EasyEnglish Bible 2018
2 Kings 2:20
20Elisha said, ‘Bring a new bowl to me with some salt in it.’ So they brought it to him.
2 Kings 2:20 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And he said, Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein. And they brought it to him.
- New International Version (NIV)“Bring me a new bowl,” he said, “and put salt in it.” So they brought it to him.
- English Standard Version (ESV)He said, "Bring me a new bowl, and put salt in it." So they brought it to him.
- New King James Version (NKJV)And he said, “Bring me a new bowl, and put salt in it.” So they brought it to him.
Context of 2 Kings 2:20
18When they returned, Elisha was waiting for them in Jericho. He said to them, ‘I told you not to go and look for Elijah.’ 19One day, the leaders in Jericho said to Elisha, ‘Please listen to us, sir. You can see that our city is in a good place. But the water here is bad. The land does not give us good crops.’ Elisha said, ‘Bring a new bowl to me with some salt in it.’ So they brought it to him. 21Then Elisha went out to the city's spring of water. He threw the salt into it. He said, ‘This is what the Lord says: “I have made this water clean again. It will no longer cause people to die. The land will no longer be useless for crops.” ’ 22Since that time, the water has always been pure. This is what Elisha had said would happen.
Read all of 2 Kings 22 Kings 2:20 word by word
וַיֹּ֗אמֶר קְחוּ־לִי֙ צְלֹחִ֣ית חֲדָשָׁ֔ה וְשִׂ֥ימוּ שָׁ֖ם מֶ֑לַח וַיִּקְח֖וּ אֵלָֽיו׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for 2 Kings 2:20
- Judges 9:45Abimelech attacked the city all that day. He took the city and he killed all the people who lived there. Then he destroyed the city. He put salt all over it as a curse.
- Ezekiel 47:11But the water in the pools and the wet places around the Salt Sea will not become pure. There will still be salt for people there.
- Zephaniah 2:9The Lord Almighty, Israel's God, says, ‘You can be sure that I live. In the same way, you can also be sure that my people will take everything for themselves. God will destroy Moab as he destroyed Sodom. He will destroy Ammon as he destroyed Gomorrah. After this, the ground will have lots of salt on it. Weeds will grow there. Nobody will build anything there again. My people who are still alive will take for themselves the Ammonites' things and the Moabites' things.’
Commentaries on 2 Kings 2:20
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 20The “new cruse” and the “salt” are evidently chosen from a regard to symbolizm. The foul stream represents sin, and to cleanse it emblems of purity must he taken. Hence, the clean “new” dish previously unused, and thus untainted; and the salt, a common Scriptural symbol of incorruption (see Leviticus 2:13; Ezekiel 43:24; Matthew 5:13, etc.).Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 19-25Verses 19-25 Observe the miracle of healing the waters. Prophets should make every place to which they come better for them, endeavouring to sweeten bitter spirits, and to make barren souls fruitful, by the word of God, which is like the salt cast into the water by Elisha. It was an apt emblem of the effect produced by the grace of God on the sinful heart of man. Whole families, towns, and cities, sometimes have a new appearance through the preaching of…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 20-22Elisha used a new bowl (Deuteronomy 21:3) filled with salt (Leviticus 2:13; Ezekiel 43:24) to ask God to purify the people and the environment. Elisha emphasized that the Lord, not he or the salt, purified the water.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2020. Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein--The noxious qualities of the water could not be corrected by the infusion of salt--for, supposing the salt was possessed of such a property, a whole spring could not be purified by a dishful for a day, much less in all future time. The pouring in of the salt was a symbolic act with which Elisha accompanied the word of the Lord, by which the spring was healed [Keil].Read the comment
Topics related to 2 Kings 2:20
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on 2 Kings 2
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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