38
When Elisha returned to Gilgal, there was a famine in the land. As the sons of the prophets were sitting at his feet, he said to his attendant, “Put on the large pot and boil some stew for the sons of the prophets.”
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
we·’ĕ·lî·šā‘ šāḇ hag·gil·gā·lāh wə·hā·rā·‘āḇ bā·’ā·reṣ ū·ḇə·nê han·nə·ḇî·’îm yō·šə·ḇîm lə·p̄ā·nāw way·yō·mer lə·na·‘ă·rōw šə·p̄ōṯ hag·gə·ḏō·w·lāh has·sîr ū·ḇaš·šêl nā·zîḏ liḇ·nê han·nə·ḇî·’îm
Word by word18 · parsed
√ ʼĔlîyshâʻ — Elisha, the famous prophetConjunctive wawNounpropermasculine singular
√ shûwb — to turn back (hence, away) transitively or intransitively, literally or figuratively (not necessarily with the idea of return to the starting point)VerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singular
shûwb: to turn back, return A Qal perfect opening the unit with motion, not chronology. Ellicott: the word “refers to the prophet's annual visit,” and “The story is not put in chronological sequence with the foregoing.” Cambridge agrees there are no notes of time in this narrative. The unit therefore begins by admitting it is placed by theme rather than by date.
√ Gilgâl — Gilgal, the name of three places in PalestineArticleNounproperfeminine singularthird person feminine singular
√ râʻâb — hunger (more or less extensive)Conjunctive waw, ArticleNounmasculine singular
râʻâb: hunger, famine Definite: the famine. Benson says it lasted seven years, “just as long again as that in the time of Elijah,” and reads it as judgment escalating on an unreformed nation; Barnes, Cambridge, Pulpit and K&D connect it with the seven years announced in 2 Kings 8:1. Everything that follows (wild foraging, a single pot, an unknown fruit) is the practical shape of that word.
√ ʼerets — the earth (at large, or partitively a land)Preposition-b, ArticleNounfeminine 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, etcConjunctive wawNounmasculine plural construct
bên: son Construct plural: “sons of.” Idiom of guild and membership, not descent.
√ nâbîyʼ — a prophet or (generally) inspired manArticleNounmasculine plural
√ yâshab — properly, to sit down (specifically as judgeVerbQalParticiplemasculine plural
yâshab: to sit, dwell A masculine plural participle, durative: they were sitting, and kept sitting. Henry's whole reading turns on the tense of the scene: “There was a famine of bread, but not of hearing the word of God.” Cambridge sees in it the ordinary life of the prophetic colleges, where “The members sat at the feet of some elder member.” The school is in session while the land starves.
√ pânîym — the face (as the part that turns)Preposition-lNouncommon plural constructthird person masculine singular
pânîym: face, presence Literally “to his face.” The same preposition and noun that elsewhere describe standing before a king or before God here describe a classroom. Pulpit cites Ezekiel 8:1 and 33:31 for the idiom; Poole and Gill read it as pupils at a master's feet (Acts 22:3).
√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
√ naʻar — (concretely) a boy (as active), from the age of infancy to adolescencePreposition-lNounmasculine singular constructthird person masculine singular
naʻar: a boy, young man, attendant Not a title of office. Gill guesses Gehazi; Ellicott, Cambridge and K&D all judge it more likely to be one of the sons of the prophets appointed to wait on Elisha. The sources openly disagree, and the text does not settle it.
√ shâphath — to locate, iVerbQalImperativemasculine singular
shâphath: to set (a vessel) on the fire One of only four occurrences in the canon. K&D read it as the exact domestic term (German beisetzen) and cross it with Ezekiel 24:3, where the identical command sets on the pot that is Jerusalem under judgment. A prophet's kitchen order and a prophet's doom oracle share the same rare verb, and in this unit the pot will in fact be found to hold death before it holds food.
√ gâdôwl — great (in any sense)ArticleAdjectivefeminine singular
√ çîyr — a potArticleNouncommon singular
çîyr: a pot The keyword of the unit: it stands at v. 38, v. 39, v. 40 and twice in v. 41. Nothing is ever said about replacing it. The one great pot of the house, as Pulpit notes (“the one great pot that there would be in the house”), is the single vessel on which a hundred men depend, which is why its contamination is a crisis and its cure is a mercy.
√ bâshal — properly, to boil upConjunctive wawVerbPielImperativemasculine singular
bâshal: to boil up, seethe Piel imperative, causative and intensive: make it boil. JFB describes the ordinary dish, meat cut small and mixed with meal and vegetables, which is worth holding: meal already belongs in pottage. What Elisha calls for in v. 41 is not an exotic reagent but the missing ordinary ingredient.
√ nâzîyd — something boiled, iNounmasculine singular
nâzîyd: something boiled, pottage A rare noun, six verses in all, and two of them are Jacob's stew in Genesis 25. Poole hears the poverty in it: Elisha “provides no delicious meats, but mere necessaries.” The word arrives carrying an old memory of a boiling pot that cost a birthright.
√ 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, etcPreposition-lNounmasculine plural construct
√ nâbîyʼ — a prophet or (generally) inspired manArticleNounmasculine plural