2 Kings 4

1. Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead: and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the 2 LORD: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two children to be bondmen. And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me; what hast thou in the house? And 3 she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil. Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few.

4. And thou shalt go in, and shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and pour out into all 5 those vessels; and thou shalt set aside that which is full. So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons; they brought the vessels to her, and she poured out. 6 And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a 7 vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed. Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy sons of the rest.

The widow’s oil increased. This simple and touching story is one of those many narratives which make the Bible a book for every one, and a book for every-day life. The individual is never lost in the nation or the race. The Bible is partly a history of nations, and particu- larly of the Jewish nation. But it is much more a history of individuals. It is this that makes it such a book of universal comfort and instruction. As we read of the men and women whose lives are recorded in it, we learn more from their faith and their failings, from their temptations and their victories, than we could from any abstract discourses about the benefit of virtue and the evil of vice. We learn that they were men and women of like passions with ourselves. We learn that the temptations they conquered we can conquer by the help of the same Spirit; that the trials they endured we can endure; and that the faith and holiness to which they attained are within our reach also. Perhaps we think it hard to be religious in our business, in society, or amid the cares and worries of our daily life. The Bible shows us men and women living under the same con- ditions, and yet living so much in the fear of God and the presence of eternity that they tri- umphed over their distractions, and, while in the world, were not of it. Such a glimpse of every-day life we obtain in the narrative be- fore us. C. H. I.

This whole section reveals Elisha’s sympathy and helpfulness, while it conveys Gospel pre- cepts bearing upon practical human conduct. The miracles it narrates, like all the miracles of the Old and New Testaments, were for use and instruction, not to produce mere wonder- ment.

1. The request of faith under circumstances of strait and distress. A woman (probably of Samaria, where Elisha lived) is the suppliant— a widow of an humble but godly teacher. The husband had been one of a small class of in- structed and devout men, trained in the re- ligious schools founded by Samuel and con- tinued under succeeding prophets. Either as youths or men, and under an impulse of the Divine Spirit, they voluntarily entered these sacred seminaries. But, whether as students or as graduated evangelists, unmarried or mar- ried, each one, like Paul, had an occupation by which he maintained himself or his household. This man had left a debt as his only legacy. How incurred we know not, but not, certainly, from evil or blameworthy conduct. By the laws of all ancient nations children were counted as the property of the parent, and so reckoned among his assets, wherewith his debts could be paid. The Jewish law empowered the creditor to hold a deceased creditor’s chil- dren as bondsmen for seven years. What dues could not be paid in money, it required to be paid in such enforced service. This law was about to be applied to the two sons of this poor widow. She had no resource but her trust in God. This trust she shows by going at once to God’s acknowledged prophet. She knows that Elisha is favored with Divine gifts for God’s people. Her husband was God’s servant, and his household is consecrated to God. And this is the ground of her appeal in her great strait and distress. Of God’s favor she seeks to be availled at the hand of His prophet. B.

Of the wives of the sons of the prophets. We learn from this that the “sons of the prophets” were not merely, all of them, college students, but included fathers of families, who cannot have lived a cloistered life, but must have had separate homes for themselves and their families. Such persons may still have taught in the prophetical schools, as do the married tutors and professors of modern universities. The creditor is come to take my two sons to be bondmen. In primitive communities men borrowed upon their personal credit, and the primary security for debt was regarded as being their own persons, the value of their labor, and that of those dependent on them. In Greece and Rome, originally, as in the He- brew community, borrowers ordinarily raised money by pledging their persons, and, if they could not pay when the debt became due, went into servitude with their children. The Mosaic law presupposes this state of things, and per- mits its continuance, but in two respects inter- feres to modify it: by requiring that the service exacted shall not be severe (Lev. 25: 43,

46), but such as was commonly rendered by hired servants (verses 39, 40); and by limiting the period of service to the date of the next jubilee year (verses 40, 41). In the instance brought here under our notice, it would seem that the creditor had not proceeded to claim his rights until the debtor died, when he enforced them against the man’s children. Hammond.

2-4. The answer of Elisha.** Instantly he recognizes and responds to her faith. He acknowledges her claim, and at once proceeds to satisfy the appeal of her need. A little before he had sternly repulsed the king, Jehoram, in the midst of his royal allies and their combined hosts, with the question, What have I to do with thee? But now with tenderest sympathy he asks this lone and lowly widow, What shall I do for thee? The question expressed his willingness to supply her want from resources (not his own) which he could draw upon by a signal and assured faith. Yet he seeks full information before he acts. By a second question he brings out the completeness of her destitution, and discovers a way by which she also can be called upon to do something in self-help. Thus her faith and obedience will be tested by being called into action. So (in a previous chapter) he had bidden the thirsting army dig ditches for the promised water. And so Christ and His apostles always summoned those they were about to help to some act or some expectation by which faith might be awakened, encouraged or tested. This law of all Divine help, that man must in some way co-operate with God by desire, will, or deed, is expressed in its highest form by Paul in Phil. 2:12, 13. A little oil in a pitcher: this is her sole remaining treasure. Assured that God will multiply this at his intercession, Elisha bids the woman borrow as many empty vessels as she could from families that know her—i.e., of the sons of the prophets. Then he directs her, with the door closed upon herself and her two sons, to pour from the small half-empty pitcher into them all, until they are filled. B.

2. None can so freely compassionate the hard terms of a prophet as an Elisha. He finds that she is not querulously impatient; expressing her sorrow without murmuring and discontentment; making a loving and honorable mention of that husband who had left her distressed; readily, therefore, doth he incline to her succor: “What shall I do for thee? Tell me what hast thou in the house?” Bp. II.—God’s help takes its starting-point from what we already have. The widow had but “one pot of oil,” but this was made the basis of what was to be done. So Elijah founded his miracle on the widow of Zarephath’s “handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse.” The lesson is that what means of help we have are to be made use of to the utmost before supernatural aid is invoked. J. O.

5,6. The obedience of faith and its result.** She did what she could and what was commanded. Neither the strangeness of the command nor the seeming impossibility of the asserted consequences delayed her acting. Nor for a moment did her faith waver while gathering the vessels or filling them one by one from her own small pitcher. When her obedience was fully rewarded and no empty vessel remained, then the supply ceased, but only with the pouring. And now God had greatly enriched her. Used as the olive oil was for food, for light, for various ceremonials, its value was permanent and great. And it could always be readily exchanged for money. B.

Divine love is an eternal fountain that never leaves running while a vessel is empty or capable of holding more; and it stands open to all comers: therefore, come; and if ye have not sufficient of your own, go and borrow vessels, empty vessels, not a few; “pay your debts out of it, and live on the rest” to eternity. Elisha Coles.—Our faith, our earnestness of desire, our ardor and confidence of prayer, our faithfulness of stewardship and strenuousness of use, measure the amount of the unmeasured grace which we can receive. So long as our vessels are brought, the golden oil does not cease to flow. The more we trust, the more we can contain of His gift, and the more we can contain, the more shall surely possess. As Bernard beautifully says, “He puts the oil of His mercy into the vase of our trust,” and the larger the vase the fuller the stream which He pours into it. As long as we bring vessels, the blessing runs, like the oil into the widow’s cruse. When we cease to hold up our emptiness to the fountain, it stays. “Ye have not, because ye ask not.” If our Christian life be shrunken, and our graces feeble, it is only because we have not gone to Him for fresh supplies. Little faith means little grace. . . . The principle of the variation in actual manifestation of the unvarying might of God is found in the Lord’s words: “According to your faith be it unto you.” So, then, we may expect periods of quickened energy in the forth-putting of the Divine power. And these will correspond to and be consequent on the faithful prayers of Christian men. See to it that you keep the channels clear, that the flow may continue full and increase. A. M.

We see here how exactly the oil matches the capacity and number of the vessels provided. According to the provision made, so was the miraculous gift. This shows us the law of God’s dealing with men’s souls. He gives grace, but He gives it in measure. He gives grace as much as man is ready to receive; but He requires man to prepare vessels to receive the grace He gives, and to use and not “leave of it.” The oil was given to be used; so is Divine grace. If we use what God gives and value it, he who gathers much shall have nothing over, and he who gathers little shall have no lack. Baring-Gould.—As the widow’s oil increased, not in the vessel, but by pouring out; and as the barley bread in the Gospel multiplied, not in the whole loaf, but by breaking and distributing; and as the grain bringeth increase, not when it lieth on a heap in the garner, but by scattering upon the land; so are these spiritual graces best improved, not by keeping them together, but by distributing them abroad. The talent gathereth nothing in the napkin, unless it be rust and canker; but travelling in the bank, besides the good it doth as it passeth to and fro, it ever returneth home with increase. Sanderson.

No way to honor God, no way to win souls, no way to increase your own gifts and graces, but to exercise them for the good of others. Grace is not like to worldly vanities that diminish by distribution, but like candles which keep the same light, though a thousand are lighted by them. Grace is like the widow’s oil, which multiplied by pouring out; and like those talents which doubled by employment. T. Brooks.

7. Gratitude expressed and counsel sought. The large deliverance. In few but fervent words “she told the man of God.” And he, who saw her feeling of gratitude and of stewardship, told her first how to discharge her stewardship by full honest payment of her husband’s debt. Then he intensified and made permanent her grateful sense of God’s mercy, by bidding her and her children live of the remainder of His bounty. Thus she received more than she had asked, even all that she needed.—And a better gift God added in the greatly quickened and strengthened graces of her spiritual life. As the thought has been expressed of Christ: He laid large foundations for the future Church in the great numbers of those whose faith was wrought or strengthened in connection with His beneficent miracles. B.

I do not see her run forth into the street and proclaim her store; nor calling in her neighbors, whether to admire or bargain. I see her running to the prophet’s door and gratefully acknowledging the favor, and humbly depending on his directions; as not daring to dispose of that which was so wondrously given her without the advice of him by whose powerful means she had received it. Bp. H.

The element of miracle here is very notable. But the pledge of Divine help in distress implied in such a miracle remains to us, and God will honor every draft on His promises made by faith, basing itself on such deeds as this. It might almost be said that there is a multiplying power in the Divine blessing apart from miracle. The whole incident teaches us the lesson of trusting God in every time of need. When have the righteous been forsaken, or their seed seen begging bread (Ps. 37: 25)? If we can trust in God for temporal supplies, much more may we for our spiritual supplies (Phil. 4: 19). J. O.—Let those who are poor and in distress be encouraged to trust God for supply in the way of duty. “Verily thou shalt be fed,” but not feasted. It is true we cannot now expect miracles, yet we may expect mercies if we wait on God and seek Him. Let widows particularly, and prophets’ widows in a special manner, depend upon Him to preserve them and their fatherless children alive; for to them He will be a Husband and a Father. Let those whom God hath blessed with plenty use it for the glory of God, and under the direction of His Word; let them do justly with it, as this widow did, and serve God cheerfully in the use of it; and, as Elisha, be ready to do good to those that need them—be eyes to the blind and feet to the lame. H.

Rich suggestions of Gospel truth, precept and promise abound in this and the succeeding miracles, each of which is only an acted parable. In this one we find many golden texts.

1. “Be care-full (or anxious) for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, make known your requests unto God.” “Casting all your care upon Him.” And by abundant similar invitations are we encouraged to take our trouble, whatever it be, to God—in Him to find assured relief.

2. “What shall I do for thee,” is the question of all true Christian helpfulness. Coming from the heart, it is always seconded by the hand in appropriate deeds or gifts. Genuine sympathy is active, expressing itself in earnest intercession with the Divine Helper if it can do no more.

3. He who supplied Israel in the desert with bread from heaven and water from the rock, who multiplied the meal and oil for two poor widows, still “giveth all their meat in due season.” And by the same Divine power out of the same infinite resources, though now through the familiar miracle of fruitage from the warmed and moistened earth.

4. Not only in “man’s extremity” does God find His “opportunity.” The promise that “the Lord will provide” equally applies and needs to be realized by men in their times of fulness. It were well if then too they found opportunity for grateful looking and resting upon God.

5. Borrow not a few vessels! Large expectation brings abundant provision. Large asking is the condition, as it has the promise, of bountiful supply. And it honors God’s royalty in giving. He gives exceeding abundantly above all we ask or think!

6. In His providence and grace alike we are workers together with God. The increase of what we have comes not without our own act concurring with His interposition. By the woman’s pouring the vessels were filled. So are we bidden to “work out our own salvation,” if we would have “God work in us” all precious results of holy character and happy experience.

7. Render unto all their dues: owe no man anything. Honor, in its high, true sense, as well as conscience, accepts this Gospel law. In a just and lofty meaning of the terms, it is true that honesty is the best policy. Even the poor must be honest and pay their debts—poor men, poor ministers, and poor churches. The daily bread we ask of God must be honestly ours, or our prayer is a mockery and is unheard of Him.

8. Grace, like the widow’s oil, is the supernatural free gift of God, and avails to pay all the soul’s debt. More even than this, it provides for every spiritual need of this life; beautifying, nourishing, healing the soul, and lighting its pathway until it enters into glory. And, according to the Divine assurances, “God is able to make all grace abound.” Add now the entire expression of the Holy Ghost, and learn the reason of this abounding grace given: that it may be used for the glory of God. No word even of Paul surpasses this wonderful succession of unlimited superlatives. None is fraught with deeper, richer meaning of promise and counsel concerning the abundance and the right use of grace. Read thoughtfully and ponder each word of this royal cumulative utterance of the Divine Spirit: God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work! B.

8. And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread. And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually. Let us make, I pray thee, a little chamber on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither. And it fell on a day, that he came thither, and he turned into the chamber and lay there. And he said to Gehazi his servant, Call this Shunammite. And when he had called her, she stood before him. And he said unto him, Say now unto her, Behold, thou hast been careful for us with all this care; what is to be done for thee? wouldest thou be spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the host? And she answered, I dwell among mine own people. And he said, What then is to be done for her? And Gehazi answered, Verily she hath no son, and her husband is old. And he said, Call her. And when he had called her, she stood in the door. And he said, At this season, when the time cometh round, thou shalt embrace a son. And she said, Nay, my lord, thou man of God, do not lie unto thine handmaid. And the woman conceived, and bare a son at that season, when the time came round, as Elisha had said unto her. And when the child was grown, it fell on a day, that he went out to his father to the reapers. And he said unto his father, My head, my head. And he said to his servant, Carry him to his mother. And when he had taken him, and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and then died. And she went up, and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and shut the door upon him, and went out. And she called unto her husband, and said, Send me, I pray thee, one of the servants, and one of the asses, that I

23 may run to the man of God, and come again. And he said, Wherefore wilt thou go to him 24 to-day? it is neither new moon nor sabbath. And she said, It shall be well. Then she saddled an ass, and said to her servant, Drive, and go forward; slacken me not the riding, 25 except I bid thee. So she went, and came unto the man of God to mount Carmel. And it came to pass, when the man of God saw her afar off, that he said to Gehazi his servant, 26 Behold, yonder is the Shunammite: run, I pray thee, now to meet her, and say unto her, Is 27 it well with thee? is it well with thy husband? is it well with the child? And she answered, It is well. And when she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught hold of his feet. And Gehazi came near to thrust her away; but the man of God said, Let her alone: for her soul is vexed within her; and the LORD hath hid it from me, and hath not 28 told me. Then she said, Did I desire a son of my lord? did I not say, Do not deceive me? 29 Then he said to Gehazi, Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thine hand, and go thy way: if thou meet any man, salute him not; and if any salute thee, answer him not again: 30 and lay my staff upon the face of the child. And the mother of the child said, As the LORD 31 liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And he arose, and followed her. And Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff upon the face of the child; but there was neither voice, nor hearing. Wherefore he returned to meet him, and told him, saying, The 32 child is not awaked. And when Elisha was come into the house, behold, the child was dead, 33 and laid upon his bed. He went in therefore, and shut the door upon them twain, and prayed 34 unto the LORD. And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands: and he stretched himself upon 35 him; and the flesh of the child waxed warm. Then he returned, and walked in the house once to and fro; and went up, and stretched himself upon him: and the child sneezed seven 36 times, and the child opened his eyes. And he called Gehazi, and said, Call this Shunam- 37 mite. So he called her. And when she was come in unto him, he said, Take up thy son. Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground; and she took up her son, and went out.

S-17. Elisha’s ordinary ministry consisted in the oversight of the prophetic schools, and in personal instruction and helpfulness in behalf of those who still acknowledged Jehovah. Although living in Samaria, he seems often to have visited Elijah’s old retreat at Carmel, there to obtain the same needed blessing of quiet thoughtfulness and devotion. The city Shunem lay upon the road he usually traversed, between Samaria and Carmel. In this city was a woman of comparative distinction and wealth, who was a worshipper of the true God. This woman, at first recognizing Elisha as a prophet of Jehovah, invites him to come in for passing refreshment and rest. Then, receiving spiritual cheer and help from his devout and genial spirit, she desires more of his presence, that she may receive more of God’s blessing upon her household. Her husband gladly concurring, a chamber is specially prepared for Elisha’s use, that he may make the house his home as often and as long as he will. Through Elisha’s gratitude, she who thus received God’s prophet, received a prophet’s reward (Matt. 10:41). At his intercession, God gives the childless woman a son, and for some years permitted her to lavish a mother’s affection upon the child. B.

S. Three miles north of Jezreel, by the south-west edge of Little Hermon, was Shunem—the modern Solâm. Here, at the house of a distinguished family, the prophet Elisha was entertained, from time to time, in his goings past the place, with generous hospitality; and here he restored to life the only child of the household—the child of promise—who had died of a sunstroke received in the harvest field. The prophet, at the time of the child’s death, was at Mount Carmel, no doubt near the scene of his predecessor’s great triumph over the false prophets. The distance from Shunem was about twelve miles. N. C. B.

S. 9. They are not rendered selfish or worldly minded by their prosperity. They feel and admit the claims of religion upon them. In Elisha they recognize a “man of God;” first, it would seem, officially. As the official representative to them of the Most High, they regard him as entitled to kindness and hospitality. They press upon him their good offices, and insist on his taking his meals with them, “constrain him to eat bread” (verse 8). When by degrees they have become acquainted with his character, they recognize in him something more—they “perceive that he is a holy man of God” (verse 9). Like is perceived by like. It takes some holiness to perceive and recognize holiness. And the perception raises a desire for greater intimacy. Like desires like. It will be a blessed thing if they can persuade the prophet, not merely to take an occasional meal in their house, but to be an occasional inmate—to rest there, to sleep there. So the woman proposes to her husband to build the prophet a sleeping-chamber; and he readily consents. Hammond.

Man of God. A striking title to give to a human being, and a very grand one. And yet is not this the title which every man should be able to adopt and proud to bear? We all come from His creating hand. We live on His beneficence. We are subject to His providence. A great many different kinds of life men can live on the earth, lower and higher, but there is only one best life—that which a man may live in God. A man of God should be proud of his title. Other men are proud of theirs—the man of the world, the man of letters, the statesman, the man of honor. The man of God should never be ashamed of his name, if only he has the right to bear it. A. Raleigh.

The life of men forgiven and the life of men attached, the life of men devoted and the life of men expectant may be represented as the life of godliness wrought by the power of the Holy Ghost in all believing people. And this life of godliness throws round a man a holy unselfishness, invests him with a beautiful charity, develops in him a pure consecration of thought and life, so that by the unction of the Holy Ghost upon him there is consciously felt, by all around him, the fragrance of an undemonstrative yet irresistible sanctity, that mighty power instilling mighty principles in all he does, that mysterious atmosphere in which every man breathing finds something of the instinct of a better life, and all are prepared to say, concerning the consistent servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, “Truly this is a holy man of God that passeth by us continually.” Richardson.

10. And it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither. In the intervals between his active ministrations, a prophet would naturally desire quiet retirement, security from interruption. He would need to reflect, to meditate, to pray, perhaps to write. The Shunammite’s proposal shows not only kindness, but thoughtfulness and appreciation. Hammond.—A chamber was fitted up on the wall for Elisha’s private use, and there he abode, and could feel at home, whenever he passed that way. How beautiful the large and unstinted generosity, the wise forethought, the warm consideration for another’s comfort, displayed in this incident! This wise and unselfish use of wealth is the true secret of obtaining enjoyment out of it. J. O.

12. He said to Gehazi his servant. Gehazi is first mentioned in connection with this narrative of the Shunammite (verse 12), of which he subsequently gave an account to the king (2 K. 8:4, 5); besides this, he is only once spoken of in his deceit practised upon Naaman and its penalty. He was the attendant upon Elisha, as Elisha himself had been upon Elijah, and Baruch was upon Jeremiah (Jer. 36:4). He may have been one of the sons of the prophets, whom Elisha here entrusts with a sacred function, and who, he may have hoped, would both be a valuable assistant to him in his work and continue it after he was taken away. W. H. G.

13. I dwell among mine own people. As if she said, “The courtesy is not small in itself, but not useful to me. I live here quietly, in a contented obscurity. I have neither fears nor ambitions. My neighbors are my friends.” If the world afford any perfect contentment, it is in a middle estate; equally distant from penury, from excess; it is in a calm freedom, a secure tranquillity, a sweet fruition of ourselves, of ours. Bp. H.

This is indeed, in the fullest sense of the term, a contented woman, whom we here, under the reign of King Joram, meet in hospitable Shunem, as the childless hostess of God’s holy prophet. That which has been bestowed on her she does not despise; calmly and peacefully her days glide on in the midst of her people. To Elisha she has offered all that her house affords; but has nothing to ask from him, even when he puts words in her mouth. Van O.—She said—and the words indicate the power which, even under that earlier dispensation, God’s grace had gained in her heart—“I dwell among mine own people;” words worthy of a psalmist, worthy of an apostle, worthy of him who sung, “The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage,” and of him who wrote, “I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.” Oh, that in an age when men run to and fro in restless quest of something which at present they have not, we could all re-echo her sentiment, and take it up into our mouths with sincerity: “I dwell among mine own people.” “In my present home I desire to abide, till I exchange it for a better and an eternal one!” E. M. G.

16. Like Sarah, the woman was incredulous; she could not believe the good tidings, and thought the prophet was only raising hopes to disappoint them. Her words, “Do not lie unto thy servant,” are less harsh in the original, being merely equivalent to the “Do not deceive me” of verse 28. Hammond.

18-21. The child’s death from sunstroke. God is about to test her faith as He had before tested that of the widow of Zarephath. This He did, as He ever does, that her faith might be exercised, confirmed, strengthened and rewarded. Therefore this child of promise and of prayer, given in love, and rejoiced over with grateful affection, was stricken with death in her enfolding arms. Without one act of preparation for burial, laying the dead boy upon Elisha’s own bed, she hastens to lay her burden upon the prophet’s heart. Faith there was—wonderfully simple and strong—in all her quiet and firm, uncomplaining yet energetic acting. She trusted Elisha and Elisha’s God. Her acts were a prayer, and an expectation of answer that would in some way meet her sore needs.

22-24. Message to her husband and his reply. She asked that he would send an ass upon which she might ride to Carmel, and a young man to lead or drive the animal (as is now customary in the East). The distance was upward of twelve miles. She assigned no reason for her request, and the husband supposed that her purpose referred to religious instruction or counsel from the prophet. “It is neither new moon nor Sabbath,” he said, thus showing that these religious festivals were still honored by devout Israelites. But satisfying him with a general reply, she persisted in seeking the prophet, and bade the servant to make all speed upon the way. B.

The husband’s surprised question, “Wherefore wilt thou go to him to-day? it is neither new moon nor Sabbath,” shows that it was Elisha’s custom to hold religious assemblies on the Sabbath days, to which the godly in Israel resorted. This is an interesting side light on the practice of the time. Weekly assemblies were not provided for in the law; but where love to God is in the heart, it needs no law to bring believers together. J. O.

23. It is specially worthy of remark that the schools of the prophets served the people of the northern kingdom as a substitute for the legitimate sanctuary. From verse 23 it may be inferred that the pious betook themselves, on the new moons and Sabbaths, to the schools of the prophets; nay, from the mention of the offering of first fruits of barley loaves and new corn (verse 42), it may be presumed that there were some who brought to the prophets the dues prescribed in the law (for the sanctuary). O.

25-28. What transpired before and at the interview on Carmel. Thither she had hastily ridden, well knowing where to find Elisha. At a distance she is recognized by the prophet. From her coming, and in haste, he infers some calamity in her household. In instant sympathy he bids his servant to run and meet her, with the inquiry if all is well. The faith that has nerved her still holds out as she answers Gehazi, Well! Yet she slacks not her speed until she has ascended the hill, and reached the spot where the anxious prophet has waited. Then her troubled soul finds its expression only by clasping the feet of Elisha. When Gehazi would have removed her, the master forbade him; for well Elisha read her sore grief, though he knew not its cause. In two terse, touching questions, she exposes the core of her sorrow. They conveyed an appeal, not a reproach, to Elisha. “Not from my asking was God’s gift of the child! Thou wilt not let the gift be taken thus prematurely, and so utterly destroy the hope that thou, all unsolicited, hast awakened in these brief years of joy and love!” B.

This mourner took her trouble to the right place. She found words which in form were words of expostulation: “Did I desire a son of my lord? did I not say, Do not deceive me?” In reality she was recalling to the prophet that it was his own word which had promised her this child. She was telling him in effect that the child was dead, and supplicating his help to prevent his original promise being completely cancelled. God is pleased that we should plead His promises with Him. He bids us “put Him in remembrance.” J. O.

How many a sad heart is to-day tempted to raise this cry of anguish! And how patient is Elisha with wild words, and how he discerns, beneath the apparent rough reproach, the misery which it implies and the petition which it veils! Elisha’s Lord is no less tender in His judgment of our hasty, whirlwind words, when our hearts are sore; and if only we speak them to Him and cling to His feet, He translates them into the petitions which they mean, and is swift to answer the meaning and pass by the sound of our bitter cry. A. M.

29-31. The mission of Gehazi with Elisha’s staff, and its failure. What the prophet intended or expected from the laying of his staff upon the face of the dead child we do not know. No reasonable conjecture has been framed concerning it. The extreme haste he enjoined upon Gehazi seems to suggest his hope that life was not wholly gone, and that it might be recalled through this applied official symbol. But, ignorant as we are of Elisha’s purpose, the act itself with its utter failure conveys this lesson: That mere outward instrumentalities are not honored of God. Even in miracle working, and assuredly in all spiritual ministry, only a personal agent inspired with faith and exercising that faith in prayer is used by God in the accomplishment of His gracious life-giving purposes. The child continued insensible to Gehazi’s call, after the laying of the staff upon his face. The servant therefore returns to meet his master, who, with the trusting mother, was hastening back to Shunem. “The child is not awakened,” he said. B.

30. Apparently the woman supposed that Elisha intended to do nothing more, but trust the child’s recovery to such virtue as might inhere in his staff. But her own resolution was long ago taken—she would be content with nothing less than bringing the prophet face to face with her dead child. She “will not leave” him till he consents to accompany her to her home. And he arose, and followed her; as, no doubt, he had intended from the first. Hammond.

O strong faith of the Shunammite, that could not be discouraged with the seizure and continuance of death; raising up her heart still to an expectation of that life, which to the eyes of nature had been impossible, irrevocable! O infinite goodness of the Almighty, that would not suffer such faith to be frustrate; that would rather reverse the laws of nature in returning a guest from heaven, and raising a corpse from death, than the confidence of a believing heart should be disappointed! Bp. H.

31. Although on some occasions it has pleased God to allow miracles to be wrought by the instrumentality of lifeless objects, as when Elisha’s bones resuscitated a dead man, and when virtue went out from the hem of our Lord’s garment, and still more remarkably, when “handkerchiefs or aprons from the body of Paul were brought unto the sick, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits were cast out of them;” yet the instances are, comparatively speaking, rare, and form exceptions to what may be called the usual Divine economy of miracles. Miracles are, as a general rule, attached in Scripture to intense unwavering faith—faith, sometimes, in those that are the objects of them, almost always in those that are the workers of them. The present case was not to be an exception to the general rule, the circumstances not calling for an exception. The power of faith was to be shown forth once more in Elisha, as not long previously in Elijah (1 K. 17: 19-23); and Israel was to be taught, by a second marvellous example, how much the effectual fervent prayer of a faithful and righteous man avails with the Most High. Hammond.

32-35. The dead child restored to life at Elisha’s intercession. A careful comparison of this narrative with that of Elijah’s (1 K. 17: 19-22) is greatly interesting and instructive. Like Elijah, Elisha shuts himself in his own room, with the lifeless body and with God. Like Elijah, he first cries to the Lord. Then, like his old teacher, he stretches himself upon the child, if possible that his body might impart warmth to the cold body. “And the flesh of the child waxed warm.” But there needs yet more of importunity before full consciousness is restored. This Elisha utters, as he walks to and fro with intensely stirred spirit. “He continues and struggles in prayer. The Lord does not allow great deeds to be accomplished without battles and struggles, labor and perseverance” (Bahr). Then he returns again to repeat the symbolic act by which he expressed his yearning to aid in bringing back a full life. And God responded to his prayer of faith and its accompanying act of helpful desire. The child is awaked! B.

34. When that one uniting force in human society—love built upon confidence—is diverted from the poor finite creatures, and transferred from one another to Him, then His infinite energy, which is ever around us, whether we know it and open our hearts to it or no, flows into our being, and becomes an indwelling guest which fills our souls. They that love are one. “He that is joined to the Lord is one Spirit.” And as the prophet in the wonderful old story laid himself down on the dead child, hand to hand, mouth to mouth, lip to lip, and heart to heart, that the throbbing heart might move the pulses, and the warmth might steal into the dull, cold frame, so, but with a contact closer, more real, more all embracing as is the difference between man and God, between spirit and flesh, Christ lays His life to our death, and in Him we too live and move. In Him we are quickened together and raised up together. Christ’s dwelling in us, and we in Him, is the secret and the condition of all our spiritual life. A. M.

36, 37. The child delivered to the grateful, happy mother. With heart too full for words, reverently and gratefully she falls at the prophet’s feet; thus expressing her acknowledgments to Him who had given her child back from death. With her faith thus marvellously confirmed and rewarded, her twice given son henceforth becomes a bond to hold her heart closely to the gracious Jehovah. B.

How beautiful are the quiet words, “Take up thy son”! She has no words; but, for all answer, comes close to him (there is no “in” in verse 37), and once again, but with what different feelings, clasps his feet. The story draws a curtain over that meeting in the prophet’s chamber. Sad hearts, who have vainly longed for such a moment, can fancy the rapture. But the day will come, not here, but in the upper chamber, when parted ones shall clasp each other again; and many a mourner shall hear Jesus say from the throne what He once said from the cross, “Woman, behold thy son; son, behold thy mother.” A. M.

How true an heir is Elisha of his master; not in his graces only, but in his actions! Both of them divided the waters of Jordan; the one as his last act, the other as his first. Elijah’s curse was the death of the captains and their troops; Elisha’s curse was the death of the children; Elijah rebuked Ahab to his face; Elisha, Jehoram. Elijah supplied the drought of Israel by rain from heaven; Elisha supplied the drought of the three kings by waters gushing out of the earth. Elijah increased the oil of the Sareptan; Elisha increased the oil of the prophet’s widow. Elijah raised from death the Sareptan’s son; Elisha, the Shunammite’s: both of them had one mantle, one spirit; both of them climbed up one Carmel, one heaven. Bp. H.

The enjoyment of our little ones, while they are with us, is a blessing, and for that we should be grateful. It is better to have had them and lost them than never to have had them at all. We have had all the radiance of their presence, and all the discipline both of their training and their departure, so that while their removal has indeed changed the world for us, their coming to us and sojourn with us have revolutionized our own natures. Our charity is broader, our sympathy is wider, our characters are deeper. The little ones have gone, but the qualities which they created in us and fostered within us remain to be a blessing both to ourselves and others. That is a profound utterance of Tennyson, when in lines of condolence to a bereaved friend he says:

“God gives us love; something to love He lends us; but when love is grown To ripeness, that on which it throve Falls off; and love is left alone.”

So the gift of a child, even though he should be taken from us, leaves a deposit of blessing on our characters, and is a perennial source of benefit. Moreover, it is not to be forgotten, that if the mystery of the death of little ones be great, the consolation is proportionate. We have the unfaltering conviction of their eternal salvation, and when we think of the dangers of life, when we remember what perils have menaced ourselves, and how we have often come near making shipwreck of our souls, we may sometimes see reason to be grateful that God took our loved ones away out of reach of the storm, into the haven of security. Then what a drawing heavenward is felt by the father or the mother who has a child in glory! W. M. Taylor.

The simple, touching story affectingly illustrates one of the main purposes and uses of afflictive providences when visited upon the believer. By every such visitation God intends to exercise and strengthen faith, by begetting a sense of utter dependence upon Himself and by constraining the afflicted soul to look unto and wait upon Him for support and deliverance. Such trust—dependent, expectantly looking, patiently hoping and waiting—He always rewards in the issue. B.

From Heb. 11:35 we learn that it was in answer to the woman’s faith that she received her dead raised to life again. It was her faith that led her to seek the prophet’s aid; in her trial she held firmly to the word of promise, and in answer to the prophet’s prayer of faith her son was given back to her. It was neither the staff, nor the breath of the prophet, nor the warm contact of the living with the dead that brought back life to the child. It was the prayer of faith that moved the Divine power. That alone could restore the boy to his stricken mother. Faith may not now bring back the dead to life, yet it always brings victory over death. It looks forward to the day of resurrection, when our Lord will restore the child to the mother, and the friend to the friend, never again to be parted. Anon.

The prophet’s course in seeking the restoration of the dead child impressively intimates the human means and methods through which the spiritually dead are divinely renewed. Only the spiritually living have a part in the Divine work of restoring lifeless souls. But in God’s plan, this part is an essential condition of His work. This part is twofold: first, the earnest wrestling prayer of faith; and next, personal contact of the living soul with the dead, through a visible godly life and the expressed interest of warm living sympathy and yearning. Such a manifest holy life and such expressed yearning joined to fervent intercession cannot fail to awaken healthful thought and feeling in unrenewed souls. For the Spirit of God always co-works with such prayer and personal effort. Thus, and thus only, does He ordinarily quicken the spiritually dead. How great, then, the responsibility of every Christian believer in connection with Christ’s vast work of seeking and saving the lost! How much has every Christian soul to do in the salvation of those especially among whom his lot is cast!

Elisha’s dealing with the Shunammite wife and mother presents effectively the human side of the Old Testament Gospel. We behold him first as a visitant and teacher; then a friend and frequent and welcome guest. In the natural outflow of friendship, and knowing the willing love of God, he asks the best earthly boon for his friendly entertainer, the boon of motherhood. And afterward, when the mother’s faith was sorely tried and failed not, he besought and brought again the child-blessing from God. And the history of subsequent years shows that the human friendship was held and proved by other fruits of blessing to the mother. In these, as in other points, there is clearly evinced the humanizing character of the Old Testament spirit. B.

38. And Elisha came again to Gilgal: and there was a dearth in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him; and he said unto his servant, Set on the great pot, and 39 seethe pottage for the sons of the prophets. 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 40 them into the pot of pottage: for they knew them not. So they poured out for the men to eat. And it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out, and said, 41 O man of God, there is death in the pot. And they could not eat thereof. 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.

The great pot is set on to seethe pottage in, and one goes out to gather herbs to eke out the scanty supply. Attracted by some wild creepers, the messenger gathers therefrom a lapfful of gourds, which he mistakes for gourds of a similar appearance that are edible. The plants he had gathered were in reality poisonous. He brought them home, and they were shred into the pottage. J. O.—Prompt measures must be taken, if poisoning is even suspected. He has meal brought—not that meal has any virtue in itself against any deleterious drug. But he acts, now as always, under Divine direction, and is instructed to use meal on this occasion, as he used salt in healing the waters of Jericho. Hammond.—The meal was brought, and cast into the pottage, and the evil was at once cured. There seems no reason for using the meal except that it was customary to accompany these prophetic miracles with an outward symbolical act; and the meal, as a symbol of what was wholesome and nutritious in food, was as appropriate a medium as any to be used. We get this idea—that the unwholesome is to be displaced by the wholesome. If the bane is to be destroyed, we must use as antidote that which is of opposite character. We may learn two lessons: 1. The danger of being deceived by appearances. Things often are not what they seem. The most plausible errors are those which bear a superficial resemblance to great truths. We need to have our “senses exercised to discern both good and evil” (Heb. 5 : 14). To the true vine there correspond many wild vines; to the gourds that nourish and satisfy, many fair but poisonous imitations. 2. The best intentions may lead to sad mistakes. The important point to be noticed here is that our intentions, however good, cannot prevent things from acting according to their real nature. The person who gathered the gourds thought them innocuous, but they produced their poisonous effects all the same. “Sincerity” does not exonerate us from the consequences of our actions; at least it cannot prevent these consequences following. Poisonous principles are as harmful in their influence when promulgated in ignorance, as when diffused with the fullest knowledge of their deadly character. “They knew it not” does not suffice to alter the nature of facts. The pottage was no sooner tasted than the peculiar flavor and felt effects discovered to those eating it that there was something amiss. The cry was raised, “O thou man of

God, there is death in the pot !’ One poisonous ingredient had destroyed the value of much wholesome food. It did not require that all the elements in the pottage should be unwholesome; it was enough that this one was. Through it the whole mixture was rendered deadly. It is not uncommon to defend a system by pointing to the numerous truths which it contains. But one vital error blended with these truths may give the whole a fatal quality. The Gospel itself may be adulterated with specious lies which destroy its power for good. J. O.

42. 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 corn in his sack. And he said, Give unto the people, that they may eat. And his servant said, What, should I set this before an hundred men? But he said, Give the people, that they may eat; for thus saith the LORD, They shall eat, and shall leave thereof. So he set it before them, and they did eat, and left thereof, according to the word of the LORD.

42. The “loaves” of the Israelites were cakes or rolls, rather than “loaves” in the modern sense of the word. Each partaker of a meal usually had one for himself. Naturally, twenty “loaves” would be barely sufficient for twenty men. And full ears of corn—i.e., a few ripe ears of the same corn as that whereof the bread was made. And he said, Give unto the people—i.e., to the sons of the prophets who dwelt at Gilgal—that they may eat.

43. This time, however, he added an explanation of the proceeding: for thus saith the Lord, They shall eat, and shall leave thereof. God had supernaturally intimated to him that the quantity of food would prove ample for the hundred men; they would show that they had had enough by leaving some of it. And the result was as predicted.

44. So he set it before them, and they did eat, and left thereof, according to the word of the Lord. We are not expressly told how the miracle was wrought. But the analogy of our Lord’s miracles of feeding the multitudes, whereof this is a manifest type, makes it probable that in this case also there was a miraculous increase of the food. The object of the writer in communicating the account is certainly not merely to show how the Lord cared for His servants, but to relate another miracle wrought by Elisha, of a different kind from those previously related. Hammond.

It has been generally seen that this miracle was a faint foreshadowing of our Lord’s far more marvellous feeding of thousands with even scantier materials. The resemblance is not only in the broad fact, but in various minute particulars, as in the distribution through the hands of others; the material, bread; the surprised question of the servant, and the evidence of superfluity in the fragments that were left. (See Matt. 14 : 19-21; John 6 : 9-13.) B. C.