2 Kings 8:1

Contextual Overview

¹Elisha said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, “Get ready, you and your household, and go live as a resident alien wherever you can. For the Lord has announced a seven-year famine, and it has already come to the land.”¹ Now Elisha had spoken to the woman, whose son he had restored to life, saying, Arise, and go you and your household, and sojourn wherever you can sojourn: for the LORD has called for a famine; and it shall also come on the land seven years. ¹ Then spake Elisha unto the woman, whose son he had restored to life, saying, Arise, and go thou and thine household, and sojourn wheresoever thou canst sojourn: for the Lord hath called for a famine; and it shall also come upon the land seven years. ¹ Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, "Arise, and depart with your household, and sojourn wherever you can, for the Lord has called for a famine, and it will come upon the land for seven years." ¹ Elisha spoke to the woman whose son he had brought back to life. He said, "Get up and go with your family. Stay any place you can, because the Lord has called for a time without food that will last seven years." ¹ Now Elisha advised the woman whose son he had brought back to life, "You and your family should go and live somewhere else for a while, for the Lord has decreed that a famine will overtake the land for seven years." ¹Now Elisha had said to the [Shunammite] woman whose son he had restored to life, "Prepare and go, you and your household, and stay temporarily wherever you can; for the LORD has called for a famine, and moreover, it will come on the land [and continue] for seven years."¹ Now Elisha spoke to the woman whose son he had restored to life, saying, "Arise and go with your household, and live wherever you can live; for the LORD has called for a famine, and it will indeed come on the land for seven years."¹ Then spake Elisha vnto the woman, whose sonne he had restored to life, saying, Vp, and goe, thou, and thine house, and soiourne where thou canst soiourne: for the Lorde hath called for a famine, and it commeth also vpon the land seuen yeeres. ¹Now Elisha spoke to the woman whose son he had restored to life, saying, "Arise and go with your household, and sojourn wherever you can sojourn; for Yahweh has called for a famine, and it will even come on the land for seven years."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

am 3113, bc 891

whose son: 2 Kings 4:18, 2 Kings 4:31-35

sojourn: Genesis 12:10, Genesis 26:1, Genesis 47:4, Ruth 1:1

the Lord: Genesis 41:25, Genesis 41:28, Genesis 41:32, Leviticus 26:19, Leviticus 26:20, Leviticus 26:26, Deuteronomy 28:22-24, Deuteronomy 28:38-40, 1 Kings 17:1, 1 Kings 18:2, Psalms 105:16, Psalms 107:34, Haggai 1:11, Luke 21:11, Luke 21:22, Acts 11:28

called for a famine: Jeremiah 25:29

seven years: Genesis 41:27, 2 Samuel 21:1, 2 Samuel 24:13, Luke 4:25

Reciprocal: Genesis 41:30 - seven years 2 Kings 4:13 - among mine 2 Kings 4:35 - and the child opened 2 Kings 4:38 - a dearth 1 Chronicles 21:12 - three years' famine 2 Chronicles 6:28 - if there be dearth Amos 4:6 - and want

Cross-References

Genesis 8:7
and he sent forth a raven. It went back and forth, until the waters were dried up from off the eretz.

Genesis 8:7
And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth.

Genesis 8:7
And he sent out a raven; it went to and fro until the waters were dried up from upon the earth.

Genesis 8:7
he sent out a raven. It flew here and there until the water had dried up from the earth.

Genesis 8:7
and sent out a raven; it kept flying back and forth until the waters had dried up on the earth.

Genesis 8:7
and he sent out a raven, which flew here and there until the waters were dried up from the earth.

Genesis 8:7
and he sent out a raven, and it flew here and there until the water was dried up from the earth.

Genesis 8:7
And sent forth a rauen, which went out going forth and returning, vntill the waters were dried vp vpon the earth.

Genesis 8:7
and he sent out a raven, and it went out flying back and forth until the water was dried up from the earth.

Genesis 8:7
and he sent out a raven, which flew back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Then spoke Elisha unto the woman (whose son he had restored to life),.... His hostess at Shunem, 2 Kings 4:8 the following he said to her, not after the famine in Samaria, but before it, as some circumstances show:

saying, arise, and go thou and thine household, and sojourn wheresoever thou canst sojourn; with the greatest safety to her person and property, and with the least danger to her moral and religious character:

for the Lord hath called for a famine, and it shall also come upon the land seven years: which Jarchi says was the famine that was in the days of Joel; it was, undoubtedly, on account of the idolatry of Israel, and was double the time of that in the days of Elijah.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The famine here recorded, and the conversation of the monarch with Gehazi, must have been anterior to the events related in 2 Kings 5:0 since we may be sure that a king of Israel would not have entered into familiar conversation with a confirmed leper. The writer of Kings probably col ected the miracles of Elisha from various sources, and did not always arrange them chronologically. Here the link of connection is to be found in the nature of the miracle. As Elisha on one occasion prophesied plenty, so on another he had prophesied a famine.

Called for a famine - A frequent expression (compare the marginal references). God’s “calling for” anything is the same as His producing it (see Ezekiel 36:29; Romans 4:17).

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

CHAPTER VIII

Account of the sojourning of the Shunammite in the land of the

Philistines, during the seven years famine, 1, 2.

She returns, and solicits the king to let her have back her

land; which, with its fruits, he orders to be restored to her,

3-6.

Elisha comes to Damascus, and finds Ben-hadad sick; who sends

his servant Hazael to the prophet to inquire whether he shall

recover, 7-9.

Elisha predicts his death, tells Hazael that he shall be king,

and shows him the atrocities he will commit, 10-14.

Hazael returns, stifles his master with a wet cloth, and reigns

in his stead, 15.

Jehoram, son of Jehoshaphat, becomes king over Judah; his bad

reign, 16-19.

Edom and Libnah revolt, 20-22.

Jehoram dies, and his son Ahaziah reigns in his stead, 23, 24.

His bad reign, 23-24.

He joins with Joram, son of Ahab, against Hazael; Joram is

wounded by the Syrians, and goes to Jezreel to be healed,

28, 29.

NOTES ON CHAP. VIII

Verse 2 Kings 8:1. Then spake Elisha — As this is the relation of an event far past, the words should be translated, "But Elisha had spoken unto the woman whose son he had restored unto life; and the woman had arisen, and acted according to the saying of the man of God, and had gone with her family, and had sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years." What is mentioned in these two verses happened several years before the time specified in the third verse. See the observations at the end of the preceding chapter. 2 Kings 7:17.