2 Kings 4:8

⁶ When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another.” But he replied, “There are no more jars.” Then the oil stopped flowing.

⁷ She went and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil, and pay your debt. Then you and your sons can live on the remainder.”

One day Elisha went to Shunem, and a prominent woman who lived there persuaded him to have a meal. So whenever he would pass by, he would stop there to eat.

⁹ Then the woman said to her husband, “Behold, now I know that the one who often comes our way is a holy man of God.

¹⁰ Please let us make a small room upstairs and put in it a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp for him. Then when he comes to us, he can stay there.”

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: One day Elisha went to Shunem, and a prominent woman who lived there persuaded him to have a meal. So whenever he would pass by, he would stop there to eat.
KJV: And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread.
WEB: One day Elisha went to Shunem, where there was a prominent woman; and she persuaded him to eat bread. So it was, that as often as he passed by, he turned in there to eat bread.
ASV: And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread.
DARBY: And it came to pass on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a wealthy woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, [that] as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread.
BLB: And one day it came to pass that Elisha went to Shunem, and there [was] a great woman, and she persuaded him to eat some food. And it was, as often as he passed by, he would turn aside there to eat some food.

ÅB: En dag gikk Elisa over til Sunem; en velstående kvinne som bodde der, nødde ham til å spise hos seg; og så ofte han siden dro der forbi, tok han inn der og fikk seg mat.
OTB: Nå kom det en dag da Elisja dro over til Sjunem, hvor det var en fremtredende kvinne, og hun ba ham spise mat. Så når han passerte forbi, ville han gå inn der for å spise.
B1930: En dag gikk Elisa over til Sunem; en velstående kvinne som bodde der, nødde ham til å ete hos sig; og så ofte han siden drog der forbi, tok han inn der og fikk sig mat.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Joshua 19:18
Their territory included Jezreel, Chesulloth, Shunem,
Read in context
2 Kings 4:11–12
One day Elisha came to visit and went to his upper room to lie down.
Read in context
Job 32:9
It is not only the old who are wise, or the elderly who understand justice.
Read in context
Job 1:3
and he owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and a very large number of servants. Job was the greatest man of all the people of the East.
Read in context
Genesis 19:3
But Lot insisted so strongly that they followed him into his house. He prepared a feast for them and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.
Read in context
1 Kings 1:3
Then they searched throughout Israel for a beautiful girl, and they found Abishag the Shunammite and brought her to the king.
Read in context
Luke 24:29
But they pleaded with Him, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.” So He went in to stay with them.
Read in context
2 Samuel 19:32
Barzillai was quite old, eighty years of age, and since he was a very wealthy man, he had provided for the king while he stayed in Mahanaim.
Read in context