2 Kings 4:38

BSB · Public Domain (CC0)

“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.””

What this verse means

Read 2 Kings 4:38 in the flow of 2 Kings4 for its full sense, then follow the cross-references below to the passages that echo it. Open 2 Kings4 to see the surrounding context.

Compare translations
BSBPD

“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 · Public Domain (CC0)
KJVPD

“And Elisha came again to Gilgal: and there was a dearth in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him: and he said unto his servant, Set on the great pot, and seethe pottage for the sons of the prophets.”

King James Version · Public Domain
ASVPD

“And Elisha came again to Gilgal. And there was a dearth in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him; and he said unto his servant, Set on the great pot, and boil pottage for the sons of the prophets.”

American Standard Version · Public Domain
YLTPD

“And Elisha hath turned back to Gilgal, and the famine <FI>is<Fi> in the land, and the sons of the prophets are sitting before him, and he saith to his young man, `Set on the great pot, and boil pottage for the sons of the prophets.'”

Young's Literal Translation · Public Domain
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Cross references

Other passages that echo 2 Kings 4:38 — 24 related verses from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

  1. Leviticus 26:26When I cut off your supply of bread, ten women will bake your bread in a single oven and dole out your bread by weight, so that you will eat but not be satisfied.
  2. Deuteronomy 28:22The LORD will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, and with blight and mildew; these will pursue you until you perish.
  3. Deuteronomy 28:38You will sow much seed in the field but harvest little, because the locusts will consume it.
  4. 1 Samuel 7:16Every year he would go on a circuit from Bethel to Gilgal to Mizpah, judging Israel in all these places.
  5. 1 Samuel 19:20he sent messengers to capture him. But when they saw the group of prophets prophesying, with Samuel leading them, the Spirit of God came upon them, and Saul’s messengers also began to prophesy.
  6. 2 Samuel 21:1During the reign of David there was a famine for three successive years, and David sought the face of the LORD. And the LORD said, “It is because of the blood shed by Saul and his family, because he killed the Gibeonites.”
  7. 1 Kings 17:1Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was among the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As surely as the LORD lives—the God of Israel before whom I stand—there will be neither dew nor rain in these years except at my word!”
  8. 2 Kings 2:1Shortly before the LORD took Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal,
  9. 2 Kings 2:3Then the sons of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and said, “Do you know that the LORD will take your master away from you today?” “Yes, I know,” he replied. “Do not speak of it.”
  10. 2 Kings 4:1Now 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!”
  11. 2 Kings 8:1Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, “Arise, you and your household; go and live as a foreigner wherever you can. For the LORD has decreed a seven-year famine, and it has already come to the land.”
  12. Job 30:4They plucked mallow among the shrubs, and the roots of the broom tree were their food.
  13. Proverbs 8:34Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at the posts of my doorway.
  14. Jeremiah 14:1This is the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought:
  15. Ezekiel 14:13“Son of man, if a land sins against Me by acting unfaithfully, and I stretch out My hand against it to cut off its supply of food, to send famine upon it, and to cut off from it both man and beast,
  16. Ezekiel 24:3Now speak a parable to this rebellious house and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Put the pot on the fire; put it on and pour in the water.
  17. Mark 6:37But Jesus told them, “You give them something to eat.” They asked Him, “Should we go out and spend two hundred denarii to give all of them bread to eat?”
  18. Mark 8:2“I have compassion for this crowd, because they have already been with Me three days and have nothing to eat.
  19. Luke 2:46Finally, after three days they found Him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.
  20. Luke 4:25But I tell you truthfully that there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and great famine swept over all the land.
  21. Luke 8:35So the people went out to see what had happened. They came to Jesus and found the man whom the demons had left, sitting at Jesus’ feet, clothed and in his right mind; and they were afraid.
  22. Luke 8:38The man whom the demons had left begged to go with Jesus. But He sent him away, saying,
  23. Luke 9:13But Jesus told them, “You give them something to eat.” “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered, “unless we go and buy food for all these people.”
  24. Luke 10:39She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to His message.

Cross-reference data: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain) via OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

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