Bible Strands
2 Kings 4:1
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
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Study note
Setting — The wife of a prophet cries out to Elisha after her husband's death, reporting that his creditor is arriving to seize her two children as slaves.
The words — The Hebrew צָעֲקָה (tza.'a.Kah) literally means "she cried out," marking the moment she shifts from private grief to public appeal before the prophet.
The thread — The threat of debt-driven family enslavement runs in Matthew 18:25, where an unpaid debt triggers the sale of a debtor and his household, and echoes the survival crisis over grain in Nehemiah 5:2.
Why it lands — The text records a widow's concrete plea for intervention, requiring readers to acknowledge that covenant loyalty does not prevent economic ruin and that desperate circumstances demand direct appeal to God's appointed agents.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the Lord: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen.
Cross-references
- Matthew 18:25 Since the man was unable to pay, the master ordered that he be sold to pay his debt, along with his wife and children and everything he owned.
- 2 Kings 2:3 Then 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.”
- Nehemiah 5:2 Some were saying, “We and our sons and daughters are numerous. We must get grain in order to eat and stay alive.”
- Psalms 147:11 The LORD is pleased with those who fear Him, who hope in His loving devotion.
- Leviticus 25:39 If a countryman among you becomes destitute and sells himself to you, then you must not force him into slave labor.
- 1 Samuel 22:2 And all who were distressed or indebted or discontented rallied around him, and he became their leader. About four hundred men were with him.
- 2 Kings 4:38 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.”
- Psalms 103:11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His loving devotion for those who fear Him.
- Psalms 103:17 But from everlasting to everlasting the loving devotion of the LORD extends to those who fear Him, and His righteousness to their children’s children—
- Psalms 112:1 Hallelujah! Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in His commandments.