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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.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 4:42 tn Heb “man of God.”
  2. 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.
  3. 2 Kings 4:42 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  4. 2 Kings 4:43 tn Heb “How can I set this before a hundred men?”
  5. 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.

Feeding of a Hundred

42 A man came from Baal Shalishah,(A) bringing the man of God twenty loaves(B) of barley bread(C) baked from the first ripe grain, along with some heads of new grain. “Give it to the people to eat,” Elisha said.

43 “How can I set this before a hundred men?” his servant asked.

But Elisha answered, “Give it to the people to eat.(D) For this is what the Lord says: ‘They will eat and have some left over.(E)’” 44 Then he set it before them, and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of the Lord.

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