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2 Kings 4:39

in 2 Kings 4

One of them went out to the field to gather herbs, and he found a wild vine from which he gathered as many wild gourds as his garment could hold. Then he came back and cut them up into the pot of stew, though no one knew what they were.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered thereof wild gourds his lap full, and came and shred them into the pot of pottage; for they knew them not.

KJV

And one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered thereof wild gourds his lap full, and came and shred them into the pot of pottage: for they knew them not.

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This verse in 2 Kings 4

Commentary

8 notes on this verse
A wild vine - Not a real wild vine, the fruit of which, if not very palatable, is harmless; but some climbing plant with tendrils. The plant was probably either the Ecbalium elaterium, or “squirting cucumber,” the fruit of which, egg-shaped, and of a very bitter taste, bursts at the slightest touch, when it is ripe, and squirts out sap and seed grains; or the Colocynthis, which belongs to the family of cucumbers, has a vine-shaped leaf, and bears a fruit as large as an orange, very bitter, from which is prepared the drug sold as colocynth.

This site's exposition

there was a dearth in

on 2 Kings 4:38-39

Gilgal already carries Israel's memory from Joshua's crossing (Josh 4:19-20) and Samuel's judging circuit (1 Sam 7:16), and now it hosts a company of prophets caught in famine, dependent on a single pot of pottage. The gatherer's mistake is honest ignorance rather than negligence, the text says plainly, for they knew them not, wild gourds mistaken for a safe herb and shredded whole into the common meal.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers2 voices

A commentator

Ephrem the Syrian

ON THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS 4:38 · Written before 373.

proposed

Here two miracles are proposed, which Elisha performed while he was among his disciples. He accomplished the first when he caused death to leave the pot, where, as they said, it had hidden. He performed the second when he nourished one hundred prophets with a …

A commentator

Ephrem the Syrian

ON THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS 4:39 · Written before 373.

proposed

This was the starving steward of the prophets who was forced by the lack of food to go through the fields in order to gather some herbs. And since he could not find the herbs he knew, he gathered those that he did not know …

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Nature has given man the sense of tasting, not only that wholesome food may be pleasant, but that that which is unwholesome may be discovered before it comes to the stomach; the mouth tries meat by tasting it, Job xii. This pottage was soon found by the taste of it to be dangerous, so that they cried out, There is death in the pot,
And one went out into the fields to gather herbs,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

The meal which Elisha poured into the pot was a symbolic sign that the noxious quality of the herbs was removed. lap full--The hyke, or large cloak, is thrown loosely over the left shoulder and fastened under the right arm, so as to form a lap or apron.
1 more voice on this verse

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

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 violently purgative. It ranks among vegetable poisons, as all intense bitters do; but, judiciously employed, it is of considerable use in medicine.

The words behind it

23 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וַיֵּצֵ֨אand he went out

    vaiyetze'H3318 →1067 times

  • אֶחָ֣דone [man]

    ʾechadH259 →971 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • הַשָּׂדֶה֮the field

    hasadehH7704 →334 times

  • לְלַקֵּ֣טto gather

    lelaketH3950 →

  • אֹרֹת֒herbs

    ʾorotH219 →

  • וַיִּמְצָא֙and he found

    vaiyimtza'H4672 →455 times

  • גֶּ֣פֶןa vine of

    gefenH1612 →

  • שָׂדֶ֔ה[the] field

    sadehH7704 →334 times

  • וַיְלַקֵּ֥טand he gathered

    vaylaketH3950 →

  • מִמֶּ֛נּוּfrom it

    mimenuH4480 →1188 times

  • פַּקֻּעֹ֥תgourds of

    pakuotH6498 →

  • שָׂדֶ֖ה[the] field

    sadehH7704 →334 times

  • מְלֹ֣א[the] fullness of

    melo'H4393 →

  • בִגְד֑וֹgarment his

    vigdoH899 →217 times

  • וַיָּבֹ֗אand he came

    vaiyavo'H935 →2568 times

  • וַיְפַלַּ֛חand he sliced [them]

    vayfalachH6398 →

  • אֶל־into

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • סִ֥יר[the] pot of

    sirH5518 →34 times

  • הַנָּזִ֖ידthe cooked food

    hanazidH5138 →6 times

  • כִּֽי־for

    ki-H3588 →4482 times

  • לֹ֥אnot

    lo'H3808 →5168 times

  • יָדָֽעוּ׃people knew

    yadauH3045 →945 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

4 in all, six open

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Matthew 15:13

    But Jesus replied, “Every plant that My heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by its roots.

    it leads to

    • John 15:2

      He cuts off every branch in Me that bears no fruit, and every branch that does bear fruit, He prunes to make it even more fruitful.

    • Isaiah 60:21

      Then all your people will be righteous; they will possess the land forever; they are the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, so that I may be glorified.

    • John 15:6

      If anyone does not remain in Me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers. Such branches are gathered up, thrown into the fire, and burned.

    • Isaiah 61:3

      to console the mourners in Zion—to give them a crown of beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and a garment of praise for a spirit of despair. So they will be…

    • Psalms 92:13

      Planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God.

  • Through

    Hebrews 12:15

    See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God, and that no root of bitterness springs up to cause trouble and defile many.

    it leads to

    • Hebrews 3:12

      See to it, brothers, that none of you has a wicked heart of unbelief that turns away from the living God.

    • Deuteronomy 29:18

      Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the LORD our God to go and worship the gods of those nations. Make sure…

  • Through

    Jeremiah 2:21

    I had planted you like a choice vine from the very best seed. How could you turn yourself before Me into a rotten, wild vine?

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 5:4

      What more could I have done for My vineyard than I already did for it? Why, when I expected sweet grapes, did it bring forth sour fruit?

Where this verse is studied

About 2 Kings

Elijah Ascends to Heaven in a Chariot of Fire, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Elijah Ascends to Heaven in a Chariot of Fire, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
2 Kings: the study guide →Read 2 Kings 4 →
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Alfred Edersheim, Bible History: Old Testament; Ephrem the Syrian, ON THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS 4:38; Ephrem the Syrian, ON THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS 4:39; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil, The Books of the Kings and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in 2 Kings 4 →