2 Kings 8:2

So the woman had proceeded to do as the man of God had instructed. And she and her household lived as foreigners for seven years in the land of the Philistines.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Elisha previously warned the Shunammite woman of a seven-year famine and ordered her to relocate; this verse records her compliance and the family’s temporary exile in Philistine territory.

The words — The text highlights וַ/תַּ֕עַשׂ (va./Ta.'as) = and she did, paired with כִּ/דְבַ֖ר (ki/d.Var) = according to the word, describing her direct obedience to the prophet’s command.

The thread — The narrative continues in 2 Kings 8:3 when the woman returns to appeal to the king for her restored property, and the pattern of fleeing prophetic warning aligns with David’s self-preservation in 1 Samuel 27:1.

Why it lands — The passage demands recognition that obedience to divine warning requires immediate action, and that restored possession of land follows the completion of the appointed period of displacement.

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

וַתָּ֙קָם֙va./Ta.komand/ she arose הָֽאִשָּׁ֔הha./'i.Shahthe/ woman וַתַּ֕עַשׂva./Ta.'asand/ she did כִּדְבַ֖רki/d.Varaccording to/ [the] word of אִ֣ישׁ'ish[the] man of הָאֱלֹהִ֑יםha./'E.lo.Him<the>/ God וַתֵּ֤לֶךְva./Te.lekhand/ she went הִיא֙hi'she וּבֵיתָ֔הּu./vei.Ta/hand/ household/ her וַתָּ֥גָרva./Ta.gorand/ she sojourned בְּאֶֽרֶץ־be./'e.retz-in/ [the] land of פְּלִשְׁתִּ֖יםpe.lish.Tim[the] Philistines שֶׁ֥בַעShe.va'seven שָׁנִֽים׃sha.Nimyears

King James Version

And the woman arose, and did after the saying of the man of God: and she went with her household, and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years.

Cross-references

1 Timothy 5:8 If anyone does not provide for his own, and especially his own household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
Judges 3:3 the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who lived in the mountains of Lebanon from Mount Baal-hermon to Lebo-hamath.
1 Samuel 27:1 David, however, said to himself, “One of these days now I will be swept away by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will stop searching for me all over Israel, and I will slip out of his hand.”