2 Kings 4 - NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible

4:1 his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves. Indebtedness was a problem commonly found throughout the ancient Near East and could lead to the loss of property, home, fields and ultimately the freedom of the debtor or a family member of the debtor, who then became a “debt-slave” to the person looking for payment. See notes on Ex 13:15; 21:4, 8.

4:23 It’s not the New Moon or the Sabbath. The implication is that it was the custom in Israel to consult prophets only on particular rest days and that to do anything else was unusual. Am 8:5 associates New Moons (marking the beginning of each month) with Sabbaths in terms of cessation of work when it attacks avaricious people for their anxiety that “the New Moon be over that we may sell grain, and the Sabbath be ended that we may market wheat” (cf. also 1Sa 20:5–34; Hos 2:11). The practice of celebrating on the first of the month had ancient roots; the New Moon was already one of the principal lunar festivals of Old Babylonian times.

4:29 staff. This is a different Hebrew word than that used for Moses’ rod; it connotes a crutch or cane. It appears that Elisha and Gehazi thought the staff would be enough to revive the boy. In Akkadian incantation texts, a staff is a component used in the exorcism of disease-causing spirits. Because the boy’s head was hurt, the staff is laid on the boy’s face.

4:34–35 See note on 1Ki 17:21.

4:40 death in the pot! The poisonous ingredient is generally considered to be “apples of Sodom” (colocynths, a yellow gourd), which can be fatal.

4:41 Get some flour. Flour is often mentioned as having magical power, though it is not normally used in this manner. Sometimes a doughy paste is made into a figurine, other times it is sprinkled around in a circle. Elisha’s procedure has some similarity to magic, but lacks the exact procedure or any of the ritual elements.