744 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But now bring me a minstrel,.... A piper, a man that knows how to play upon the harp, as the Targum; according to Procopius Gazaeus, this was one of the Levites he ordered to be fetched, who was used to the spiritual melody of David, and could play on musical instruments as he directed. This he did to allay his passion, and compose his spirits,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he said, thus saith the Lord, make this valley full of ditches. In which the allied army lay encamped, that they might be ready to receive large quantities of water, sufficient for the whole army and cattle, when it came.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For thus saith the Lord, ye shall not see wind, neither shall ye see the rain,.... Neither perceive the south wind blow, which usually brings rain, nor clouds gathering in the heavens, as portending it, nor any filling from thence: yet that valley shall be filled with water; and all the ditches dug in it: that ye may drink, both ye and your...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And this is but a light thing in the sight of the Lord,.... To give them such a plenty of water in such an extraordinary manner: he would do for them what was greater, not only save them from falling into the hand of Moab, which they feared, but he wilt deliver the Moabites into your hands; which was more than was asked for, or expected.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And ye shall smite every fenced city and every choice city,.... That is, the inhabitants of them with the sword, and demolish them also, 2 Kings 3:25, and shall fell every good tree; which seems contrary to the law in Deuteronomy 20:19, but that may respect trees belonging to a city when besieged only, or only to Canaanitish cities; or the law was...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And it came to pass in the morning, when the meat offering was offered,.... At Jerusalem; which always went along with the daily burnt offering of the lamb, which might not indeed be offered before break of day, yet quickly after; for no sacrifice could be offered before that, [See comments on Exodus 29:39], that, behold, there came water by the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And when all the Moabites heard that the kings were come up to fight against them,.... The kings of Israel, Judah, and Edom: they gathered all that were able to put on armour, and upward; that were of an age capable of that, and all who were more grown; or "girt on a girdle" (l), a military one, with which the sword was girt, who were at age to...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And they rose up early in the morning,.... To watch the motions of their enemies, and be upon their guard against them: and the sun shone upon the water; with which the valley was filled: and the Moabites saw the water on the other side as red as blood; so it appeared through the rays of the sun reflected on it.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And they said, this is blood,.... They were very confident of it, having no notion of water, there having been no rain for some time; and perhaps it was not usual to see water at any time in this place: the kings are surely slain; they and their forces: and they have smitten one another; having quarrelled either about their religion, or about want...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And when they came to the camp of Israel,.... Not in an orderly regular manner, in rank and file, as an army should march, but in a confused manner, everyone striving who should get thither first, and have the largest share of the booty: the Israelites rose up and smote the Moabites, so that they fled before them; being prepared for them, they...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And they beat down the cities,.... Demolished the walls of them, and houses in them, wherever they came: and on every good piece of land cast every man his stone, and filled it; which they had taken out of the walls and houses they pulled down; or which they picked up in the highway, as they passed along, being a stony country; or which being laid...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And when the king of Moab saw that the battle was too sore for him,.... The siege was so close, the slingers or engineers did so much execution, that he saw the city would soon be taken, and he be obliged to deliver it up: he took with him seven hundred men that drew swords; men expert in war, bold and daring: to break through even unto the king...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then he took his eldest son, that should have reigned in his stead,.... Not the eldest son of the king of Edom, whom the king of Moab had in his hands before, which made the king of Edom the more willing to join in this expedition for the recovery of his son, as Joseph Kimchi thinks; or whom he took now in his sally out upon him, as Moses Kimchi...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO 2 KINGS 4 This chapter treats of the miracles of Elisha, of his multiplying a poor widow's pot of oil for the payment of her husband's debts, 2 Kings 4:1 of obtaining a son for a Shunamitish woman, who had been very hospitable to him, 2 Kings 4:8, of his raising up her son to life when dead, 2 Kings 4:18, of his curing the deadly...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha,.... This, according to the Targum, was the wife of Obadiah, who had hid the prophets by fifty in a cave in the times of Ahab; and so Josephus (q), and it is the commonly received notion of the Jewish writers; though it does not appear that he was a prophet, or...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Elisha said unto her, what shall I do for thee?.... Or can I do, being poor himself, and unable to relieve her out of his substance, and not knowing where to get anything for her; and so what could she expect from him? signifying, that he pitied her case, but all that he could do was to give her his best advice, and pray for her: tell me what...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then he said, go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours,.... For he perceived that she had none: even empty vessels; which they might more readily lend her: borrow not a few; but as many as she could get; the prophet, under a divine impulse, was directed to say this to her, foreseeing, by a spirit of prophecy, that a large quantity of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And when thou art come in,.... Into her house: thou shall shut the door upon thee, and upon thy sons; that they might be alone in the house while the miracle was working; that they might not be interrupted in what they were to do, by the creditor coming in upon them, or by neighbours, who would be for getting the oil from them in the vessels they...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
So she went from him,.... And did as he advised her, borrowed many empty vessels of her neighbours, having faith in what the prophet had said to her: and shut the door upon her, and upon her sons; and then went to work as she was directed, with her sons: who brought the vessels to her; the empty ones she had borrowed: and she poured out; the oil...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And it came to pass when the vessels were full,.... For the oil being miraculously increased as it was poured forth, there was enough to fill all the vessels; Ben Gersom and Abarbinel say, that when the pot was emptied, all the air that entered it was turned into oil: that she said to her son, bring me yet a vessel; as she had two sons, one it is...