2 Kings 4:40-44

4:40 The stew was poured out ¹  for the men to eat. When they ate some of the stew, they cried out, “Death is in the pot, O prophet!” They could not eat it. 4:41 He said, “Get some flour.” Then he threw it into the pot and said, “Now pour some out for the men so they may eat.” ²  There was no longer anything harmful in the pot.

Elisha Miraculously Feeds a Hundred People

4:42 Now a man from Baal Shalisha brought some food for the prophet ³  – twenty loaves of bread made from the firstfruits of the barley harvest, as well as fresh ears of grain. ⁴  Elisha ⁵  said, “Set it before the people so they may eat.” 4:43 But his attendant said, “How can I feed a hundred men with this?” ⁶  He replied, “Set it before the people so they may eat, for this is what the Lord says, ‘They will eat and have some left over.’” ⁷  4:44 So he set it before them; they ate and had some left over, just as the Lord predicted. ⁸ 

¹ tn Heb “and they poured out [the stew].” The plural subject is probably indefinite.

² tn Or “and let them eat.”

³ tn Heb “man of God.”

⁴ 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.

⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁴ tn Heb “How can I set this before a hundred men?”

⁵ tn The verb forms are infinitives absolute (Heb “eating and leaving over”) and have to be translated in light of the context.

⁵ tn Heb “according to the word of the Lord.”