2 Kings 4:43

2 Kings 4:43 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And his servitor said, What, should I set this before an hundred men? He said again, Give the people, that they may eat: for thus saith the Lord, They shall eat, and shall leave thereof.
• New International Version (NIV)“How can I set this before a hundred men?” his servant asked. But Elisha answered, “Give it to the people to eat. For this is what the Lord says: ‘They will eat and have some left over.’ ”
• English Standard Version (ESV)But his servant said, "How can I set this before a hundred men?" So he repeated, "Give them to the men, that they may eat, for thus says the Lord, 'They shall eat and have some left.'"
• New King James Version (NKJV)But his servant said, “What? Shall I set this before one hundred men?” He said again, “Give it to the people, that they may eat; for thus says the Lord: ‘They shall eat and have some left over.’ ”

Context of 2 Kings 4:43

41Then Elisha said, ‘Bring some flour.’ He put the flour into the pot. He said, ‘Now pour out some more soup for the people to eat.’ Then there was nothing in the soup that would hurt them. 42One day, a man came from Baal Shalishah. He brought 20 bread loaves for the man of God. The flour for the bread was made from the first barley that he had picked at harvest time. He also brought some fresh grain. Elisha said, ‘Give this food to the people to eat.’ But his servant said, ‘There is not enough food here to feed 100 men!’ Elisha said, ‘Give it to the people for them to eat. Do it, because the Lord says, “They will all eat as much as they want. There will even be some food left.” ’ 44So the servant gave the bread to the prophets to eat. They ate as much as they wanted and some food still remained. The Lord had said that this would happen.

2 Kings 4:43 word by word

וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ מְשָׁ֣רְת֔וֹ מָ֚ה אֶתֵּ֣ן זֶ֔ה לִפְנֵ֖י מֵ֣אָה אִ֑ישׁ וַיֹּ֗אמֶר תֵּ֤ן לָעָם֙ וְיֹאכֵ֔לוּ כִּ֣י כֹ֥ה אָמַ֛ר יְהוָ֖ה אָכֹ֥ל וְהוֹתֵֽר׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And his servitorשָׁרַתshârath · to ministerH8334
• saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• What, should I setנָתַןnâthan · to give: putH5414
• this beforeפָּנֶהpânîym · face: beforeH6440
• an hundredמֵאָהmê'âh mê'yâh · hundredH3967
• menאִישׁ'îysh · manH376
• Giveנָתַןnâthan · to give: giveH5414
• the peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
• that they may eatאָכַל'âkal · to eatH398
• the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• and shall leaveיָתַרyâthar · to remainH3498

Cross-references for 2 Kings 4:43

• 2 Kings 4:12He told Gehazi, his servant, ‘Ask the woman to come here.’ So Gehazi did that. The woman came and she stood in front of Elisha.
• Matthew 14:16Jesus said to them, ‘The people do not need to go away. You should give them some food to eat.’
• Matthew 15:33The disciples said to Jesus, ‘This place is a long way from any houses. We cannot get enough bread here to feed so many people.’
• Mark 6:37‘You should give them some food to eat,’ Jesus replied. But the disciples said, ‘We cannot go to buy bread for all these people. A man must work for eight months to get the 200 coins that we would need for that. We cannot get enough food to give to these people.’
• Mark 8:4The disciples replied, ‘This place is far from any houses. We cannot get enough bread to feed all these people.’
• Luke 9:13Jesus said to them, ‘You should give them some food to eat.’ But the disciples said, ‘We have only five loaves of bread and two fish. Do you want us to go and buy food for all these people?’
• John 6:9He said to Jesus, ‘Here is a boy who has five small loaves and two fish. But that will certainly not be enough food for so many people.’
• Matthew 14:20Then everybody ate. They all had enough food and they were not hungry any more. Then the disciples picked up all the bits of food that people had not eaten. They filled 12 baskets with little bits of bread and fish.
• Matthew 15:37All the people ate and they all had enough food. After the people had eaten, there were still lots of small pieces of food. Jesus' disciples filled seven baskets with these pieces.
• Matthew 16:8Jesus knew what they were talking about. So he said to them, ‘You should not be arguing with each other about the bread. You should trust me more than you do.
• Mark 6:42Everyone ate and they all had enough food. They were not hungry any more.
• Mark 8:20Jesus asked them, ‘I also used seven loaves to feed 4,000 people. That time, how many baskets did you fill with pieces of food?’ ‘There were seven baskets,’ they replied.
• Luke 9:17Everybody ate and they all had enough food. They were not hungry any more. Then the disciples picked up the bits of food that people had not eaten. They filled 12 baskets with all the little bits of food.
• John 6:11Jesus took the loaves of bread and he thanked God for them. Then he broke the loaves into pieces. He passed them to all the people who were sitting there. Everyone had as much bread as they wanted to eat. Jesus did the same with the fish.

Commentaries on 2 Kings 4:43

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 43Thus saith the Lord, They shall eat, and shall leave thereof - It was God, not the prophet, who fed one hundred men with these twenty loaves, etc. This is something like our Lord's feeding the multitude miraculously. Indeed, there are many things in this chapter similar to facts in our Lord's history: and this prophet might be more aptly considered a type of our Lord, than most of the other persons in the Scriptures who have been thus honored.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 43This miracle was a faint foreshadowing of our Lord‘s far more marvelous feeding of thousands with even scantier materials. The resemblance is not only in the broad fact, but in various minute particulars, such as the distribution through the hands of others; the material, bread; the surprised question of the servant; and the evidence of superfluity in the fragments that were left (see the marginal references). As Elijah was a type of the Baptist, so…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 38-44Verses 38-44 There was a famine of bread, but not of hearing the word of God, for Elisha had the sons of the prophets sitting before him, to hear his wisdom. Elisha made hurtful food to become safe and wholesome. If a mess of pottage be all our dinner, remember that this great prophet had no better for himself and his guests. The table often becomes a snare, and that which should be for our welfare, proves a trap: this is a good reason why we should not…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 42-44barley bread from the first ripe grain: This offering was like the first crops usually given to God (Leviticus 23:20) and to the priests (Deuteronomy 18:4–5) as their share. During the famine, Elisha shared the offering with everyone. Elisha fed a hundred people with a sack of fresh grain and twenty loaves of barley bread, which foreshadowed the miraculous acts Jesus did (Matthew 14:15–21; 15:32–38). Nothing is impossible for God (Matthew 19:26; Luke…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 4343. They shall eat, and shall leave thereof--This was not a miracle of Elisha, but only a prediction of one by the word of the Lord. Thus it differed widely from those of Christ (Mt 15:37; Mr 8:8; Lu 9:17; Joh 6:12).Read the comment

Topics related to 2 Kings 4:43

• Elisha
• Miracles

In the dictionaries

• Aside
• Careful
• Desire
• Minister
• Servitor
• Daniel, Book of
• Elisha
• Gehazi
• Images
• Jehoahaz

Commentaries on 2 Kings 4

• 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
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings