2 Kings 4:43

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

his servitor: 2 Kings 4:12

What: Matthew 14:16, Matthew 14:17, Matthew 15:33, Matthew 15:34, Mark 6:37-39, Mark 8:4, Luke 9:13, John 6:9

They shall eat: Matthew 14:20, Matthew 15:37, Matthew 16:8-10, Mark 6:42, Mark 6:43, Mark 8:20, Luke 9:17, John 6:11-13

Reciprocal: Ruth 2:14 - she did 2 Kings 4:6 - when the vessels 2 Chronicles 31:10 - we have had Hosea 9:8 - with John 6:7 - Two

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And his servitor said,.... His servant Gehazi very probably:

what, should I set this before one hundred men? for so many, it seems, the sons of the prophets were in this place; and these loaves being very small, no more, it is thought by some, than one man could eat, and the ears of corn but few, the servant suggests they would be nothing comparatively to such a company of men:

he said again, give the people, that they may eat; he insisted upon it that his orders should be obeyed:

for thus saith the Lord, they shall eat, and shall leave thereof; it was suggested to him by a spirit of prophecy, there would be enough for them, and to spare.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

This miracle was a faint foreshadowing of our Lord’s far more marvelous feeding of thousands with even scantier materials. The resemblance is not only in the broad fact, but in various minute particulars, such as 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 the marginal references). As Elijah was a type of the Baptist, so Elisha was in many respects a type of our Blessed Lord. In his peaceful, non-ascetic life, in his mild and gentle character, in his constant circuits, in his many miracles of mercy, in the healing virtue which abode in his bodily frame 2 Kings 13:21, he resembled, more than any other prophet, the Messiah, of whom all prophets were more or less shadows and figures.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 2 Kings 4:43. Thus saith the Lord, They shall eat, and shall leave thereof.] It was God, not the prophet, who fed one hundred men with these twenty loaves, &c. This is something like our Lord's feeding the multitude miraculously. Indeed, there are many things in this chapter similar to facts in our Lord's history: and this prophet might be more aptly considered a type of our Lord, than most of the other persons in the Scriptures who have been thus honoured.