2 Kings 4:42-44
New English Translation
Elisha Miraculously Feeds a Hundred People
42 Now a man from Baal Shalisha brought some food for the prophet[a]—twenty loaves of bread made from the firstfruits of the barley harvest, as well as fresh ears of grain.[b] Elisha[c] said, “Set it before the people so they may eat.” 43 But his attendant said, “How can I feed a hundred men with this?”[d] He replied, “Set it before the people so they may eat, for this is what the Lord has said, ‘They will eat and have some left over.’”[e] 44 So he set it before them; they ate and had some left over, just as in the Lord’s message.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 2 Kings 4:42 tn Heb “man of God.”
- 2 Kings 4:42 tn On the meaning of the word צִקְלוֹן (tsiqlon), “ear of grain,” see HALOT 148 s.v. בָּצֵק and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 59.
- 2 Kings 4:42 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- 2 Kings 4:43 tn Heb “How can I set this before a hundred men?”
- 2 Kings 4:43 tn The verb forms are infinitives absolute (Heb “eating and leaving over”) and have to be translated in light of the context.
2 Kings 4:42-44
International Standard Version
Feeding of the Crowd(A)
42 Later on, a man arrived from Baal-shalishah, bringing the man of God some bread as a first fruit offering. He had 20 loaves of barley and ripe ears of corn in his sack. So Elisha[a] said, “Give them to the people so they can eat.”
43 Elisha’s attendant asked, “What? Will this serve 100 men?”
But he replied, “Distribute it to the people so they can eat, because this is what the Lord says: ‘They will eat and have a surplus!’” 44 So he served them, and they ate and had some left over, just as the Lord had indicated.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 2 Kings 4:42 Lit he
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