2 Kings 4:1 BSB — MannaFest

2 Kings 4:1

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!”

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear Jehovah: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two children to be bondmen.

KJV

Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the Lord: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen.

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Commentary

3 voices

Albert Barnes

1798–1870

Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)

The creditor is come ... - The Law of Moses, like the Athenian and the Roman law, recognized servitude for debt, and allowed that pledging of the debtor’s person, which, in a rude state of society, is regarded as the safest and the most natural security (see the marginal reference). In the present case it would seem that, so long as the debtor lived, the creditor had not enforced his right over his sons, but now on his death he claimed their services, to which he was by law entitled.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

Prophets - Who, though they were wholly devoted to sacred employment, were not excluded from marriage, any more than the priests and Levites. Fear the Lord - His poverty therefore was not procured by his idleness, or prodigality; but by his piety, because he would not comply with the king's way of worship, and therefore lost all worldly advantages.

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

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 prophets had wives as well as the priests, though prophecy went not by entail, as the priesthood did. Marriage is honourable in all, and not inconsistent with the most sacred professions.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

28 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
וְאִשָּׁ֣ה	ve.'i.Shah	and a woman	H802 →
אַחַ֣ת	'a.Chat	one	H259 →
מִנְּשֵׁ֣י	mi.ne.Shei	from [the] wives of	H802 →
בְנֵֽי־	ve.nei-	[the] sons of	H1121 →
הַ֠נְּבִיאִים	Ha.ne.vi.'im	the prophets	H5030 →
צָעֲקָ֨ה	tza.'a.Kah	she cried out	H6817 →
אֶל־	'el-	to	H413 →
אֱלִישָׁ֜ע	'e.li.Sha'	Elisha	H477 →
לֵאמֹ֗ר	le.Mor	<to> saying	H559 →
עַבְדְּךָ֤	'av.de.Kha	servant your	H5650 →
אִישִׁי֙	'i.Shi	husband my	H376 →
מֵ֔ת	Met	he is dead	H4191 →
וְאַתָּ֣ה	ve.'a.Tah	and you	H859 →
יָדַ֔עְתָּ	ya.Da'.ta	you know	H3045 →
כִּ֣י	ki	that	H3588 →
עַבְדְּךָ֔	'av.de.Kha	servant your	H5650 →
הָיָ֥ה	ha.Yah	he was	H1961 →
יָרֵ֖א	ya.Re'	fearing	H3373 →
אֶת־	'et-	<obj.>	H853 →
יְהוָ֑ה	Yah.weh	Yahweh	H3068 →
וְהַ֨נֹּשֶׁ֔ה	ve.Ha.no.Sheh	and the creditor	H5383 →
בָּ֗א	Ba'	[is] about to come	H935 →
לָקַ֜חַת	la.Ka.chat	to take	H3947 →
אֶת־	'et-	<obj.>	H853 →
שְׁנֵ֧י	she.Nei	[the] two	H8147 →
יְלָדַ֛י	ye.la.Dai	children my	H3206 →
ל֖וֹ	lo	for himself
לַעֲבָדִֽים׃	la.'a.va.Dim	to slaves	H5650 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Psalms 147:11
The LORD is pleased with those who fear Him, who hope in His loving devotion.
leads to
- Psalms 33:18
  Surely the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear Him, on those whose hope is in His loving devotion
- Malachi 3:16–17
  At that time those who feared the LORD spoke with one another, and the LORD listened and heard them. So a scroll of remembrance was written before Him regarding those who feared the LORD…
- Zephaniah 3:17
  The LORD your God is among you; He is mighty to save. He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you with His love; He will rejoice over you with singing.”
- Psalms 149:4
  For the LORD takes pleasure in His people; He adorns the afflicted with salvation.
- Isaiah 62:4
  No longer will you be called Forsaken, nor your land named Desolate; but you will be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for the LORD will take delight in you, and your land will…
Through
Matthew 18:25
Since the man was unable to pay, the master ordered that he be sold to pay his debt, along with his wife and children and everything he owned.
leads to
- Nehemiah 5:5
  We and our children are just like our countrymen and their children, yet we are subjecting our sons and daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters are already enslaved, but we are powerless to…
- Leviticus 25:39
  If a countryman among you becomes destitute and sells himself to you, then you must not force him into slave labor.
- Luke 7:42
  When they were unable to repay him, he forgave both of them. Which one, then, will love him more?”