2nd Kings Chapter 8 verse 1 Holy Bible
Now Elisha had spoken unto the woman, whose son he had restored to life, saying, Arise, and go thou and thy household, and sojourn wheresoever thou canst sojourn: for Jehovah hath called for a famine; and it shall also come upon the land seven years.
read chapter 8 in ASV
Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had given back to life, Go now, with all the people of your house, and get a living-place for yourselves wherever you are able; for by the word of the Lord, there will be great need of food in the land; and this will go on for seven years.
read chapter 8 in BBE
And Elisha had spoken to the woman whose son he had restored to life, saying, Rise up and go, thou and thy household, and sojourn wheresoever thou canst sojourn; for Jehovah has called for a famine, and it shall also come upon the land for seven years.
read chapter 8 in DARBY
Then spake Elisha unto the woman, whose son he had restored to life, saying, Arise, and go thou and thine household, and sojourn wheresoever thou canst sojourn: for the LORD hath called for a famine; and it shall also come upon the land seven years.
read chapter 8 in KJV
Then Elisha spoke to the woman, whose son he had restored to life, saying, Arise, and go thou and thy household, and sojourn wherever thou canst sojourn: for the LORD hath called for a famine; and it shall also come upon the land seven years.
read chapter 8 in WBT
Now Elisha had spoken to the woman, whose son he had restored to life, saying, Arise, and go you and your household, and sojourn wherever you can sojourn: for Yahweh has called for a famine; and it shall also come on the land seven years.
read chapter 8 in WEB
And Elisha spake unto the woman whose son he had revived, saying, `Rise and go, thou and thy household, and sojourn where thou dost sojourn, for Jehovah hath called for a famine, and also, it is coming unto the land seven years.'
read chapter 8 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 1. - Then spake Elisha unto the woman, whose son he had restored to life. There is no "then" in the original, of which the simplest rendering would be, "And Elisha spake unto the woman," etc. The true sense is, perhaps, best brought out by the Revised Version, which gives the following: Now Elisha had spoken unto the woman, etc. The reference is to a time long anterior to the siege of Samaria. Saying, Arise, and go thou and thine household, and sojourn wheresoever thou canst sojourn: for the Lord hath called for a famine. A famine is mentioned in 2 Kings 4:38, which must belong to the reign of Jehoram, and which is probably identified with that here spoken cf. Elisha, on its approach, recommended the Shunammite, though she was a woman of substance (2 Kings 4:8), to quit her home and remove to some other residence, where she mighty, escape the pressure of the calamity He left it to her to choose the place of her temporary abode. The phrase, "God hath called for a famine," means no more and no less than "God has determined that there shall be a famine." With God to speak the word is to bring about the event. And it shall also come upon the land seven years. Seven years was the actual duration of the great famine, which Joseph foretold in Egypt (Genesis 41:27), and was the ideally perfect period for a severe famine (2 Chronicles 24:13). Many of the best meteorologists are inclined to regard the term of "seven years" as a cyclic period in connection with weather changes.
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English ReadersVIII.(1-6) How the kindness of the Shunammite woman to Elisha was further rewarded through the prophet's influence with the king.(1) Then spake Elisha.--Rather, Now Elisha had spoken. The time is not defined by the phrase. It was after the raising of the Shunammite's son (2Kings 8:1), and before the healing of Naaman the Syrian, inasmuch as the king still talks with Gehazi (2Kings 8:5).Go thou.--The peculiar form of the pronoun points to the identity of the original author of this account with the writer of 2 Kings 4. Moreover, the famine here foretold appears to be that of 2Kings 4:38, seq., so that the present section must in the original document have preceded 2 Kings 5. Thenius thinks the compiler transferred the present account to this place, because he wished to proceed chronologically, and supposed that the seven years' famine came to an end with the raising of the siege of Samaria.For a famine.--To the famine. The sword, the famine, the noisome beasts, and the pestilence were Jehovah's "four sore judgments," as we find in Ezekiel 14:21. . . .
