2 Kings 4:41
in 2 Kings 4Then Elisha said, “Get some flour.” He threw it into the pot and said, “Pour it out for the people to eat.” And there was nothing harmful in the pot.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But he said, Then bring meal. And he cast it into the pot; and he said, Pour out for the people, that they may eat. And there was no harm in the pot.
KJV
But he said, Then bring meal. And he cast it into the pot; and he said, Pour out for the people, that they may eat. And there was no harm in the pot.
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This verse in 2 Kings 4
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Then bring meal - The natural properties of meal would but slightly diminish either the bitterness or the unwholesomeness of a drink containing colocynth. It is evident, therefore, that the conversion of the food from a pernicious and unsavory mess into palatable and wholesome nourishment was by miracle.
This site's exposition
there is death in the pot
on 2 Kings 4:40-41
There is death in the pot becomes the chapter's most quoted line, and the remedy Elisha applies, common meal cast into the poisoned pottage, recalls Moses at Marah casting a tree into bitter water to make it sweet, Ex 15:25, an ordinary object made the instrument of a word rather than a natural antidote. No harm in the pot answers the cry with the plainest possible negation, not a partial cure but a complete one, stated in the pot's own terms.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
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 …
Elisha corrects the nature of the cooked foods with some flour and gives them a new taste. Our Lord did the same according to the [divine] economy, so that he might be imitated, as he said for our exhortation, with the result that we might …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
It is probable that there was meal in it before, but that was put in by a common hand, only to thicken the pottage; this was the same thing, but cast in by Elisha's hand, and with intent to heal the pottage, by which it appears that the change was not owing to the meal (that was the sign only, not the means), but to the divine power.
But he said, then bring meal: and he cast it into the pot,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Bring meal - Though this might, in some measure, correct the strong acrid and purgative quality; yet it was only a miracle which could make a lapful of this fruit shred into pottage salutary.
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| וּקְחוּ־ | ukechu- | and fetch | H3947 → | 966 times |
| קֶ֔מַח | kemach | flour | H7058 → | |
| וַיַּשְׁלֵ֖ךְ | vaiyashlekh | and he threw [it] | H7993 → | 125 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | into | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הַסִּ֑יר | hasir | the pot | H5518 → | 34 times |
| וַיֹּ֗אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| צַ֤ק | tzak | pour [it] out | H3332 → | 50 times |
| לָעָם֙ | laam | for the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| וְיֹאכֵ֔לוּ | veyokhelu | so they may eat | H398 → | 810 times |
| וְלֹ֥א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| הָיָ֛ה | hayah | it was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| דָּבָ֥ר | davar | a thing | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| רָ֖ע | ra' | bad | H7451 → | 662 times |
| בַּסִּֽיר׃ ס | basir | in the pot | H5518 → | 34 times |
וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙and he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
וּקְחוּ־and fetch
ukechu-H3947 →966 times
קֶ֔מַחflour
kemachH7058 →
וַיַּשְׁלֵ֖ךְand he threw [it]
vaiyashlekhH7993 →125 times
אֶל־into
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הַסִּ֑ירthe pot
hasirH5518 →34 times
וַיֹּ֗אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
צַ֤קpour [it] out
tzakH3332 →50 times
לָעָם֙for the people
laamH5971 →1873 times
וְיֹאכֵ֔לוּso they may eat
veyokheluH398 →810 times
וְלֹ֥אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
הָיָ֛הit was
hayahH1961 →3559 times
דָּבָ֥רa thing
davarH1697 →1440 times
רָ֖עbad
ra'H7451 →662 times
בַּסִּֽיר׃ סin the pot
basirH5518 →34 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
Acts 28:5But Paul shook the creature off into the fire and suffered no ill effects.
it leads to
- Luke 10:19
Behold, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. Nothing will harm you.
- Mark 16:18
they will pick up snakes with their hands, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not harm them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will be made well.”
- Luke 10:19
Through
Exodus 15:25And Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a log. And when he cast it into the waters, they were sweetened. There the LORD made for them a statute and…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 8:2
Remember that these forty years the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness, so that He might humble you and test you in order to know what was in your…
- Psalms 66:10
For You, O God, have tested us; You have refined us like silver.
- Deuteronomy 8:2
Through
1 Corinthians 1:25For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.
it leads to
- Romans 11:33–36
O, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and untraceable His ways!
- Romans 11:33–36
Through
2 Kings 2:21and Elisha went out to the spring, cast the salt into it, and said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘I have healed this water. No longer will it cause death or unfruitfulness.’”
it leads to
- Exodus 15:25–26
And Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a log. And when he cast it into the waters, they were sweetened. There the LORD made for them a statute and…
- Exodus 15:25–26
Through
John 9:6When Jesus had said this, He spit on the ground, made some mud, and applied it to the man’s eyes.
it leads to
- Mark 7:33
So Jesus took him aside privately, away from the crowd, and put His fingers into the man’s ears. Then He spit and touched the man’s tongue.
- Mark 8:23
So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. Then He spit on the man’s eyes and placed His hands on him. “Can you see anything?” He…
- Mark 7:33
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 2 Kings
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ephrem the Syrian, ON THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS 4:38; Ephrem the Syrian, ON THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS 4:41; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.