2 Kings 4:40

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, O thou man of God, there is death in the pot. And they could not eat thereof.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
out	וַיִּֽצְק֥וּ vai.yitz.Ku	H3332	properly · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
men	לַאֲנָשִׁ֖ים la.'a.na.Shim	H582	a man in general (singly or collectively) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural absolute
eat	לֶאֱכ֑וֹל le.'e.Khol	H398	to eat (literally or figuratively) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
eating	כְּאָכְלָ֨ם ke.'a.khe.Lam	H398	to eat (literally or figuratively) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
pottage	מֵהַנָּזִ֜יד me.ha.na.Zid	H5138	something boiled · preposition + definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
out	צָעָ֗קוּ tza.'A.ku	H6817	to shriek · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
said	וַיֹּֽאמְרוּ֙ vai.yo.me.Ru	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
man	אִ֣ישׁ 'ish	H376	a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular construct
God	הָאֱלֹהִ֔ים ha.'E.lo.Him	H430	gods in the ordinary sense · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
death	מָ֤וֶת Ma.vet	H4194	death (natural or violent) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
pot	בַּסִּיר֙ ba.Sir	H5518	a pot · preposition with the article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
could	יָכְל֖וּ ya.khe.Lu	H3201	to be able · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
eat	לֶאֱכֹֽל le.'e.Khol	H398	to eat (literally or figuratively) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Mark 16:18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall re…
Exodus 10:17 Now therefore forgive, I pray thee, my sin only this once, and intreat the LORD your God, that he may take away from me this death only.
Exodus 15:23 And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah.
Deuteronomy 33:1 And this is the blessing, wherewith Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death.
1 Kings 17:18 And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay m…
2 Kings 1:11 Again also he sent unto him another captain of fifty with his fifty. And he answered and said unto him, O man of God, thus hath the king sai…
2 Kings 1:13 And he sent again a captain of the third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before…
2 Kings 4:9 And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 2 Kings 4:38–end

We have here Elisha in his place, in his element, among the sons of the prophets, teaching them, and, as a father, providing for them; and happy it was for them that they had one over them who naturally cared for their state, under whom they were well fed and well taught. There was a dearth in the land, for the wickedness of those that dwelt therein, the same that we read of, Kg2 8:1. It continued seven years, just as long again as that in Elijah's time. A famine of bread there was, but not of hearing the word of God, for Elisha had the sons of the prophets sitting before him, to hear his wisdom, who were taught, that they might teach others. Two instances we have here of the care he took ab…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Kings 4:39

went out into the field to gather herbs--Wild herbs are very extensively used by the people in the East, even by those who possess their own vegetable gardens. The fields are daily searched for mallow, asparagus, and other wild plants. wild vine--literally, "the vine of the field," supposed to be the colocynth, a cucumber, which, in its leaves, tendrils, and fruit, bears a strong resemblance to the wild vine. The "gourds," or fruit, are of the color and size of an orange bitter to the taste, causing colic, and exciting the nerves, eaten freely they would occasion such a derangement of the stomach and bowels as to be followed by death. The meal which Elisha poured into the pot was a symboli…

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Adam Clarke on 2 Kings 4:40

There is death in the pot - As if they had said, "We have here a deadly mixture; if we eat of it, we shall all die."

John Gill on 2 Kings 4:40

So they poured out for the men to eat,.... When the pottage was boiled, they poured it out into dishes or basins, for the sons of the prophets to eat: and it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out, and said, O thou man of God, there is death in the pot; poison, the cause of death; the pottage was so exceeding bitter, that they concluded there must be some poisonous herb in it; and coloquintida is so bitter, that it is called "the gall of the earth": and they could not eat thereof: they stopped eating, it being so very disagreeable, and, as they supposed, dangerous.

The Church Fathers

Elisha corrects the nature of the cooked foods with some flour and gives them a new taste. Our Lord did the same according to the [divine] economy, so that he might be imitated, as he said for our exhortation, with the result that we might walk the path of the righteous and the pious, and might rejoice because of the great reward he promised us and might heal the diseases and the anguish and the tribulations that constantly surround us from the beginning of our life. The father of our race, Adam, gathered those [bitter] fruits as a consequence of his sin and proposed and offered them to us in the hour in which he heard [these words] from his Creator: "The ground is cursed because of you; it will bring forth thorns and thistles for you. You are dust, and to dust you shall return."
— Ephrem the Syrian, ON THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS 4:41

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Elisha — God his salvation, the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah, who became the attendant and disciple of Elijah (1 Kings 19:16-19). His name first occurs in the command given to Elijah to anoint him as his…
Gourd — (1.) Jonah’s gourd (Jonah 4:6-10), bearing the Hebrew name kikayon (found only here), was probably the kiki of the Egyptians, the croton. This is the castor-oil plant, a species of ricinus, the palma…
Elisha · .Neutralizes the poi — .Neutralizes the poi
Famine · Things eaten during: Wild herbs — Things eaten during: Wild herbs
Gilgal · .A school of the prophets at — .A school of the prophets at
Herbs, & C · Poisonous, not fit for man’s use — Poisonous, not fit for man’s use
Judgments · Preservation during - Exemplified: Elisha & c — Preservation during - Exemplified: Elisha & c

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

2 Kings 4:40

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 2 Kings 4:38–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Kings 4:39

Adam Clarke on 2 Kings 4:40

John Gill on 2 Kings 4:40

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

2 Kings 4:40

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 2 Kings 4:38–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Kings 4:39

Adam Clarke on 2 Kings 4:40

John Gill on 2 Kings 4:40

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on 2 Kings 4:38-41

Tyndale Open Study Notes on 2 Kings 4:39-41

Rashi on 2 Kings 4:39