2 Kings 2:20
in 2 Kings 2“Bring me a new bowl,” he replied, “and put some salt in it.” So they brought it to him,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he said, Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein. And they brought it to him.
KJV
And he said, Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein. And they brought it to him.
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This verse in 2 Kings 2
Commentary
8 notes on this verseAnd he said, bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein,.... One that had never been used, that it might not be thought that the virtue was owing to anything that had been, or was, put into it: and they brought it to him; the pot with the salt in it.
This site's exposition
the situation of this city is pleasant
on 2 Kings 2:19-20
The men of Jericho bring Elisha a civic complaint rather than a spiritual one: the situation of this city is pleasant, but the water is naught, and the ground barren, a stream commonly blamed for miscarriage among cattle and people alike. Elisha calls for a new cruse, never used, and salt, and the request is deliberately impractical; salt by nature makes water worse, not better, so whatever happens next cannot be credited to the vessel or the substance. The men bring exactly what he asks without argument, the same trust the sons of the prophets have just shown him.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
Let us see what these facts mean, dearly beloved. Elisha, as I have frequently suggested, is the type of our Lord and Savior. That bitter spring seems to signify Adam, from whom the human race has sprung. Before the coming of the true Elisha, that …
What should we say about the merits of Elisha? His first praiseworthy deed was his wish to surpass his father in grace, expressed when he asked that more grace be given to him than he knew was found in him who possessed such grace. To …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
A new cruse - That there might be no legal pollution in it which might offend God, and hinder his miraculous operation. Put salt - A most improper remedy; for salt naturally makes waters brackish, and lands barren. Hereby therefore he would shew, that this was effected solely by the Divine power, which could work either without means, or against them.
God's works of grace are wrought, not by any operations of ours, but in observance of his institutions. (2.) He cast the salt into the spring of the waters, and so healed the streams and the ground they watered. Thus the way to reform men's lives is to renew their hearts; let those be seasoned with the salt of grace; for out of them are the issues of life.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The “new cruse” and the “salt” are evidently chosen from a regard to symbolizm. The foul stream represents sin, and to cleanse it emblems of purity must he taken. Hence, the clean “new” dish previously unused, and thus untainted; and the salt, a common Scriptural symbol of incorruption (see Lev 2:13; Eze 43:24; Mat 5:13, etc.).
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
23, 24. there came forth little children out of the city--that is, the idolatrous, or infidel young men of the place, who affecting to disbelieve the report of his master's translation, sarcastically urged him to follow in the glorious career. bald head--an epithet of contempt in the East, applied to a person even with a bushy head of hair.
The words behind it
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֗אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| קְחוּ־ | kechu- | fetch | H3947 → | 966 times |
| לִי֙ | li | for me | ||
| צְלֹחִ֣ית | tzelochit | a jar | H6746 → | |
| חֲדָשָׁ֔ה | chadashah | new | H2319 → | |
| וְשִׂ֥ימוּ | vesimu | and put | H7760 → | 584 times |
| שָׁ֖ם | sham | there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| מֶ֑לַח | melach | salt | H4417 → | 27 times |
| וַיִּקְח֖וּ | vaiyikchu | and they took [it] | H3947 → | 966 times |
| אֵלָֽיו׃ | ʾelav | to him | H413 → | 5510 times |
וַיֹּ֗אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
קְחוּ־fetch
kechu-H3947 →966 times
לִי֙for me
li
צְלֹחִ֣יתa jar
tzelochitH6746 →
חֲדָשָׁ֔הnew
chadashahH2319 →
וְשִׂ֥ימוּand put
vesimuH7760 →584 times
שָׁ֖םthere
shamH8033 →834 times
מֶ֑לַחsalt
melachH4417 →27 times
וַיִּקְח֖וּand they took [it]
vaiyikchuH3947 →966 times
אֵלָֽיו׃to him
ʾelavH413 →5510 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
Zephaniah 2:9Therefore, as surely as I live,” declares the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, “surely Moab will be like Sodom and the Ammonites like Gomorrah—a place of weeds and salt pits, a perpetual…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 29:23
All its soil will be a burning waste of sulfur and salt, unsown and unproductive, with no plant growing on it, just like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the…
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 15:1–9
This is the burden against Moab: Ar in Moab is ruined, destroyed in a night! Kir in Moab is devastated, destroyed in a night!
- Isaiah 11:14
They will swoop down on the slopes of the Philistines to the west; together they will plunder the sons of the east. They will lay their hands on Edom and Moab, and the Ammonites…
- Isaiah 25:10
For the hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain. But Moab will be trampled in his place as straw is trodden into the dung pile.
- Jeremiah 48:1
Concerning Moab, this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Woe to Nebo, for it will be devastated. Kiriathaim will be captured and disgraced; the fortress will be shattered and…
- Deuteronomy 29:23
Through
Judges 9:45And all that day Abimelech fought against the city until he had captured it and killed its people. Then he demolished the city and sowed it with salt.
it leads to
- 2 Kings 3:25
They destroyed the cities, and each man threw stones on every good field until it was covered. They stopped up every spring and cut down every good tree. Only Kir-haraseth was left with stones…
- 2 Kings 3:25
Through
Ezekiel 47:11But the swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt.
it leads to
- Revelation 22:11
Let the unrighteous continue to be unrighteous, and the vile continue to be vile; let the righteous continue to practice righteousness, and the holy continue to be holy.”
- Hebrews 10:26–31
If we deliberately go on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins remains,
- Revelation 22:11
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies3
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About 2 Kings
This page draws on 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 126.2-5; 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; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Maximus of Turin, SERMON 84.3-4.