2 Kings 4:42
in 2 Kings 4Now a man from Baal-shalishah came to the man of God with a sack of twenty loaves of barley bread from the first ripe grain. “Give it to the people to eat,” said Elisha.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And there came a man from Baal-shalishah, and brought the man of God bread of the first-fruits, twenty loaves of barley, and fresh ears of grain in his sack. And he said, Give unto the people, that they may eat.
KJV
And there came a man from Baal–shalisha, and brought the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley, and full ears of corn in the husk thereof. And he said, Give unto the people, that they may eat.
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This verse in 2 Kings 4
Commentary
6 notes on this verseBread of the first-fruits - This was an offering to the prophet, as the first-fruits themselves were an offering to God. Corn in the husk - Probably parched corn or corn to be parched, a very frequent food in the East; full ears, before they are ripe, parched on the fire.
This site's exposition
bread of the firstfruits, twenty
on 2 Kings 4:42-44
The bread is firstfruits, grain due by law to the priesthood (Lev 23:17, Num 18:12-13), rerouted here to feed a hungry company through the man of God, twenty barley loaves against a hundred men. Elisha's word, thus saith the Lord, They shall eat, and shall leave thereof, is fulfilled to the letter at v44, and the commentators, Farrar among them, have long set this scene beside Jesus feeding the five thousand and the four thousand as a likeness worth drawing, a reading the Gospels themselves never state but the shape invites: scant bread, a doubting servant, and food left over.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
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 …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
It is said to be of the first-fruits, which was God's due out of their increase; and when the priests and Levites were all at Jerusalem, out of their reach, the religious people among them, with good reason, looked upon the prophets as God's receivers, and brought their first-fruits to them, which helped to maintain their schools.
And there came a man from Baalshalisha,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Baal-shalisha - Fifteen Roman miles north of Lydda, in the Sharon plain to the west of the highlands of Ephraim. It was, apparently, the chief city of the “land of Shalisha” (marginal reference). Bread of the first fruits - It appears by this that the Levitical priests having withdrawn from the land of Israel (see 2Ch 11:13-14), pious Israelites transferred to the prophets, whom God raised up, the offerings required by the Law to be given to the priests Num 18:13; Deu 18:4. In the husk thereof - “In his bag.” The word does not occur elsewhere in Scripture.
The words behind it
18 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאִ֨ישׁ | veish | and a man | H376 → | 1663 times |
| בָּ֜א | ba' | he came | H935 → | 2568 times |
| מִבַּ֣עַל | mibaal | from Baal | H1190 → | |
| שָׁלִ֗שָׁה | shalishah | Shalisha | H1190 → | |
| וַיָּבֵא֩ | vaiyave' | and he brought | H935 → | 2568 times |
| לְאִ֨ישׁ | leish | to [the] man of | H376 → | 1663 times |
| הָאֱלֹהִ֜ים | haelohim | <the> God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| לֶ֤חֶם | lechem | bread of | H3899 → | 298 times |
| בִּכּוּרִים֙ | bikurim | first-fruits | H1061 → | |
| עֶשְׂרִֽים־ | ʾesrim- | twenty | H6242 → | 315 times |
| לֶ֣חֶם | lechem | bread[s] of | H3899 → | 298 times |
| שְׂעֹרִ֔ים | seorim | barley<s> | H8184 → | 34 times |
| וְכַרְמֶ֖ל | vekharmel | and new corn | H3759 → | |
| בְּצִקְלֹנ֑וֹ | betziklono | in sack his | H6861 → | |
| וַיֹּ֕אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| תֵּ֥ן | ten | give [it] | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| לָעָ֖ם | laam | to the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| וְיֹאכֵֽלוּ׃ | veyokhelu | so they may eat | H398 → | 810 times |
וְאִ֨ישׁand a man
veishH376 →1663 times
בָּ֜אhe came
ba'H935 →2568 times
מִבַּ֣עַלfrom Baal
mibaalH1190 →
שָׁלִ֗שָׁהShalisha
shalishahH1190 →
וַיָּבֵא֩and he brought
vaiyave'H935 →2568 times
לְאִ֨ישׁto [the] man of
leishH376 →1663 times
הָאֱלֹהִ֜ים<the> God
haelohimH430 →2601 times
לֶ֤חֶםbread of
lechemH3899 →298 times
בִּכּוּרִים֙first-fruits
bikurimH1061 →
עֶשְׂרִֽים־twenty
ʾesrim-H6242 →315 times
לֶ֣חֶםbread[s] of
lechemH3899 →298 times
שְׂעֹרִ֔יםbarley<s>
seorimH8184 →34 times
וְכַרְמֶ֖לand new corn
vekharmelH3759 →
בְּצִקְלֹנ֑וֹin sack his
betziklonoH6861 →
וַיֹּ֕אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
תֵּ֥ןgive [it]
tenH5414 →2011 times
לָעָ֖םto the people
laamH5971 →1873 times
וְיֹאכֵֽלוּ׃so they may eat
veyokheluH398 →810 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
2 Kings 7:1Then Elisha said, “Hear the word of the LORD! This is what the LORD says: ‘About this time tomorrow at the gate of Samaria, a seah of fine flour will sell for a shekel,…
it leads to
- Joshua 3:5
Then Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you.”
- Exodus 16:12
“I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the…
- Ezekiel 37:4
And He said to me, “Prophesy concerning these bones and tell them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD!
- 1 Samuel 11:9
So they said to the messengers who had come, “Tell the men of Jabesh-gilead: ‘Deliverance will be yours tomorrow by the time the sun is hot.’” And when the messengers relayed this to the…
- Joshua 3:5
Through
John 6:9“Here is a boy with five barley loaves and two small fish. But what difference will these make among so many?”
it leads to
- 2 Kings 4:42–44
Now a man from Baal-shalishah came to the man of God with a sack of twenty loaves of barley bread from the first ripe grain. “Give it to the people to eat,” said Elisha.
- Matthew 14:17
“We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.
- Mark 6:38
“Go and see how many loaves you have,” He told them. And after checking, they said, “Five—and two fish.”
- Luke 9:13
But Jesus told them, “You give them something to eat.” “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered, “unless we go and buy food for all these people.”
- 2 Kings 4:42–44
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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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; F. W. Farrar, The Second Book of Kings (Expositor's Bible); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil, The Books of the Kings and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.