabbins understand it, Do not mock me... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 4:18. _WHEN THE CHILD WAS GROWN_] We know not of what age he was, very likely _four_ or _six_, if not more years; for he could go out to the reapers in the harvest field, converse, c.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 4:19. _MY HEAD, ANY HEAD._] Probably affected by the _coup de_ _soleil_, or _sun stroke_, which might, in so young a subject, soon occasion death, especially in that hot country.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 4:21. _LAID HIM ON THE BED OF THE MAN OF GOD_] She had no doubt heard that Elijah had raised the widow's son of Zarephath to life; and she believed that he who had obtained this gift from God for her, could obtain his restoration to life.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 4:23. _WHEREFORE WILT THOU GO_] She was a very prudent woman; she would not harass the feelings of her husband by informing him of the death of his son till she had tried the power of the prophet. Though the religion of the true God was not the religion of the state, yet there were no... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 4:24. _DRIVE, AND GO FORWARD_] It is customary in the East for a servant to walk _along side_ or _drive_ the ass his master rides. Sometimes he walks _behind_, and goads on the beast; and when it is to turn, he directs its head with the long pole of the goad. It is probably to this cus... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 26. IT IS _WELL._] How strong was her faith in God and submission to his authority! Though the heaviest family affliction that could befall her and her husband had now taken place; yet, believing that it was a dispensation of Providence which was in itself neither _unwise_ nor _unkind_, she sa... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 27. _THE LORD HATH HID_ IT _FROM ME, AND HATH NOT TOLD ME._] In reference to this point he had not now the _discernment of_ _spirits_. This, and the _gift of prophecy_, were influences which God gave and suspended as his infinite wisdom saw good.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 28. _DID I DESIRE A SON OF MY LORD?_] I expressed no such wish to thee; I was contented and happy; and when thou didst promise me a son, _did I not say, Do not deceive me_? Do not mock me with a child which shall grow up to be attractive and engaging, but of whom I shall soon be deprived by de... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 29. _SALUTE HIM NOT_] Make all the haste thou possibly canst, and lay my staff on the face of the child; he probably thought that it might be a case of mere _suspended animation_ or a _swoon_, and that laying the staff on the face of the child might act as a _stimulus_ to excite the animal mot... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 30. _I WILL NOT LEAVE THEE._] The prophet it seems had no design to accompany her; he intended to wait for Gehazi's return; but as the woman was well assured the child was _dead_, she was determined not to return till she brought the prophet with her.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 32. _BEHOLD, THE CHILD WAS DEAD_] The prophet then saw that the body and spirit of the child were separated.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 33. _PRAYED UNTO THE LORD._] He had no power of his own by which he could restore the child.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 34. _LAY UPON THE CHILD_] Endeavoured to convey a portion of his own natural warmth to the body of the child; and probably endeavoured, by blowing into the child's mouth, to inflate the lungs, and restore respiration. He uses every natural means in his power to restore life, while praying to t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 35. _THE CHILD SNEEZED SEVEN TIMES_] That is, it sneezed _abundantly_. When the nervous influence began to act on the muscular system, before the circulation could be in every part restored, particular muscles, if not the whole body, would be thrown into strong contractions and shiverings, and... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 37. _SHE WENT IN AND FELL AT HIS FEET_] Few can enter into the feelings of this noble woman. What suspense must she have felt during the time that the prophet was employed in the slow process referred to above! for slow in its own nature it must have been, and exceedingly exhausting to the pro... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 38. _CAME AGAIN TO GILGAL_] He had been there before with his master, a short time prior to his translation. _SET ON THE GREAT POT AND SEETHE POTTAGE FOR THE SONS OF THE_ _PROPHETS._] It was in a time of _dearth_, and all might now stand in need of refreshment; and it appears that the prophet... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 39. _WILD GOURDS_] This is generally thought to be the _coloquintida_, the fruit of a plant of the same name, about the size of a large orange. It is brought hither from the Levant, and is often known by the name of the _bitter apple_; both the seeds and pulp are intensely bitter, and violentl... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 40. THERE IS _DEATH IN THE POT._] As if they had said, "We have here a deadly mixture; if we eat of it, we shall all die.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 41. _BRING MEAL._] Though this might, in some measure, correct the strong acrid and purgative quality; yet it was only a miracle which could make a lapful of this fruit shred into pottage salutary.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 4:42. _BREAD OF THE FIRST-FRUITS_] This was an offering to the prophet, as the first-fruits themselves were an offering to God. _CORN IN THE HUSK_] Probably parched corn or corn to be parched, a very frequent food in the East; full ears, before they are ripe, parched on the fire.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 4:43. _THUS SAITH THE LORD, THEY SHALL EAT, AND SHALL LEAVE_ THEREOF.] It was God, not the prophet, who fed _one hundred_ men with these _twenty_ loaves, c. This is something like our Lord's feeding the multitude miraculously. Indeed, there are many things in this chapter similar to fa... [ Continue Reading ]