2 Kings 4

2 Kings 4 brings together a series of miracle stories about Elisha. It continues the account of Elisha's ministry from the Moabite campaign in the previous chapter, where he prophesied the provision of water, and leads into the story of Naaman in the following chapter.

Outline

• Verses 1–7 The wife of one of the sons of the prophets (disciples trained within a prophetic community) faces the loss of her two sons to slavery because of a debt. Elisha has her borrow empty vessels from her neighbors and fill them from a single pot of oil, then sell the oil to pay the debt.
• Verses 8–17 A great woman of Shunem shows hospitality to Elisha and builds him a little chamber on the wall. Elisha promises the childless woman a son, and a son is born the following year.
• Verses 18–37 When the child suffers pain in his head and dies, the woman goes to Elisha at Mount Carmel. Gehazi lays Elisha's staff on the child's face, but the child does not awake. Elisha prays and stretches himself upon the child, and the child sneezes seven times and opens his eyes.
• Verses 38–41 During a famine at Gilgal, a stew made with wild gourds is found to contain poison, and Elisha removes the poison by adding meal to the pot.
• Verses 42–44 A man from Baal-shalisha brings twenty loaves of barley, and a hundred men eat from them and have some left over.

Key Verses

• 2 Kings 4:2 "Tell me, what hast thou in the house?" — The miracle begins in a situation in which the widow has nothing but a pot of oil.
• 2 Kings 4:10 "Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall" — This illustrates the Shunammite woman's service.
• 2 Kings 4:43 "They shall eat, and shall leave thereof" — This makes clear that the miracle came to pass according to the word of the LORD.

People and Places

• Elisha: The prophet who succeeded Elijah.
• Gehazi: Elisha's servant.
• The Shunammite woman: The woman who showed hospitality to Elisha; her name is not given.
• Mount Carmel: The place where the woman went to find Elisha.
• Gilgal: The place where the sons of the prophets gathered before Elisha.
• Baal-shalisha: The hometown of the man who brought bread made from the firstfruits.

Points for Reflection

The miracle of the oil and the story of the dead son restored to life resemble what Elijah did for the widow of Zarephath (1 Kings 17). The widow in verses 1–7 is not named in the text, but Josephus and other Jewish traditions identify her as the wife of Obadiah.

The feeding of a hundred men with barley loaves is frequently compared with the Gospel miracle of the feeding of the five thousand. Some interpreters also connect Hebrews 11:35, "Women received their dead raised to life again," with this chapter and the Zarephath account.

In the Korean Church

The story of the widow who borrowed empty vessels and the story of the Shunammite woman who prepared a room for Elisha are frequently used as sermon texts on the themes of faith and service.