Passage

2 Kings 4.1-7

Book: 2 Kings · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"1. Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear Jehovah: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two children to be bondmen. 2. And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me; what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thy handmaid hath not anything in the house, save a pot of oil. 3. Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbors, even empty vessels; borrow not a few. 4. And thou shalt go in, and shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and pour out into all those vessels; and thou shalt set aside that which is full. 5. So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons; they brought the vessels to her, and she poured out. 6. And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed. 7. Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy sons of the rest."

"8. 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. 9. And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God, that passeth by us continually." (2 Kings 4:1-9, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"1. Now a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, “Your servant my husband is dead. You know that your servant feared Yahweh. Now the creditor has come to take for himself my two children to be slaves.” 2. Elisha said to her, “What should I do for you? Tell me: what do you have in the house?” She said, “Your servant has nothing in the house, except a pot of oil.” 3. Then he said, “Go, borrow empty containers from of all your neighbors. Don’t borrow just a few containers. 4. Go in and shut the door on you and on your sons, and pour oil into all those containers; and set aside those which are full.” 5. So she went from him, and shut the door on herself and on her sons. They brought the containers to her, and she poured oil. 6. When the containers were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another container.” He said to her, “There isn’t another container.” Then the oil stopped flowing. 7. Then she came and told the man of God. He said, “Go, sell the oil, and pay your debt; and you and your sons live on the rest.”"

"8. 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. 9. She said to her husband, “See now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God who passes by us continually." (2 Kings 4:1-9, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"1. Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the LORD: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen. 2. And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil. 3. Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few. ^{borrow not: or, scant not} 4. And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full. 5. So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out. 6. And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed. 7. Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest. ^{debt: or, creditor}"

"8. 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. ^{it fell on a day: Heb. there was a day} ^{constrained him: Heb. laid hold on him} 9. And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually." (2 Kings 4:1-9, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. And a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets hath cried unto Elisha, saying, 'Thy servant, my husband, is dead, and thou hast known that thy servant was fearing Jehovah, and the lender hath come to take my two children to him for servants.' 2. And Elisha saith unto her, 'What do I do for thee? declare to me, what hast thou in the house?' and she saith, 'Thy maid-servant hath nothing in the house except a pot of oil.' 3. And he saith, 'Go, ask for thee vessels from without, from all thy neighbours, empty vessels, let [them] not be few; 4. and thou hast entered, and shut the door upon thee, and upon thy sons, and hast poured out into all these vessels, and the full ones thou dost remove.' 5. And she goeth from him, and shutteth the door upon her, and upon her sons; they are bringing nigh unto her, and she is pouring out, 6. and it cometh to pass, at the filling of the vessels, that she saith unto her son, 'Bring nigh unto me a vessel more,' and he saith unto her, 'There is not a vessel more;' and the oil stayeth. 7. And she cometh and declareth to the man of God, and he saith, 'Go, sell the oil, and repay thy loan; and thou [and] thy sons do live of the rest.'"

"8. And the day cometh that Elisha passeth over unto Shunem, and there [is] a great woman, and she layeth hold on him to eat bread, and it cometh to pass, at the time of his passing over, he turneth aside thither to eat bread, 9. and she saith unto her husband, 'Lo, I pray thee, I have known that a holy man of God he is, passing over by us continually;" (2 Kings 4:1-9, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word.

TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD

Quoted in

Elisha

Notes

Your annotations.

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.