Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Kings 4:42
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.
Baal-shalisha – Fifteen Roman miles north of Lydda, in the Sharon plain to the west of the highlands of Ephraim. It was, apparently, the chief city of the land of Shalisha (marginal reference).
Bread of the first fruits – It appears by this that the Levitical priests having withdrawn from the land of Israel (see 2Ch 11:13-14), pious Israelites transferred to the prophets, whom God raised up, the offerings required by the Law to be given to the priests Num 18:13; Deu 18:4.
In the husk thereof – In his bag. The word does not occur elsewhere in Scripture.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
2Ki 4:42-44
And there came a man from Baal-shalisha.
The farmers gift
I. A lesson on providence. This dearth came in consequence of sin. The proud and wicked people would never yield, except they were obliged by Gods strong hand. And when He punishes, He makes men know how powerful He is. Some men nowadays would not be touched in any other way. When God takes to preaching, His voice is heard outside the churches and chapels. You cannot have retributive providences, and only the wicked suffer; the godly have their share of want. Elisha was in need. But the godly have some one to look up to. The God of to-day is the God of the Old Testament:–the manna God,–the barrel of meal God,–the God who has said, Call upon Me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver thee.
II. There is here a beautiful example of benevolence. We dont know the farmers name who relieved the prophet. He was one of a noble band of nameless ones. We know where he came from,–the village has got into the Bible, through the mans goodness. It is possible to make our birthplace famous by living for Jesus. We sometimes say, he gives twice who gives quickly. The farmer gave as soon as he could. Dont wait till you have churned, and give God the buttermilk. For many wait to be rich before they will be generous, only to find that their heart is too sour to give anything. First fruits 1 Give God the best part of your life, that which has the sunshine. If you will care for God with your May and June, He will care for you in November.
1. He came himself. He did not send it. If you want a thing well done, do it yourself. Especially is this true of acts of benevolence. Be your own almoner. Pure religion, and undefiled, before God the Father, is to visit the fatherless and widow.
2. This farmer increased Gods capital. The rule is, that God works by means. He does not usually act without the assistance of His creatures. Many of His plans are unfinished because the men are on strike! Let it be said, with all reverence, this miracle could not have been performed if the man had not come from Baal-shalisha with the corn and cakes. The prophet might have been fed, but not in this way.
III. The good farmer accomplished a great deal more than he intended. He meant feeding the prophet, and he fed a hundred others! And is not this the ease nowadays? When Robert Raikes began his Sunday School he only thought of the poor ignorant children of Gloucester; he little thought that he would be imitated, and that there would be thousands of Sunday Schools. When Charles Wesley asked Bohler if he must tell of his joy in Christ, the answer was, If you had a thousand tongues, tell it with them all. He little thought that the idea would be set to rhyme, but Wesley wrote–
O for a thousand tongues to sing
My great Redeemers praise!
and that has been sung by millions of happy Christians in all parts of the world. The fact is, God can make a much better use of our talents than any one else can. You cannot get so much interest for your money anywhere else. Lord Byron was a much greater poet than Isaac Watts, but they will be singing Watts hymns when Byrons name is forgotten. Elisha would not have had the chance of feeding his students if the farmer had not brought the corn. And the good man was equal to his opportunities. In spite of the sneer of his wretched servitor, who was then in training for leprosy, he would have the cakes divided. Give unto the people that they may eat. How like God! He does not sell, but gives, and so it is with the bread of life. It is given to whoever will come. Are you hungry? Does your soul need satisfying? His mercy can do it. (T. Champness.)
Love to our neighbour
It is love to our neighbour which has purged the slum, and built the orphanage, and gathered the children into schools. It has had compassion on the poor; it has given bread to the hungry and covered the naked with a garment; it has given the Bible to the nations; it has launched the lifeboat to the perishing; it has taken the prodigal by the right hand, and opened the door of repentance to the harlot and the thief. It was love to our neighbour, burning like a fire of God in the hearts of a Carey, a Livingstone, a Romilly, a Howard, a Clarkson, which sent missionaries to the heathen; modified the ferocity of penal laws; purified the prisons; set free the slaves. It was love to our neighbour which, enriching even an age of torpor and of mammon worship, sent Wesley to fan a flame amid the dying embers of religion; and Gordon to toil among his ragged boys; and Coleridge Patteson to die at Nukapu by the poisoned arrows of savages; and Father Damien to waste away at loathly Molokai, a leper among the lepers. It is a dim reflection of the love of Him who lived and died to redeem a guilty world. It differentiates the worldly life with its low aims from the noble and the Christian life, which is ready to do good to men that despitefully use it and persecute it. Every true life is nearest the life of Christ in love to its neighbour; and this love is the essence and epitome of all pure religion; it is the end of the commandment and the fulfilling of the law. (F. W. Farrar, D. D.)
Give unto the people that they may eat.—
Punctual love
We wonder at the smooth working of the machinery for feeding a great city; and how, day by day, the provisions come at the right time, and are parted out among hundreds of thousands of homes. But we seldom think of the punctual love, the perfect knowledge, the profound wisdom which cares for us all, and is always in time with its gifts. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Beneficence
The great ocean is in a constant state of evaporation. It gives back what it receives, and sends up its waters in mists to gather into clouds; and so there is rain for the earth, and greenness and beauty everywhere. But there are many men who do not believe in evaporation. They get all they can, and keep all they get, and so are not fertilisers, but only stagnant, miasmatic pools.
The peoples needs provided
Oh, we are so glad when one seeks and finds the Bread of Life; when there is an Elisha to bring meal, sound and healthy, and life-giving, and when the meal is put into the pot, we are so glad when the hungry eat and go satisfied; there is joy in seeing the hungry feed. Away on the Marylebone Road, in London, there is a place where the hungry get free food, and those who supply it get their return for the money they give for the food in seeing the hungry eat. There was a wealthy young fellow who devoted a large sum to feeding the hungry, and he was always there. When he was asked why he was always among the poor, he replied, It does me good to see them eat. Ay, and gospel preachers, when the Lord sometimes does not as much as give us a bite for ourselves, when we see the crowd hungry for Jesus, when we see one step forth into the hall where the feast is spread, we rejoice as much as the soul that is saved, (J. Robertson.)
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Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 42. Bread of the first-fruits] This was an offering to the prophet, as the first-fruits themselves were an offering to God.
Corn in the husk] Probably parched corn or corn to be parched, a very frequent food in the East; full ears, before they are ripe, parched on the fire.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Bread of the first-fruits, which were the priests due, Num 18:12; but these, and probably the rest of the priests dues, were usually brought by the pious Israelites, according to their ability and opportunity, to the Lords prophets; partly because they did a great part of the priests office, and partly because they were not permitted to carry them to Jerusalem; and they might reasonably think that their circumstances, being extraordinary, would warrant their giving of them to extraordinary persons; and that those ceremonial institutions ought to give place to the greater laws of necessity and mercy to the Lords prophets. And this passage seems to be noted here, not only on occasion of the following miracle; but also that by this one instance we might understand how so many schools of the prophets were supported.
Twenty loaves; small loaves, as appears, both because one man brought them all so far, and because otherwise there had been no miracle here. Give unto the people, to wit, the sons of the prophets, who were then present with him, 2Ki 4:38.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And there came a man from Baalshalisha,…. Of which place
[See comments on 1Sa 9:4], the Targum is, from the south country:
and brought the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley; so that it was now barley harvest, and this the first fruits of it, which, according to the law, Le 23:10, was to be brought to the priest; but being forbid in the land of Israel going up to Jerusalem, religious men brought their firstfruits to the prophets, and here to Elisha, the father of them; believing it would be dispensed with, and acceptable, since they were not allowed to carry them to the proper person; and in this time of famine was very agreeable to the man of God, supposing it only a present:
and full ears of corn in the husk thereof; these were green ears of corn, which they used to parch; but might not be eaten until the firstfruits were offered, and then they might, Le 23:14, the Targum renders it, “in his garment”, in the skirt of his clothes; and to the same purpose are the Syriac and Arabic versions; and so Jarchi interprets it; and Ben Gersom says, it signifies some vessel in which he brought them:
and he said, give unto the people, that they may eat; Elisha did not reserve this offering or present for himself, but, as he had freely received, he freely gave.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Feeding of a Hundred Pupils of the Prophets with Twenty Barley Loaves. – A man of Baal-Shalisha (a place in the land of Shalisha, the country to the west of Gilgal, Jiljilia; see at 1Sa 9:4) brought the prophet as first-fruits twenty barley loaves and = , i.e., roasted ears of corn (see the Comm. on Lev 2:14), in his sack ( , . . , sack or pocket). Elisha ordered this present to be given to the people, i.e., to the pupils of the prophets who dwelt in one common home, for them to eat; and when his servant made this objection: “How shall I set this (this little) before a hundred men?” he repeated his command, “Give it to the people, that they may eat; for thus hath the Lord spoken: They will eat and leave” ( , infin. absol.; see Ewald, 328, a.); which actually was the case. That twenty barley loaves and a portion of roasted grains of corn were not a sufficient quantity to satisfy a hundred men, is evident from the fact that one man was able to carry the whole of this gift in a sack, and still more so from the remark of the servant, which shows that there was no proportion between the whole of this quantity and the food required by a hundred persons. In this respect the food, which was so blessed by the word of the Lord that a hundred men were satisfied by so small a quantity and left some over, forms a type of the miraculous feeding of the people by Christ (Mat 14:16., 2Ki 15:36-37; Joh 6:11-12); though there was this distinction between them, that the prophet Elisha did not produce the miraculous increase of the food, but merely predicted it. The object, therefore, in communicating this account is not to relate another miracle of Elisha, but to show how the Lord cared for His servants, and assigned to them that which had been appropriated in the law to the Levitical priests, who were to receive, according to Deu 18:4-5, and Num 18:13, the first-fruits of corn, new wine, and oil. This account therefore furnishes fresh evidence that the godly men in Israel did not regard the worship introduced by Jeroboam (his state-church) as legitimate worship, but sought and found in the schools of the prophets a substitute for the lawful worship of God (vid., Hengstenberg, Beitrr. ii. S. 136f.).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
HOMILETICS OF 2Ki. 4:42-44
THE SUPERABUNDANT GOODNESS OF GOD
I. Provides for the daily wants of man. Give unto the people that they may eat (2Ki. 4:42). How enormous are the thought and toil involved in supplying the daily wants of a simple citye.g., London! How unremitting the care, how affluent the goodness, of that God who supplies the multifarious and incessant demands of the world! Vast as is the consumption, the supply never fails. The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season. Thou openest Thy hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing (Psa. 145:15-16).
II. Difficult for the unbelieving to appreciate. What, shall I set this before an hundred men? (2Ki. 4:43). The selfish and unbelieving mind is blinded to the infinite resources of the Divine goodness: the limitation of the means is inadequate to the greatness of the need. But the eye only sees what it brings with it the power to see. The eye of faith sees what is invisible to the ordinary vision. True faith is undaunted, even when it sees only the last crust, and the last pot of oil. Necessity is a great test, and a great strengthener of faith.
III. Multiplies the little to supply the needs of the many. And they did eat and left thereof, according to the word of the Lord (2Ki. 4:44). What seemed humanly insufficient, was so Divinely blessed as to be more than enough. A contented mind needs but little to ensure its happiness, while the abundance of the rich may fail to give satisfaction and peace. Too much wealth is very frequently the occasion of poverty. He whom the wantonness of abundance has once softened, easily sinks into neglect of his affairs, and he that thinks he can afford to be negligent, is not far from being poor. He will soon be involved in perplexities which his inexperience will render insurmountable; he will fly for help to those whose interest it is that he should be more distressed, and will be at last torn to pieces by the vultures that always hover over fortunes in decay. It is the blessing of heaven that makes the little more, and teaches man when be has enough.
LESSONS:
1. The goodness of God is most evident in times of need.
2. Should be unhesitatingly trusted.
3. Should be gratefully adored.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES
2Ki. 4:42-44. The grandeur and minuteness of Divine Providence. I. So blesses the earth that it provides for the wants of all. II. The scarcity of one locality is counterbalanced by the abundance of another. III. Does not overlook the commonest needs of man. IV. Makes a little go a great way.
Jehovah ordered it so that a strange man, uncalled and unexpected, should bring to the prophet in a time of famine the first fruits which belong to Jehovah according to law (Num. 15:19-20; Deu. 26:2); and He blessed this gift so that it sufficed to satisfy the entire community of the prophets. The Lord himself, at the feeding of the five thousand, makes reference, not to this narrative, but to the feeding of the people with manna in the wilderness, and He gives to His miracle an express object and significance (Joh. 6:32) such as we cannot at all think of in this case. Besides that, the historical connection, the occasion, the persons, all are utterly different, and the asserted similarity is reduced simply to this, that through the Divine influence a little suffices for manyan altogether ordinary truth which pierces through many other incidents in the history of redemption which are entirely different from this one.Lange.
From the miracle of the healing of the bitter pottage it is appropriate to pass immediately to one by which a few barley loaves and ears of corn are made to supply the wants of many. As the one suggests the power of Divine truth to counteract the evils of heresy, the other may represent that not only must heresy in the church be offset with truth, but, to keep out heresy, the church must be abundantly fed with the true bread from heaven, which giveth life unto the world.Whedon.
2Ki. 4:43. A covetous spirit. I. Would withhold from others even the necessaries of life. II. Has no faith in an abundance it cannot see; or in the axiomThere is that scattereth and yet increaseth. III. Is often rebuked by acts of Divine generosity.
2Ki. 4:44. Here is a specimen of the work of Christ in apostolic churches, receiving the alms of the faithful at Gods altar, and seeking for true riches by bestowing those offerings, blessed by God with increase, to the benefit of His people.Wordsworth.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
B. MULTIPLICATION OF THE LOAVES 4:4244
TRANSLATION
(42) And a man came from Baal-shalisha, and he brought to the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley and grain in his sack. And he said, Give it to the people, that they might eat. (43) And his minister said, How shall I place this before a hundred men? And he said, Give it to the people that they may eat, for thus says the LORD: They shall eat, and there shall be leftovers. (44) And he put it before them, and they ate, and there were leftovers according to the word of the LORD.
COMMENTS
Gilgal seems to be the setting for the final miracle recorded in chapter 4. A man came from near-by Baal-shalisha to bring Elisha the firstfruits of his harvest. It would seem from this that the more pious among the Israelites regarded the prophets as having inherited the position of the Levitical priests whom Jeroboam had driven from the land. According to the law, the firstfruits of grain, wine and oil were to be given to the priests (Num. 18:13; Deu. 18:4-5). The man brought twenty loaves of bread, each loaf being the equivalent of what one man would eat at one meal. Along with these cakes of bread the man brought a few ripe stalks of grain which were a token of his gratitude for Gods harvest mercies (cf. Lev. 23:10).
Upon receiving this small gift, Elisha ordered that the loaves be placed before the sons of the prophets who resided at Gilgal (2Ki. 4:42). Elishas servantpresumably Gehaziwas incredulous. The amount of food was scarcely sufficient to suffice for a fifth of the hundred men living at Gilgal! But in the face of this objection the prophet repeated his instructions, and added an explanation in the form of a prophetic oracle. God had revealed to him that the quantity of food would prove ample for the hundred men, and that they would show that they had had enough by leaving some of it (2Ki. 4:43). The result was as the prophet predicted (2Ki. 4:44).
It is useless to speculate how this miracle was wrought, whether by an augmentation of the quantity of the food supernaturally produced, or by a lessening of the appetites of the men. A careful study of the feeding miracles attributed to the Lord Jesus would suggest that the former explanation is the correct one. In recording this episode the writer probably had two motives in mind: (1) to demonstrate how the Lord provides for His servants; and (2) to furnish another example of the miraculous powers of Elisha, of a different kind from those previously related.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(42) Baal-shalisha.Probably the same as Bethshalisha, mentioned by Jerome and Eusebius, fifteen Roman miles north of Lydda-Diospolis, and not far west of Gilgal and Bethel. (Comp. the land of Shalisha, 1Sa. 9:4. Its name, Shalishaas if Three-landseems to allude to the three wadies, which there meet in the Wdy Qurw.)
Bread of the firstfruits.Comp. Num. 18:13; Deu. 18:4, according to which all firstfruits of grain were to be given to the priests and Levites. Such presents to prophets appear to have been usual in ordinary times. On the present occasion, which was a time of dearth (2Ki. 4:42 is connected by the construction with the preceding narrative), one pious person brought his opportune gift to Elisha.
And full ears of corn in the husk thereof.Heb., and karmel in his wallet. The word karmel occurs besides in Lev. 2:14; Lev. 23:14. The Targum and Syriac render bruised grain; the Jewish expositors tender and fresh ears of corn. In some parts of England unripe corn is made into a dish called frumenty. The word iqln only occurs in this place. The Vulg. renders it by pera (wallet). The LXX. (Alex.) repeats the Hebrew in Greek letters. The Vatican omits the word. It reads: twenty barley loaves and cakes of pressed fruit (). The Syriac gives garment.
And he saidi.e., Elisha said.
Give unto the people.Comp. Mat. 14:16.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
THE MIRACULOUS FEEDING OF A HUNDRED MEN, 2Ki 4:42-44.
From the miracle of the healing of the bitter pottage it is appropriate to pass immediately to one by which a few barley loaves and ears of corn are made to supply the wants of many. As the one suggests the power of Divine truth to counteract the evils of heresy, the other may represent that not only must heresy in the Church be offset with truth, but, to keep out heresy, the Church must be abundantly fed with the true bread from heaven, which giveth life unto the world. This miracle makes us think of that of Christ in feeding the thousands that gathered round him; but in this case Elisha’s agency, unlike Christ’s, is noticeably in the background.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
42. There came a man Probably while Elisha still abode at Gilgal, and very soon after the last-mentioned miracle. This man was one of the pious in Israel who did not acknowledge the priests of the calf-worship at Beth-el and Dan.
Baal-shalisha This was either identical with “the land of Shalisha,” mentioned in 1Sa 9:4, or else a city of that district. According to Eusebius and Jerome, it lay some fifteen miles north of Lydda, or Diospolis, the modern Ludd, and hence somewhere near, if not at, the site of the present ruins Khurbet Hatta, and therefore about twenty miles west of Gilgal. Near this spot three watercourses unite in the large Wady Kurawa, and hence Thenius conjectures the origin of the name Shalisha, land of three. It was also, perhaps, a seat of the Baal-worship instituted by Jezebel.
Brought the man of God bread of the firstfruits The law ordained that the firstfruits should be given to the priests, (Num 18:13; Deu 18:4😉 why, then, are these now brought to Elisha? Doubtless because the legal priesthood had been abolished in the northern kingdom, (see 2Ch 11:14,) and the Lord had raised up the prophetical office to such a religious power and importance as virtually to take its place.
Full ears of corn in the husk thereof Rather, Garden fruits in his sack. That is, says Gesenius, “the produce of gardens, as earlier and more valued than those of the fields; just as with us the finer species of fruits and herbs are cultivated in gardens, and are superior to those growing in the fields. We may perhaps understand grits, or groats, made from the new and earliest grain, in preparing which, as an offering to God, the best and earliest ears were selected from garden wheat or other grain.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Elisha Feeds A ‘Multitude’ With A Relatively Few Loaves of Bread ( 2Ki 4:42-44 ).
While the likeness to the account of the feeding of many thousands by Jesus with five loaves and two fish is limited to the fact of the multiplying of the food, this miracle clearly does not bear comparison with that in level of difficulty. But it was remarkable nonetheless. For when some of the firstfruits were brought to Elisha, he fed a hundred men on twenty small barley loaves, with food left over. The fact that there was some left over demonstrates that it was not just a token meal or a making do with what was available. All ate and were satisfied.
The emphasis is not on the fact that this was a sacramental meal (an invention of commentators) but on the fact that they were all able to eat with something left over. There is an emphasis on the miraculous content of what happened. So little genuinely fed so many.
Analysis.
a
b And he said, “Give to the people, that they may eat . (2Ki 4:42 b).
c And his servant said, “What, should I set this before a hundred men?” (2Ki 4:43 a).
b But he said, “Give the people, that they may eat, for thus says YHWH, “They shall eat, and shall leave some of it” (2Ki 4:43 b).
a So he set it before them, and they ate, and left some of it, according to the word of YHWH (2Ki 4:44).
Note than in ‘a’ the food was brought to Elisha, and in the parallel the man sets it before the people, and they all ate and were filled. In ‘b’ Elisha commands that it be given to the people, and in the parallel repeats the command with the explanation that YHWH would make it sufficient. Centrally in ‘c’ the servant is astonished that so little should be offered to so many people.
2Ki 4:42
‘And there came a man from Baal-shalishah, and brought the man of God bread of the first-fruits, twenty loaves of barley, and freshly plucked ears of grain in his sack. And he said, “Give to the people, that they may eat.” ’
Baal-shalisha lay twenty two kilometres (fourteen miles) north of Lydda in the plain of Sharon. From there came a man bearing some of the firstfruits for ‘the man of God’. In Judah the firstfruits (Lev 23:20) would be for the priests. But in Israel many did not recognise the priests at the false sanctuaries, and probably therefore saw this as a satisfactory method of making their gift to YHWH. The man brought twenty barley loaves and some freshly plucked ears of grain in a sack. Elisha was present at a gathering of about one hundred men (probably mostly sons of the prophets, some of whom may have had their wives or sons with them) and he therefore commanded that the bread be given to them so that they could eat. It is not said that it was during the famine but it might well have been so.
2Ki 4:43
‘And his servant said, “What, should I set this before a hundred men?” But he said, “Give the people, that they may eat, for thus says YHWH, “They shall eat, and shall leave some of it.” ’
The servant was astonished. So little before a hundred men? Elisha’s reply confirms that he is aware of how little it is but he asserts that YHWH has promised that they will all eat sufficient and that some will be left over. The emphasis all though is on the miracle of so many being fed with so little. There is not even a hint that any other alternative applied.
2Ki 4:44
‘So he set it before them, and they ate, and left some of it, according to the word of YHWH.’
And the result that in accord with YHWH’s prophetic utterance all of them ate of it and some was left over. Any attempt to remove the miraculous ignores the emphasis in the account and must be dismissed as ludicrous. The whole point of the story is that, unlike Baal, YHWH was able to take twenty loaves and multiply them as He wished. He was the Lord of bread and grain. We will accept that in some way it may have been a sacrament, but only because YHWH multiplied the bread so that all had sufficient. It was thus food from YHWH indeed, and fed both body and soul to the full.
It is also a reminder to us that He can take of what few talents we have and multiply them so that our lives can be fully effective for him. But that can only be when we first of all hand it all over to Him and commence whatever we discover that He wants us to do.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
2Ki 4:42. And full ears of corn in the husk thereof And also new corn in his scrip or bag. Houbigant.
REFLECTIONS.Elisha’s happy employment was in the prophetic schools, to instruct and encourage by his advice and experience those who might succeed him in the rising generation. Thus we find him employed at Gilgal; and by his miracles relieving their bodies while he fed their souls.
1. He commands his servant to provide a repast for his disciples, after his instructions. They had learned temperance in his school. The unskilful servant, employed to gather herbs in the fields, found a wild vine, and shred a quantity of the gourds into the pottage. The taste quickly discovered the noxious quality of the provision, and, suspecting poison, they cried out to Elisha. He calls for a handful of meal, and casts it into the pot; the miraculous effect of which healed this bitter broth, as the salt the waters of Jericho. Note; (1.) They who preach mortification to others, must shew themselves examples of the self-denial they recommend. (2.) The delicacies of the luxurious, and the bowl of the intemperate, are more dangerous than the prophet’s mess; the one only threatened temporal death, the other brings eternal destruction.
2. Elisha, who had before prevented the poisonous food from hurting, now makes a few loaves suffice for a full repast. As Israel was cut off from the temple, the few faithful made the prophets God’s receivers, and employed their tithes for the support of these schools of piety. A good man of Baal-shalisha sent his first-fruits, of some ears of barley, and twenty loaves, to Elisha; poor fare indeed, but acceptable to the sons of the prophets. These he commands to be set before the people. His servant objects to the possibility of feeding a hundred men with such scanty provision; but Elisha bids him obey, and God will make it, as the event proved, enough and to spare. Note; (1.) A good man will not eat his morsel alone, but break his bread to the hungry. (2.) When God gives his blessing, a little will go far.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
I cannot help remarking again, if peradventure I have mentioned it before, that among the precious things of the sacred scriptures of the Old Testament, those are not the least, which represent the Holy Ghost as shadowing forth, upon many occasions, the outlines of Jesus. When we see the prophets, and priests and servants of the Lord sketching, in type and shadow, some of our Lord’s characters, though it be ever so faintly; doth it not serve to teach you, Reader, (I bless the Lord it doth me) the graciousness of the Holy Ghost? Did not the blessed Spirit seem to intimate by this plan, that he always delighted to glorify the Lord Jesus: and as such, as if to keep up in the minds of his people, the coming of the Son of God, caused his servants to perform occasionally such acts of beneficence and mercy, as the Lord Jesus himself should hereafter more fully display, when the time came for his tabernacling among us? Hence feeding; with a few loaves, an hundred men, was a beautiful representation of him, who not only would cause the loaves and fishes to multiply under his Almighty hand, for the supply of the bodies of the hungry; but would himself be the everlasting sustenance of his people, as the living bread of their souls, forever. Lord! I would say; Ever more give us this bread! Joh_6:5-14; Joh_6:32-58 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
2Ki 4:42 And there came a man from Baalshalisha, 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.
Ver. 42. And brought the man of God. ] The prophets, in the fail of priests, who were now not to be found in Israel, taught the people, and took up their dues from such pious persons as brought them in out of conscience.
Twenty loaves of barley.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
2Ki 4:42-44
2Ki 4:42-44
FOOD SUPERNATURALLY MULTIPLIED FOR THE STUDENTS
“And there came a man from Baashalisha, 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. And his servant said, What, should I set this before a hundred men? But he said, Give the people, that they may eat; for thus saith Jehovah, They shall eat, and shall leave thereof. So he set it before them, and they did eat, and left thereof, according to the word of Jehovah.”
This miracle, of course, is reminiscent of the Saviour’s feeding the thousands by the Sea of Galilee. As stated in the beginning of this chapter, it is impossible to explain how this happened. Like the creation itself, this wonder belongs to the hidden things of God. The great spiritual lesson is that God provides for his children, no matter what difficulties seem to lie in the way of his doing so.
“And he said … but he said …” (2Ki 4:42-43). The prophet Elisha must be understood as the speaker in these clauses. The servant was evidently Gehazi.
“Bread of the first-fruits” (2Ki 4:42). “It is very remarkable that this man brought these gifts to Elisha instead of giving them to a priest as the Law specified.”
“This account furnishes fresh evidence that the godly men of Israel did not regard the religion introduced by Jeroboam as legitimate, but sought and found the true religion in the schools of the sons of the prophets,”
The appearance of miraculous events in the O.T. always corresponded with the desperate need for the confirmation of the Truth; and the absence of miracles throughout the Christian dispensation after the age of the apostles and those upon whom they had conveyed charismatic gifts is due to the fact that no additional confirmation of the Word of God is necessary. It is the most certain thing on earth today.
However, there are providences of God today that, in every sense, are just as wonderful as the miracles of old. We have recorded one of these in my commentary on Acts.
E.M. Zerr:
2Ki 4:42. Full ears of corn. The first word is not in the original. The others are from one word and defined in part by Strong, “garden produce.” Husks is from TSIQLON and defined by Strong, “a sack (as tied at the mouth).” This part of the verse should be worded, “twenty loaves of barley, and garden produce, in a sack.” The man who brought these provisions was told to feed the people with them.
2Ki 4:43-44. The word servitor means “contributor” and refers to the man who brought the bread and produce. He was puzzled at the thought of feeding so many people with such a small supply of food. His remark was similar in thought to that made by the disciples to Christ. (Mat 15:33.) In using this comparatively small amount of food for the multitude, Elisha followed a principle already mentioned a number of times. God will not do for man what he can do for himself. The widow’s meal and oil contributed to the miraculous favor of God. The people before Elisha ate of the food set before them. They were abundantly satisfied, for they left some over.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Baalshalisha: 1Sa 9:4, 1Sa 9:7
bread: 2Ki 4:38, Exo 23:16, Deu 12:6, Deu 26:2-10, 1Sa 9:7, 2Ch 11:13, 2Ch 11:14, Pro 3:9, Pro 3:10, 1Co 9:11, Gal 6:6
of barley: 2Ki 7:1, 2Ki 7:16-18, Deu 8:8, Deu 32:14, Joh 6:9, Joh 6:13
the husk thereof: or, his scrip, or garment, Note: Parched corn, or corn to be parched; full ears before they are ripe, parched on the fire: avery frequent food in the East. The loaves were probably extremely small, as their loaves of bread still are in eastern countries. But small as this may appear, it would be a considerable present in the time of famine; though very inadequate to the number of persons. Baal-shalisha, of which the person who made this seasonable present was an inhabitant, was situated, according to Eusebius and Jerome, fifteen miles north of Diospolis, or Lydda.
Reciprocal: Exo 22:29 – shalt not delay Lev 2:14 – corn beaten Jos 14:6 – the man 1Ki 14:3 – And take 1Ki 17:14 – The barrel of meal Dan 1:15 – their Mat 4:4 – but Mat 14:16 – they Mat 15:33 – Whence Mar 6:37 – give Mar 6:42 – General Mar 8:4 – From Mar 8:8 – they took Luk 9:13 – Give
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2Ki 4:42. A man brought bread of the first fruits, &c. This was a seasonable present, it being a time of dearth, when bread was very scarce. The first-fruits were due to the priests, but these, and probably the rest of the priests dues, were usually brought by the pious Israelites, according to their ability and opportunity, to the Lords prophets, because they were not permitted to carry them to Jerusalem. Twenty loaves of barley Of what weight is not said, but it is likely they were but small, being intended only for the prophets own eating. And full ears of corn in the husk thereof Which, being parched, they were wont to eat, Rth 2:15. But Dr. Hammond thinks these words should be rendered, They brought ears of corn in a satchel, or scrip. Give unto the people that they may eat That is, to the sons of the prophets, with whom he then was, when this present was brought to him.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
God’s ability to multiply resources 4:42-44
Archaeologists debate the site of Baal-salishah. In obedience to the Mosaic Law, the man in view brought Elisha his offering of firstfruits to honor God by giving this offering to His servants (Num 18:13; Deu 18:4). This simple act of obedience resulted in God miraculously multiplying these limited resources that the man committed to Him to produce enough for everyone in need (2Ki 4:43; cf. Mat 14:16-21; Mat 15:32-38). The people of Israel thus saw again God’s ability to provide food in contrast to Baal’s inability. The people also learned that God’s blessing is much greater than what people dedicate to Him.