2 Kings 4:38-41

II. MIRACLES ON BEHALF OF THE SONS OF THE PROPHETS 4:38-44

As the spiritual head of the sons of the prophets, Elisha frequently was called upon apparently to use his powers for the benefit of the group. On two occasions he rescued these men from serious sickness and possible death. In the closing verses of chapter 4 the author narrates (1) the healing of the noxious pottage (2 Kings 4:38-41); and (2) the multiplication of the loaves (2 Kings 4:42-44).

A. HEALING OF THE NOXIOUS POTTAGE 4:38-41

TRANSLATION

(38) And Elisha returned to Gilgal. Now famine was in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him. And he said to his lad, Set on the great pot, and boil pottage for the sons of the prophets. (39) And one went out into the field to gather herbs, and he found a vine of the field, and gathered from it a garment full of gourds of the field, and he came and sliced them into the pot of pottage; but they knew it not. (40) And they poured out to the men to eat, and it came to pass as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out and said, Death In the pot, O man of God. And they were not able to eat it. (41) And he said, Take meal and throw it in the pot. And he said, Pour out to the people that they may eat. And there was no evil thing in the pot.

COMMENTS

The next miracle related of Elisha took place during a famine when the prophet was visiting the prophetic school at Gilgal on one of his regular tours of the land. During the course of his lecture, while the sons of the prophets were sitting before him, Elisha ordered that the large communal pot be put on the fire, and pottage or vegetable stew be prepared (2 Kings 4:38). The sons of the prophets fanned out in the neighborhood to look for wild fruits or vegetables which might be put into the stew. Perhaps because of the famine the men could not be as selective as they usually were. One young chap came upon some kind of wild vine, the fruit of which looked very appealing.[530] Gathering as many of these gourds as he could carry, he returned to the pot and began to skin and slice them into the pot. The prophetic students standing about were either paying no attention to what their colleague was doing, or else they failed to recognize the gourds as poisonous (2 Kings 4:39).

[530] Dalman (SSW, pp. 81ff.) attempts to identify the particular plant here involved. He points to a vine which grows in the vicinity of Jericho which produces yellow fruits like melons. These melons have powerful laxative properties and if eaten in great quantity may indeed be fatal. The technical name of the plant is citrullus colocynthus.

As the men were eating of the vegetable stew, they came to realize, either by the bitter taste of the brew or else by the nauseous effects, that they were eating unwholesome food. Jumping to the worst possible conclusion, they thought they were being poisoned, and so cried out to Elisha, O man of God, there is death in the pot! No one was able to continue eating the stew (2 Kings 4:40). Elisha took prompt action. He called for some meal and cast it into the pot. Meal, of course, has no power in and of itself to neutralize poison any more than salt has to purify bitter waters (cf. 2 Kings 2:19-21). Elisha could as easily have performed this miracle by a spoken word. But under divine direction, he was instructed to employ meal, the most wholesome food of man, to symbolize the purification of the pottage. It is possible that the meal might have modified some of the bitterness of the brew and its injurious qualities. But the primary purpose of the meal seems to have been symbolic. At any rate the pottage was served anew, and those who had faith in Elisha and continued to eat of it were harmed in no way (2 Kings 4:41).