2 Kings 4:42
40 And they poured it out for the men to eat, but when they tasted the stew they cried out, “There is death in the pot, O man of God!” And they could not eat it.
41 Then Elisha said, “Get some flour.” He threw it into the pot and said, “Pour it out for the people to eat.” And there was nothing harmful in the pot.
Now a man from Baal-shalishah came to the man of God with a sack of twenty loaves of barley bread from the first ripe grain. “Give it to the people to eat,” said Elisha.
43 But his servant asked, “How am I to set twenty loaves before a hundred men?” “Give it to the people to eat,” said Elisha, “for this is what the LORD says: ‘They will eat and have some left over.’”
44 So he set it before them, and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of the LORD.
Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- Now a man from Baal-shalishah came to the man of God with a sack of twenty loaves of barley bread from the first ripe grain. “Give it to the people to eat,” said Elisha.
- KJV
- And there came a man from Baal-shalisha, and brought the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley, and full ears of corn in the husk thereof. And he said, Give unto the people, that they may eat.
- WEB
- A man from Baal Shalishah came, and brought the man of God some bread of the first fruits: twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack. Elisha said, “Give to the people, that they may eat.”
- ASV
- 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 grain in his sack. And he said, Give unto the people, that they may eat.
- DARBY
- 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 to the people that they may eat.
- BLB
- And a man came from Baal-shalishah, and he brought to the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley, and ripe grain in his sack. And he said, “Give [it] to the people, that they may eat.”
- ÅB
- Engang kom det en mann fra Ba'al-Salisa og han hadde med til den Guds mann brød som var bakt av førstegrøden, tyve byggbrød, og nyhøstet korn i sin pose. Da sa Elisa: Gi det til folket, så de kan få spise!
- OTB
- Nå kom en mann fra Baal-salisa, og brakte Guds mann brød av førstegrøden: tjue byggbrød og friske aks av korn i sekken sin. Og Elisja sa, "Gi dem til folket så de kan spise."
- B1930
- Engang kom det en mann fra Ba'al-Salisa og han hadde med til den Guds mann brød som var bakt av førstegrøden, tyve byggbrød, og nyhøstet korn i sin pose. Da sa Elisa: Gi det til folket, så de kan få ete!
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
1 Samuel 9:7
“If we do go,” Saul replied, “what can we give the man? For the bread in our packs is gone, and there is no gift to take to the man of God. What do we have?”
Read in contextMatthew 14:16–21
“They do not need to go away,” Jesus replied. “You give them something to eat.”
Read in contextJohn 6:13
So they collected them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.
Read in contextJohn 6:9
“Here is a boy with five barley loaves and two small fish. But what difference will these make among so many?”
Read in context1 Samuel 9:4
So Saul passed through the hill country of Ephraim and then through the land of Shalishah, but did not find the donkeys. He and the servant went through the region of Shaalim, but they were not there. Then they went through the land of Benjamin, and still they did not find them.
Read in context2 Kings 7:1
Then Elisha said, “Hear the word of the LORD! This is what the LORD says: ‘About this time tomorrow at the gate of Samaria, a seah of fine flour will sell for a shekel, and two seahs of barley will sell for a shekel.’”
Read in contextMatthew 15:32–38
Then Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, “I have compassion for this crowd, because they have already been with Me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may faint along the way.”
Read in contextDeuteronomy 8:8
a land of wheat, barley, vines, fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of olive oil and honey;
Read in context