Bible Strands
2 Kings 4:8
One day Elisha went to Shunem, and a prominent woman who lived there persuaded him to have a meal. So whenever he would pass by, he would stop there to eat.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrative recounts the prophet Elisha traveling to Shunem during a period of active ministry, immediately following his prior instruction to a grieving widow. A prominent local woman intercepts him to invite him to eat before he continues his route.
The words — The phrase וַ/יַּעֲבֹ֧ר (va/i.ya.'a.Vor) translates literally as "and he passed on," marking Elisha's transit through the region. The location שׁוּנֵ֗ם (shu.Nem) identifies the specific town where the woman resides and offers hospitality.
The thread — Shunem appears as a settled territory in Joshua 19:18 and produces Abishag the Shunammite in 1 Kings 1:3. The pattern of hosting a traveling holy man echoes the hospitality extended to strangers in Genesis 19:3.
Why it lands — The text records a routine stop for a meal before interpreting the woman's actions as religious devotion. The reader must note the plain sequence of transit and invitation before recognizing the hospitality as the foundation for the woman's subsequent request in 2 Kings 4:9.
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
And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread.
Cross-references
- Joshua 19:18 Their territory included Jezreel, Chesulloth, Shunem,
- Genesis 19:3 But Lot insisted so strongly that they followed him into his house. He prepared a feast for them and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.
- 1 Kings 1:3 Then they searched throughout Israel for a beautiful girl, and they found Abishag the Shunammite and brought her to the king.
- 2 Kings 4:11 One day Elisha came to visit and went to his upper room to lie down.
- Job 1:3 and he owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and a very large number of servants. Job was the greatest man of all the people of the East.
- Job 32:9 It is not only the old who are wise, or the elderly who understand justice.
- Luke 24:29 But they pleaded with Him, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.” So He went in to stay with them.
- Judges 19:20 “Peace to you,” said the old man. “Let me supply everything you need. Only do not spend the night in the square.”
- 2 Samuel 19:32 Barzillai was quite old, eighty years of age, and since he was a very wealthy man, he had provided for the king while he stayed in Mahanaim.
- Proverbs 7:21 With her great persuasion she entices him; with her flattering lips she lures him.