1
Now the wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant, my husband, is dead, and you know that your servant feared the LORD. And now his creditor is coming to take my two children as his slaves!”
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
min·nə·šê wə·’iš·šāh ’a·ḥaṯ ḇə·nê- han·nə·ḇî·’îm ṣā·‘ă·qāh ’el- ’ĕ·lî·šā‘ lê·mōr ‘aḇ·də·ḵā ’î·šî mêṯ wə·’at·tāh yā·ḏa‘·tā kî ‘aḇ·də·ḵā hā·yāh yā·rê ’eṯ- Yah·weh wə·han·nō·šeh bā lā·qa·ḥaṯ ’eṯ- šə·nê yə·lā·ḏay lōw la·‘ă·ḇā·ḏîm
Word by word28 · parsed
√ ʼishshâh — a womanPreposition-mNounfeminine plural construct
√ ʼishshâh — a womanConjunctive wawNounfeminine singular
√ ʼechâd — properly, united, iNumberfeminine singular
√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct
√ nâbîyʼ — a prophet or (generally) inspired manArticleNounmasculine plural
nâbîyʼ: prophet, inspired man The plural (sons of the prophets) is a guild term, not a monastery: Ellicott and Pulpit both press that these men had wives, houses and debts.
√ tsâʻaq — to shriekVerbQalPerfectthird person feminine singular
tsâ‘aq: to shriek The lexicon gloss is deliberately harsh. This is the covenant scream that Exodus attaches to the widow and the orphan and to the poor man whose cloak is held in pledge, the cry God promises to hear because he is compassionate. That the narrative opens with a woman shrieking at a prophet, rather than with a king or an army, sets the register for the whole of 2 Kings 4.
√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPreposition
√ ʼĔlîyshâʻ — Elisha, the famous prophetNounpropermasculine singular
√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Preposition-lVerbQalInfinitive construct
√ ʻebed — a servantNounmasculine singular constructsecond person masculine singular
‘ebed: a servant Used three times in one verse (9, 15, 27). The dead man is twice called ‘aḇdəḵā, thy servant, which is both deference to Elisha and a claim: he belonged to the prophetic household. The creditor's demand would convert that voluntary service into ‘ăḇāḏîm, chattel service, and so undo in one seizure what the man's whole life confessed.
√ ʼîysh — a man as an individual or a male personNounmasculine singular constructfirst person common singular
√ mûwth — to die (literally or figuratively)VerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singular
√ ʼattâh — thou and thee, or (plural) ye and youConjunctive wawPronounsecond person masculine singular
√ yâdaʻ — to know (properly, to ascertain by seeing)VerbQalPerfectsecond person masculine singular
√ kîy — (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below)Conjunction
√ ʻebed — a servantNounmasculine singular constructsecond person masculine singular
√ hâyâh — to exist, iVerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singular
√ yârêʼ — fearingAdjectivemasculine singular
yârêʼ: fearing An adjective, not a finite verb: he was one fearing YHWH. Geneva draws the covenantal inference plainly, that such a man did not fall into debt by carelessness or excess. Benson and Poole go further and read his poverty as the cost of refusing the king's worship. That is inference, not text: the narrative gives the fear of YHWH and the debt side by side and declines to explain the connection.
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker
√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular
Yᵉhôvâh: the divine name Marked by the object particle אֶת, the only naming of God in the woman's speech, and it comes not as an appeal but as the object of her husband's settled fear. She asks nothing of YHWH directly. Her whole petition is addressed to a man, on the ground of what her husband was toward God, and the narrator lets that stand as a sufficient prayer. In v. 7 he answers her one divine name with his own title for Elisha, (the man of the God).
√ nâshâh — to lend or (by reciprocity) borrow on security or interestConjunctive waw, ArticleVerbQalParticiplemasculine singular
nâshâh: to lend on security A rare root, standing in only eleven verses in the Hebrew Bible, and the Verifier finds almost all of them clustered in the debt legislation (Exodus 22:25; Deuteronomy 15:2; 24:10, 11) and its prophetic aftermath (Isaiah 24:2; 50:1; Jeremiah 15:10; Nehemiah 5; Psalm 109:11). The word itself drags the whole law of the pledge into the room.
√ bôwʼ — to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)VerbQalParticiplemasculine singular
√ lâqach — to take (in the widest variety of applications)Preposition-lVerbQalInfinitive construct
lâqach: to take Neutral in itself, brutal here: the infinitive of simple taking is what the law permitted the creditor to do to children.
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker
√ shᵉnayim — twoNumbermasculine dual construct
√ yeled — something born, iNounmasculine plural constructfirst person common singular
yeled: something born, a child Cambridge notes that the Revised Version reads (children) here because the Hebrew word in v. 1 is not the word used in v. 4 (bēn). The narrative first names them as things born of her, then, once the prophet speaks, as sons who work.
ל֖וֹlōwas his
Prepositionthird person masculine singular
√ ʻebed — a servantPreposition-lNounmasculine plural
‘ăḇāḏîm: slaves The same root as note 9, now plural and governed by lə: taken (for slaves). Barnes, Cambridge, JFB and K&D all record that Leviticus 25:39-41 permitted this and capped it at the jubilee.