A
man from Baal Shalishah came, and brought the man of God bread some of the first fruits: twenty loaves of barley, and fresh ears of grain in his sack. He said, “Give to the people, that they may eat.” His servant said, “What, should I set this before a hundred men?” But he said, “Give the people, that they may eat; for Yahweh says, ‘They will eat, and will have some left over.’” So he set it before them, and they ate, and had some left over, according to Yahweh’s word.
2 Kings 4:42-44
2 Kings 4 [41.] But he said, “Then bring meal.” He threw it into the pot; and he said, “Serve it to the people, that they may eat.” And there was nothing harmful in the pot.
2 Kings 4 [42.] A man from Baal Shalishah came, and brought the man of God bread some of the first fruits: twenty loaves of barley, and fresh ears of grain in his sack. He said, “Give to the people, that they may eat.”
2 Kings 4 [43.] His servant said, “What, should I set this before a hundred men?”
But he said, “Give the people, that they may eat; for Yahweh says, ‘They will eat, and will have some left over.’”
2 Kings 4 [44.] So he set it before them, and they ate, and had some left over, according to Yahweh’s word.
2 Kings 5 [1.] Now Naaman, captain of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honorable, because by him Yahweh had given victory to Syria: he was also a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper. The Syrians had gone out in bands, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maiden; and she waited on Naaman’s wife. She said to her mistress, “I wish that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! Then he would heal him of his leprosy.”
Meaning:
These three short verses close a chapter full of the prophet Elisha’s miracles of provision and life: a widow’s oil that keeps flowing, a son given and then raised from the dead, and a poisoned pot of stew made wholesome during a famine. Food was scarce in the land, yet a man arrives with a gift of firstfruits for “the man of God.” Elisha immediately turns the gift outward: “Give to the people, that they may eat.” His servant protests that twenty small loaves cannot feed a hundred men, but Yahweh’s word proves true, and there is food to spare. It is a small story with a large shadow, because it sets a pattern that Jesus fulfilled on a far greater scale when he fed the five thousand and then the four thousand (Mark 8:6-9).
- A gift of firstfruits in a time of famine
Baal Shalishah was a village in the hill country of Ephraim, probably not far from Gilgal, where Elisha was teaching a community of “the sons of the prophets.” Under the Law of Moses, the first portion of every harvest belonged to Yahweh and was given for the support of the priests. In the northern kingdom of Israel, however, the kings had set up their own altars and priesthood, and many faithful Israelites appear to have brought their offerings to the true prophet of Yahweh instead. This man’s gift was therefore an act of worship and loyalty to the God of Israel at a time when the nation as a whole had drifted.
Barley ripened before wheat and was the cheaper grain, the bread of ordinary and poorer families. Twenty barley loaves were small, flat rounds, enough for a family for a few days, and the “fresh ears of grain” were newly harvested heads carried in his sack. To give the very first of a harvest during a famine, when every mouthful counted, took real trust that God would provide the rest.
- The servant’s arithmetic
Elisha’s servant (probably Gehazi, who appears earlier in the chapter) does what most of us would do: he counts. “What, should I set this before a hundred men?” His question is honest, but it measures the situation only by what can be seen. Moses once asked the same kind of question in the wilderness, wondering whether all the flocks and fish of the sea would be enough for Israel, and Yahweh answered, “Has Yahweh’s hand grown short?” (Numbers 11:21-23). Centuries later the disciples would ask, “From where could one satisfy these people with bread here in a deserted place?” (Mark 8:4).
The Bible does not despise careful thinking, but it repeatedly reminds us that God is not limited by our supplies. The servant’s arithmetic was correct; it simply left God out of the sum.
- According to Yahweh’s word
Elisha does not perform a ritual or claim power of his own. He simply repeats what Yahweh has said: “They will eat, and will have some left over.” The miracle is the fulfilment of a promise, and the narrator underlines this with the closing words, “according to Yahweh’s word.” The Old Testament consistently teaches that God’s word is reliable and that people live “by every word that proceeds out of Yahweh’s mouth” (Deuteronomy 8:2-3).
The leftovers matter. God did not merely provide a bare minimum; he gave enough and more, a picture of the generous heart of the God who “satisfies the desire of every living thing” (Psalm 145:15-16).
- A foreshadowing of Jesus
Readers of the Gospels will hear clear echoes. Elisha fed a hundred men with twenty barley loaves, and there was some left over. Jesus fed five thousand men with five loaves, and later four thousand with seven loaves, and the disciples gathered basketfuls of leftovers (Matthew 15:32; Mark 8:6-9). The comparison shows that someone far greater than Elisha had come. Elisha relayed God’s word; Jesus is the Word and gives himself as “the bread of life” (John 6:35).
The Significance of 2 Kings 4:42-44
- Generosity in scarcity
The unnamed man from Baal Shalishah teaches that giving to God is not something we do only when we have plenty. Honouring God with the first and best, even in lean times, expresses trust that he will supply what we need (Philippians 4:19).
- Faith that looks beyond the numbers
Believers today face their own “hundred men” moments: needs in a family, a church or a ministry that look far bigger than the resources available. This passage invites us to bring what we have, obey God’s word, and watch him provide, often with something left over to share.
Cross-References:
Mark 8:8: "They ate, and were filled. They took up seven baskets of broken pieces that were left over." Jesus repeats Elisha’s miracle on a much larger scale, revealing himself as the Lord who provides.
Numbers 11:23: "Yahweh said to Moses, “Has Yahweh’s hand grown short? Now you will see whether my word will happen to you or not.”" Like Elisha’s servant, Moses counted resources, and God answered with a promise and its fulfilment.
John 6:35: "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will not be hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty." The bread miracles point beyond physical food to Jesus himself, who satisfies the deepest hunger of the soul.
Philippians 4:19: "My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus." Paul’s promise echoes the lesson of Baal Shalishah: God provides for those who give and trust him.
Conclusion: In a hungry land, a faithful man gave the first of his harvest, a prophet passed it on, and God multiplied it so that a hundred men ate and had some left over. The story invites us to give generously, to measure our needs against God’s promises rather than our supplies, and to recognise in it a preview of Jesus, the true Bread from heaven, who still feeds hungry people today.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible