2 Kings 4:2
in 2 Kings 4“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.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me; what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thy handmaid hath not anything in the house, save a pot of oil.
KJV
And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil.
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This verse in 2 Kings 4
Commentary
9 notes on this verseSave 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 Mat 26:12.
This site's exposition
his creditor is coming to take my two children as his slaves
on 2 Kings 4:1-3
The widow cries that “his creditor is coming to take my two children as his slaves”, the bondage for debt that Leviticus 25:39 regulates. Elisha begins as Elijah did at Zarephath in 1 Kings 17:12, by asking what she has. The borrowing is her own labour.
This site's exposition
but a jar of oil
Adam Clarke listed the uses of such oil in a house: food, anointing the body after bathing, and anointing the dead. Some held that this widow had kept her jar for her own burial, a use Matthew 26:12 also names. It was all she had.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
Here the Scripture relates the other miracle that Elisha performed in order to help the widow. He made flow into the vessels an amount of oil sufficient to pay the debt of her husband and abundantly multiplied it for the nourishment of her children.From the …
Notice, dearly beloved: as long as that widow had oil in her own vessel, it was not enough for her, and she could not pay her debt. It is true, brothers. If a person loves only himself, he does not suffice for himself, and he …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And Elisha said unto her, what shall I do for thee?....
If she had had any plate or furniture, he would have bidden her part with it, to enable her to be just to her creditors. We cannot reckon any thing really, nor comfortably, our own, but what is so when all our debts are paid.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
This comprising her whole stock of domestic utensils, he directs her to borrow empty vessels not a few; then, secluding herself with her children, [the widow] was to pour oil from her cruse into the borrowed vessels, and, selling the oil, discharge the debt, and then maintain herself and family with the remainder.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
A pot of oil - Or, “an anointing of oil” - so much oil, i. e., as would serve me for one anointing of my person. The word used occurs only in this passage.
The words behind it
21 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֨אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֵלֶ֤יהָ | ʾeleiha | to her | H413 → | 5510 times |
| אֱלִישָׁע֙ | ʾelisha' | Elisha | H477 → | 58 times |
| מָ֣ה | mah | what? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| אֶֽעֱשֶׂה־ | ʾeeseh- | will I do | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| לָּ֔ךְ | lakh | for you | ||
| הַגִּ֣ידִי | hagidi | tell | H5046 → | 370 times |
| לִ֔י | li | to me | ||
| מַה־ | mah- | what? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| יֶּשׁ־ | yesh- | [is] there | H3426 → | 140 times |
| לָ֖ךְ | lekhi | [belonging] to you | ||
| בַּבָּ֑יִת | babayit | in the house | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| וַתֹּ֗אמֶר | vatomer | and she said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֵ֣ין | ʾein | not | H369 → | 789 times |
| לְשִׁפְחָתְךָ֥ | leshifchatekha | [belongs] to maidservant your | H8198 → | 63 times |
| כֹל֙ | khol | anything | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| בַּבַּ֔יִת | babayit | in the house | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| כִּ֖י | ki | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | except | H518 → | 1069 times |
| אָס֥וּךְ | ʾasukh | a jar of | H610 → | |
| שָֽׁמֶן׃ | shamen | oil | H8081 → | 193 times |
וַיֹּ֨אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
אֵלֶ֤יהָto her
ʾeleihaH413 →5510 times
אֱלִישָׁע֙Elisha
ʾelisha'H477 →58 times
מָ֣הwhat?
mahH4100 →752 times
אֶֽעֱשֶׂה־will I do
ʾeeseh-H6213 →2628 times
לָּ֔ךְfor you
lakh
הַגִּ֣ידִיtell
hagidiH5046 →370 times
לִ֔יto me
li
מַה־what?
mah-H4100 →752 times
יֶּשׁ־[is] there
yesh-H3426 →140 times
לָ֖ךְ[belonging] to you
lekhi
בַּבָּ֑יִתin the house
babayitH1004 →2046 times
וַתֹּ֗אמֶרand she said
vatomerH559 →5305 times
אֵ֣יןnot
ʾeinH369 →789 times
לְשִׁפְחָתְךָ֥[belongs] to maidservant your
leshifchatekhaH8198 →63 times
כֹל֙anything
kholH3605 →5413 times
בַּבַּ֔יִתin the house
babayitH1004 →2046 times
כִּ֖יthat
kiH3588 →4482 times
אִם־except
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
אָס֥וּךְa jar of
ʾasukhH610 →
שָֽׁמֶן׃oil
shamenH8081 →193 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
James 2:5Listen, my beloved brothers: Has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom He promised those who love Him?
it leads to
- Matthew 5:3
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
- Luke 6:20
Looking up at His disciples, Jesus said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
- Revelation 2:9
I know your affliction and your poverty—though you are rich! And I am aware of the slander of those who falsely claim to be Jews, but are in fact a synagogue of Satan.
- 1 Corinthians 1:26–28
Brothers, consider the time of your calling: Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were powerful; not many were of noble birth.
- 2 Corinthians 8:9
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.
- Matthew 5:3
Through
2 Kings 2:9After they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken away from you?” “Please, let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,”…
it leads to
- Numbers 11:17
And I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take some of the Spirit that is on you and put that Spirit on them. They will help you bear the…
- Deuteronomy 21:17
Instead, he must acknowledge the firstborn, the son of his unloved wife, by giving him a double portion of all that he has. For that son is the firstfruits of his father’s strength; the…
- John 16:7
But I tell you the truth, it is for your benefit that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send…
- Numbers 11:17
Where this verse is studied
About 2 Kings
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Caesarius of Arles, SERMON 128.3; Ephrem the Syrian, ON THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS 4:3; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.