2 Kings 4:39

Contextual Overview

³⁸When Elisha returned to Gilgal, there was a famine in the land. The sons of the prophets were sitting before him. He said to his attendant, “Put on the large pot and make stew for the sons of the prophets.” ³⁸ Elisha came again to Gilgal. There was a dearth in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him; and he said to his servant, Set on the great pot, and boil stew for the sons of the prophets. 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 seethe pottage for the sons of the prophets. ³⁸ And Elisha came again to Gilgal when there was a famine in the land. And as the sons of the prophets were sitting before him, he said to his servant, "Set on the large pot, and boil stew for the sons of the prophets." ³⁸ When Elisha returned to Gilgal, there was a shortage of food in the land. While the groups of prophets were sitting in front of him, he said to his servant, "Put the large pot on the fire, and boil some stew for these men." ³⁸ Now Elisha went back to Gilgal, while there was famine in the land. Some of the prophets were visiting him and he told his servant, "Put the big pot on the fire and boil some stew for the prophets." ³⁸Elisha came back to Gilgal during a famine in the land. The sons of the prophets were sitting before him, and he said to his servant, "Put on the large pot and cook stew for the sons of the prophets." ³⁸ When Elisha returned to Gilgal, there was a famine in the land. As the sons of the prophets were sitting in front of him, he said to his servant, "Put on the large pot and boil stew for the sons of the prophets." ³⁸ Afterward Elisha returned to Gilgal, and a famine was in the land, and the children of the Prophets dwelt with him. And hee sayd vnto his seruant, Set on the great pot, and seethe pottage for the children of the Prophets. ³⁸Now Elisha returned to Gilgal, and there was a famine in the land. As the sons of the prophets were sitting before him, he said to his young man, "Put on the large pot and boil stew for the sons of the prophets."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

a wild vine: Isaiah 5:4, Jeremiah 2:21, Matthew 15:13, Hebrews 12:15

wild gourds: The word pakkuoth, from peka, in Chaldee, to burst, and in Syriac, to crack, thunder, is generally supposed to be the fruits of the coloquintida, or colocynth; whose leaves are large, placed alternately, very much like those of the vine, whence it might be called a wild vine: the flowers are white, and the fruit of the gourd kind, of the size of a large apple, and when ripe, of a yellow colour, and a pleasant and inviting appearance. It ranks among vegetable poisons, as all intense bitters do; but, judiciously employed, it is of considerable use in medicine. It is said that the fruit, when ripe, is so full of wind that it bursts, and throws its liquor and seeds to a great distance, and if touched, before it breaks of itself, it flies open with an explosion, and discharges its foetid contents in the face of him who touched it.

Reciprocal: 1 Kings 6:18 - knops 2 Chronicles 4:3 - oxen Job 30:4 - for their meat Mark 16:18 - if

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And one went out into the fields to gather herbs,.... To put into the pottage, the gardens affording none in this time of dearth; or, however, being scarce, were at too great a price for the sons of the prophets to purchase them; and therefore one of them went out into the field to gather what common herbs he could:

and found a wild vine, and gathered thereof wild gourds his lap full; thought to be the same with coloquintida, the leaves of which are very like to a vine, of a very bitter taste, and a very violent purgative, which, if not remedied, will produce ulcerations in the bowels, and issue in death; some think the white brier or white vine is meant, the colour of whose berries is very inviting to look at, but very bitter and ungrateful, and it vehemently purges b; the Arabs call a sort of mushroom that is white and soft by this name c, but cannot be meant here, because it has no likeness to a wild vine:

and came and shred them into the pot of pottage; cut or chopped them small, and put them into the pot:

for they knew them not; what they were, the nature and virtue of them, being unskilful in botany.

b Vid. Scheuchzer. Physic. Sacr. vol. 3. p. 605, 859. c Golius, col. 1817.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

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 latter plant grows abundantly in Palestine.

His lap full - literally, “his shawl full.” The prophet brought the fruit home in his “shawl” or “outer garment.”

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 39. 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.