II Kings 4:42-44 · Bible study
2 Kings 4:42-44 Commentary: Elisha, Firstfruits, and God's Provision
Hebrew · 10 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Study page on 2 Kings 4:42-44: the man from Baal Shalishah brings firstfruits to Elisha, and God multiplies the loaves for a hundred prophets.
Research Summary
- Meaning: God multiplies a small gift of firstfruits to feed a hundred prophets, demonstrating his care and foreshadowing Christ’s feeding miracles.
- Key words: Firstfruits (בִּכּוּרִים, bikkurim), bread (לֶחֶם, lechem), eat (אָכַל, akhal), have left over (יָתַר, yatar), sack (צִקְלֹן, tsiqlon, a hapax legomenon).
- Main debate: Whether Elisha actively performed the miracle or only predicted God’s direct action; the supplied sources lean toward the latter view.
- Theological theme: God’s providential care for his servants; the reliability of the prophetic word; offering firstfruits when normal worship is disrupted.
- Best use: Encouragement for those serving with limited resources; teaching on faithful giving in adversity; typology of Christ’s abundance.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
42Now a man from Baal-shalishah came to the man of God with a sack of twenty loaves of barley bread from the first ripe grain. “Give it to the people to eat,” said Elisha.
43But his servant asked, “How am I to set twenty loaves before a hundred men?” “Give it to the people to eat,” said Elisha, “for this is what the LORD says: ‘They will eat and have some left over.’”
44So he set it before them, and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of the LORD.
WEB World English Bible 2000
42A man from Baal Shalishah came, and brought the man of God some bread of the first fruits: twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack. Elisha said, “Give to the people, that they may eat.”
43His servant said, “What, should I set this before a hundred men?” But he said, “Give it to the people, that they may eat; for Yahweh says, ‘They will eat, and will have some left over.’”
44So he set it before them and they ate and had some left over, according to Yahweh’s word.
KJV King James Version 1769
42And there came a man from Baal–shalisha, and brought the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley, and full ears of corn in the husk thereof. And he said, Give unto the people, that they may eat.
43And 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.
44So he set it before them, and they did eat, and left thereof, according to the word of the Lord.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
42And there came a man from Baal-shalishah, and brought the man of God bread of the first-fruits, twenty loaves of barley, and fresh ears of grain in his sack. And he said, Give unto the people, that they may eat.
43And his servant said, What, should I set this before a hundred men? But he said, Give the people, that they may eat; for thus saith Jehovah, They shall eat, and shall leave thereof.
44So he set it before them, and they did eat, and left thereof, according to the word of Jehovah.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
42And a man hath come from Baal-Shalishah, and bringeth in to the man of God bread of first-fruits, twenty loaves of barley, and full ears of corn in its husk, and he saith, `Give to the people, and they eat.'
43And his minister saith, `What--do I give this before a hundred men?' and he saith, `Give to the people, and they eat, for thus said Jehovah, Eat and leave;'
44and he giveth before them, and they eat and leave, according to the word of Jehovah.
Darby Darby Bible 1890
42And there came a man from Baal-shalishah, and brought the man of God bread of the first-fruits, twenty loaves of barley, and fresh ears of corn in his sack. And he said, Give to the people that they may eat.
43And his attendant said, How shall I set this before a hundred men? And he said, Give the people that they may eat; for thus saith Jehovah: They shall eat, and shall have to spare.
44And he set [it] before them, and they ate and left [thereof], according to the word of Jehovah.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
42And a certain man came from Baalsalisa, bringing to the man of God, bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley, and new corn in his scrip. And he said: Give to the people, that they may eat.
43And his servant answered him: How much is this, that I should set it before a hundred men? He said again: Give to the people, that they may eat: for thus saith the Lord: They shall eat, and there shall be left.
44So he set it before them: and they ate, and there was left, according to the word of the Lord.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · II Kings 4:42
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators from multiple traditions agree that the firstfruits offering was redirected to Elisha because the temple in Jerusalem was inaccessible to northern Israelites. Barnes notes that the Levitical priests had withdrawn to Judah, so pious Israelites transferred these gifts to the prophets. Gill adds that this was considered an acceptable substitute when the northern kingdom’s official cult had forbidden pilgrimages to Jerusalem.
The miracle itself demonstrates God’s care for his servants through the prophetic word. Elisha does not claim to produce the increase; he simply relays Yahweh’s promise: “They will eat, and will have some left over.” Keil and Delitzsch stress that Elisha predicted the multiplication rather than performing it directly. Still, Clarke and Barnes see this episode as a foreshadowing of Jesus’ feeding of the multitudes. The leftovers confirm that God’s provision exceeds every calculation, and the narrative frames the entire event as happening “according to the word of Yahweh.”
What is not debated: the passage shows that God can take a small, faithful offering and turn it into more than enough for his people. The servant’s doubt gives way to the reality of divine abundance.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Low
What is clear: God multiplied the twenty loaves so that one hundred men ate and had leftovers, fulfilling the word of Yahweh spoken through Elisha.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose of the firstfruits offering to a prophet | All agree that this was a pious adaptation when the temple and Levitical priests were inaccessible to northern Israelites. | Some commentators see this as a temporary arrangement specific to the divided kingdom; others find a principle that God’s ministers may receive offerings normally due to priests, a claim later used to support clergy support. |
| Elisha's role in the multiplication | All affirm that God alone multiplied the food. | Barnes and Clarke speak of Elisha performing a miracle; Keil and Delitzsch and Jamieson-Fausset-Brown stress that Elisha only predicted the outcome, with God directly producing the increase. |
| Typological connection to Jesus | Broad consensus that the feeding of the hundred prefigures Jesus’ feeding of thousands. | Some writers (Clarke, Barnes) draw Elisha as a direct type of Christ in many respects; others (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown) emphasize the difference that Jesus actively produced the increase while Elisha only spoke the word. |
| Identity of the servant | Most identify the servant as Gehazi, Elisha’s regular attendant. | The Hebrew word (מְשָׁרְתוֹ) is used for Joshua as Moses’ servant, suggesting a special role; Cambridge Bible notes it likely means Gehazi, but some think it might refer to a different official. |
Historical & Cultural Context
The story occurs during a famine that features throughout 2 Kings 4. Elisha has just returned to Gilgal, where a community of prophets has gathered around him (v.38). These “sons of the prophets” were not cloistered monks but married men and fathers who sat before him for teaching and support. A few verses earlier, Elisha had purified a poisoned pot of stew for the same group. Now the need is food itself.
The man comes from Baal Shalishah, a town in the hill country of Ephraim (1 Samuel 9:4). Barnes locates it fifteen Roman miles north of Lydda, west of the highlands, probably within the land of Shalisha. He brings “bread of the firstfruits”, twenty barley loaves and fresh ears of grain in a sack. The Law commanded that firstfruits be given to the priests at the sanctuary (Numbers 18:13; Deuteronomy 26:2). But after Jeroboam established rival altars at Bethel and Dan, the Levitical priests largely left the north for Judah (2 Chronicles 11:13-14).
Pious Israelites faced a dilemma. How could they obey the command to bring firstfruits when the proper place and priests were gone? Gill and Barnes explain that they began bringing these offerings to the prophets instead, viewing them as God’s representatives. This was not a rejection of the Law but a faithful adaptation in a broken situation. The man from Baal Shalishah embodies this pattern: he gives his first and best to the man of God, trusting that God will receive it.
The quantity seems absurdly small for a hundred men. Barley loaves were coarse and small, and one man could carry the entire gift. The servant’s protest, “What, should I set this before a hundred men?”, reflects normal human reasoning. But Elisha insists, and the subsequent miracle shows that the Lord who commands the impossible also supplies the means. The famine and the redirected offering together create a perfect stage for God to act.
Textual Notes
The consulted sources note no significant textual variants for this passage. The LXX renders Baal-shalishah as Beth-shalisha, which may reflect a scribal tradition of adapting the place name (Cambridge Bible), but this does not affect interpretation. The rare word for “sack” (צִקְלֹן) is a hapax legomenon, and translations vary between “husk” and “bag” based on context. No manuscript disagreements change the meaning of the miracle itself.
Reception History
The church has long read this passage as a type of Christ’s feeding of the multitudes. Barnes explicitly compares Elisha to Jesus, noting that as Elijah prefigured John the Baptist, Elisha’s gentle, merciful ministry prefigured the Messiah. Matthew Henry used the episode to encourage ministers that God will provide for those who serve him, even in famine. The redirection of firstfruits to a prophet was cited by Reformation commentators to support the principle that congregations should support their pastors. In later devotional use, the story has been treasured as evidence that small, faithful offerings become abundant when placed in God’s hands.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- A gift born of faithfulness in disruption. The man from Baal Shalishah brings firstfruits to a prophet, not a priest. He gives what the Law required, even when the normal system had collapsed. His offering represents trust that God still sees and receives.
- A command that overrides human logic. Elisha tells his servant to set twenty loaves before a hundred men. The servant objects; the numbers do not add up. But Elisha does not argue the math, he repeats the command and adds God’s promise.
- Abundance that validates the prophetic word. They eat and have leftovers. The surplus is not a lucky accident; it comes “according to Yahweh’s word.” God proves faithful to his promise, and the leftovers become evidence for everyone who witnessed it.
Five-point outline
- Context: famine forces the prophetic community to rely wholly on God’s provision.
- The offering: a man brings firstfruits to Elisha, fulfilling the spirit of the Law under disrupted worship.
- The objection: the servant sees the gap between what they have and what is needed.
- The promise: Elisha speaks a word from Yahweh guaranteeing both satisfaction and surplus.
- The result: the miracle happens, and the leftovers testify to the truth of God’s word.
Illustration hooks
- A youth group leader brings snacks for twelve teens, and twenty-eight show up. She prays, distributes what she has, and everyone gets enough, with a few bags of chips left over.
- A family preparing a meal for expected guests learns that the visitors have brought extra people. The cook worries, but the food stretches further than anyone thought possible.
- A food bank volunteer sees only a few pallets of supplies when hundreds of families are waiting. By the end of the day, every family was served and some food remained.
Questions your congregation is asking
- How do I obey God when the usual structures for worship and giving have fallen apart?
- What do I do when God commands something that makes no sense with what I have?
- How can I trust that my small offering matters when the needs around me are huge?
Leading a Discussion
This passage sits in a series of miracles where God provides for the prophetic community through Elisha. The scene invites us to consider how we give when the normal channels are blocked, and how God’s word can turn scarcity into abundance.
Discussion questions
- Why do you think the man brought his firstfruits to Elisha instead of to the temple in Jerusalem? What does this tell us about faithfulness in difficult circumstances?
- Put yourself in the servant’s shoes. How would you have responded to Elisha’s command? Have you ever felt that way when serving God?
- Elisha repeats his command and adds a promise from the Lord. How does God’s word change the way we see our limitations?
- Read John 6:1-14. What similarities and differences do you see between this Old Testament feeding and Jesus’ feeding of the five thousand? What do both stories teach about God’s provision?
- The leftovers are specifically mentioned. Why do you think the writer includes this detail? What does it tell us about God’s character?
- In what areas of your life do you need to trust that God can supply more than what you currently have?
- What would it look like for our community to bring our “firstfruits”, our best and earliest, to God, especially when resources seem tight?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Exodus 23:16 | And the feast of harvest, the first fruits of your labors, which you sow in the field; and the feast of ingathering, at the end of the year, when you gather in your labors out of the field. |
| Deuteronomy 8:8 | a land of wheat, barley, vines, fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of olive trees and honey; |
| Deuteronomy 12:6 | You shall bring your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the wave offering of your hand, your vows, your free will offerings, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock there. |
| Deuteronomy 26:2 | that you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you shall bring in from your land that Yahweh your God gives you. You shall put it in a basket, and shall go to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there. |
| Deuteronomy 26:10 | Now, behold, I have brought the first of the fruit of the ground, which you, Yahweh, have given me.” You shall set it down before Yahweh your God, and worship before Yahweh your God. |
| Deuteronomy 32:14 | butter from the herd, and milk from the flock, with fat of lambs, rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the finest of the wheat. From the blood of the grape, you drank wine. |
| I Samuel 9:4 | He passed through the hill country of Ephraim, and passed through the land of Shalishah, but they didn’t find them. Then they passed through the land of Shaalim, and they weren’t there. Then he passed through the land of the Benjamites, but they didn’t find them. |
| I Samuel 9:7 | Then Saul said to his servant, “But behold, if we go, what should we bring the man? For the bread is spent in our sacks, and there is not a present to bring to the man of God. What do we have?” |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
9 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke emphasizes that God alone, not the prophet, performed the miracle of feeding a hundred men with twenty loaves. He draws a direct parallel to Christ's feeding of the multitude, and suggests that Elisha stands as a stronger type of Christ than most Old Testament figures typically honored in that role.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes draws a detailed parallel between Elisha's miracle and Christ's feeding of thousands, noting specific similarities: distribution through others, the material of bread, the servant's surprised question, and leftover fragments. He sees Elisha as a type of Christ more than any other prophet, pointing to his peaceful, non-ascetic life, gentle character, and many miracles of mercy.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
This commentary notes that the account of Elisha feeding a hundred men does not strongly emphasize a miraculous increase of the bread. It leaves open whether the bread was multiplied or the men were simply satisfied with a small amount. The Greek Septuagint even omits the phrase so he set it before them.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill notes that this man brought Elisha the firstfruits of the barley harvest, which the law required to be given to the priest in Jerusalem. Because the northern kingdom could not go there, devout men brought their firstfruits to the prophets instead, and Elisha did not keep the gift for himself but ordered it shared with a hundred people.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
JFB draws a sharp distinction here: Elisha did not perform a miracle himself but only predicted one by the Lord's word. This sets the prophet apart from Christ, who directly multiplied food with his own power.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil-Delitzsch stress that the account is not about another miracle of Elisha, but about God providing for His servants. The first-fruits given to the prophets' school mirror what the law gave to Levitical priests, showing that faithful Israelites saw the prophetic communities as a legitimate substitute for Jeroboam's illegitimate state-church.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange argues that Gehazi's failure to revive the boy was not his fault, but Elisha's mistaken assumption that his prophetic power could be delegated through the staff. The Spirit's gift is not at a prophet's disposal to transfer at will; Elisha acted from overhasty zeal without divine direction.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry emphasizes that Elisha was truly in his element among the sons of the prophets, acting as both teacher and father who naturally cared for their needs. He notes the famine lasted seven years because of the people's wickedness, twice as long as Elijah's, highlighting God's sustained judgment alongside Elisha's provision.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley notes that though first fruits legally belonged to the priests, devout Israelites often brought these and other priestly dues to the Lord’s prophets instead. They did this because they were not permitted to carry such offerings to Jerusalem.