2 Kings 4:39
New International Version
One of them went out into the fields to gather herbs and found a wild vine and picked as many of its gourds as his garment could hold. When he returned, he cut them up into the pot of stew, though no one knew what they were.

New Living Translation
One of the young men went out into the field to gather herbs and came back with a pocketful of wild gourds. He shredded them and put them into the pot without realizing they were poisonous.

English Standard Version
One of them went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine and gathered from it his lap full of wild gourds, and came and cut them up into the pot of stew, not knowing what they were.

Berean Standard Bible
One of them went out to the field to gather herbs, and he found a wild vine from which he gathered as many wild gourds as his garment could hold. Then he came back and cut them up into the pot of stew, though no one knew what they were.

King James Bible
And one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered thereof wild gourds his lap full, and came and shred them into the pot of pottage: for they knew them not.

New King James Version
So one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered from it a lapful of wild gourds, and came and sliced them into the pot of stew, though they did not know what they were.

New American Standard Bible
Then one went out into the field to gather mallow, and found a wild vine and gathered from it his lap full of wild gourds; and he came and sliced them into the pot of stew, because they did not know what they were.

NASB 1995
Then one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine and gathered from it his lap full of wild gourds, and came and sliced them into the pot of stew, for they did not know what they were.

NASB 1977
Then one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine and gathered from it his lap full of wild gourds, and came and sliced them into the pot of stew, for they did not know what they were.

Legacy Standard Bible
Then one went out into the field to gather herbs and found a wild vine and gathered from it wild gourds filling his cloak and came and sliced them into the pot of stew, for they did not know what they were.

Amplified Bible
Then one [of them] went into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine and gathered from it a lapful of wild gourds, and came and cut them up into the pot of stew, although they did not know what they were.

Christian Standard Bible
One went out to the field to gather herbs and found a wild vine from which he gathered as many wild gourds as his garment would hold. Then he came back and cut them up into the pot of stew, but they were unaware of what they were.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
One went out to the field to gather herbs and found a wild vine from which he gathered as many wild gourds as his garment would hold. Then he came back and cut them up into the pot of stew, but they were unaware of what they were.

American Standard Version
And one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered thereof wild gourds his lap full, and came and shred them into the pot of pottage; for they knew them not.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And one went out to the field to collect herbs and he found a vine in a field and collected wild gourds from it. He filled his garment and he came and cast them into the caldron of stew, because he was ignorant.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And he went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a vine in the field, and gathered of it wild gourds, his garment full; and he cast it into the caldron of pottage, for they knew them not.

Contemporary English Version
One of them went out into the woods to gather some herbs. He found a wild vine and picked as much of its fruit as he could carry, but he didn't know that the fruit was very sour. When he got back, he cut up the fruit and put it in the stew.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And one went out into the field to gather wild herbs: and he found something like a wild vine, and gathered of it wild gourds of the field, and filled his mantle, and coming back he shred them into the pot of pottage, for he knew not what it was.

English Revised Version
And one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered thereof wild gourds his lap full, and came and shred them into the pot of pottage: for they knew them not.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
One of them went into the field to gather vegetables and found a wild vine. He filled his clothes with wild gourds. Then he cut them into the pot of stew without knowing what they were.

Good News Translation
One of them went out in the fields to get some herbs. He found a wild vine and picked as many gourds as he could carry. He brought them back and sliced them up into the stew, not knowing what they were.

International Standard Version
Somebody went out into the fields to grab some herbs, found a wild vine, and gathered a lap full of wild gourds, which he came and sliced up into the stew pot, but nobody else knew.

JPS Tanakh 1917
And one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered thereof wild gourds his lap full, and came and shred them into the pot of pottage; for they knew them not.

Literal Standard Version
And one goes out to the field to gather herbs, and finds a vine of the field, and gathers gourds of the field from it—the fullness of his garment—and comes in and splits [them] into the pot of stew, for they did not know [them];

Majority Standard Bible
One of them went out to the field to gather herbs, and he found a wild vine from which he gathered as many wild gourds as his garment could hold. Then he came back and cut them up into the pot of stew, though no one knew what they were.

New American Bible
Someone went out into the field to gather herbs and found a wild vine, from which he picked a sackful of poisonous wild gourds. On his return he cut them up into the pot of vegetable stew without anybody’s knowing it.

NET Bible
Someone went out to the field to gather some herbs and found a wild vine. He picked some of its fruit, enough to fill up the fold of his robe. He came back, cut it up, and threw the slices into the stew pot, not knowing they were harmful.

New Revised Standard Version
One of them went out into the field to gather herbs; he found a wild vine and gathered from it a lapful of wild gourds, and came and cut them up into the pot of stew, not knowing what they were.

New Heart English Bible
One went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered of it wild gourds his lap full, and came and shred them into the pot of stew; for they did not recognize them.

Webster's Bible Translation
And one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered from it wild gourds his lap full, and came and shred them into the pot of pottage: for they knew them not.

World English Bible
One went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered a lap full of wild gourds from it, and came and cut them up into the pot of stew; for they didn’t recognize them.

Young's Literal Translation
And one goeth out unto the field to gather herbs, and findeth a vine of the field, and gathereth of it gourds of the field -- the fulness of his garment -- and cometh in and splitteth them into the pot of pottage, for they knew them not;

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Elisha Purifies the Poisonous Stew
38When 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.” 39One of them went out to the field to gather herbs, and he found a wild vine from which he gathered as many wild gourds as his garment could hold. Then he came back and cut them up into the pot of stew, though no one knew what they were. 40And they poured it out for the men to eat, but when they tasted the stew they cried out, “There is death in the pot, O man of God!” And they could not eat it.…

Cross References
Genesis 25:29
One day, while Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the field and was famished.

1 Kings 6:18
The cedar paneling inside the temple was carved with gourds and open flowers. Everything was cedar; not a stone could be seen.

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."

2 Kings 4:40
And they poured it out for the men to eat, but when they tasted the stew they cried out, "There is death in the pot, O man of God!" And they could not eat it.


Treasury of Scripture

And one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered thereof wild gourds his lap full, and came and shred them into the pot of pottage: for they knew them not.

a wild vine

Isaiah 5:4
What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?

Jeremiah 2:21
Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me?

Matthew 15:13
But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.

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Cloak Cut Field Fields Filled Fold Found Fruit Full Gather Gathered Gourds Green Herbs Lap Plants Pot Pottage Pulling Recognize Robe Stew Thereof Vine Wild
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Cloak Cut Field Fields Filled Fold Found Fruit Full Gather Gathered Gourds Green Herbs Lap Plants Pot Pottage Pulling Recognize Robe Stew Thereof Vine Wild
2 Kings 4
1. Elisha multiplies the widow's oil
8. He obtains a son for the good Shunammite
18. He restores her son when dead
38. At Gilgal he heals the deadly pottage
42. He satisfies a hundred men with twenty loaves














(39) Herbs.--A rare word. (See Isaiah 26:19.) The Targum renders "greens." The LXX. retains the Hebrew word; the Syriac and Arabic render "mallows." Thenius thinks that ?????, the reading of the LXX., points to another word derived from a different root, and meaning "to pluck," so that the word would denote legumina.

A wild vine.--Vulg., "quasi vitem silvestrem," i.e., a running plant, like a vine.

Wild gourds.--In 1Kings 6:18 a related word is used to describe one of the decorations of the Temple ("knops").

Wild gourds, or cucumbers (cucumeres agrestes, or asinini), are oval in shape, and taste bitter. Their Hebrew name (paqq-'oth) is expressive of the fact that when ripe they are apt to burst upon being touched. If eaten they act as a violent purgative. They were mistaken on the present occasion for edible gourds, a favourite food of the people (Numbers 11:5). The Vulg. renders "colocynth," or coloquintida, a plant of the same family, bearing large orange-like fruits, which are very bitter, and cause colic (cucumis colocynthi, L.). Keil supposes this to be the "wild vine" intended.

They knew them not.--And so did not stop the young man from his shredding.

Verse 39. - And one went out into the field to gather herbs. One of the sons of the prophets, probably, went out into the neighboring country, and looked about for any wild fruits or vegetables that he could see anywhere. And found a wild vine. Not a wild grape vine (Vitis labrusea), the fruit of which would have been harmless, but some cucurbitaceous plant, with tendrils, and a growth like that of the vine. And gathered thereof wild gourds. The exact kind of gourd is uncertain. Recent critics have mostly come to the conclusion that the vegetable intended is the Cucumis agrestis or Ecbalium elaterium, the "squirting cucumber" of English naturalists. This is a kind of gourd, the fruit of which is egg-shaped, has a bitter taste, and bursts when ripe at a slight touch, squirting out sap and seeds. The main ground for this conclusion is etymologieal, פַקֻּעֹת being derived from פקע, "to crack" or "split." Another theory, and one which has the ancient versions in its favor, identifies the "gourd" in question with the fruit of the colocynth, which is a gourd-like plant that creeps along the ground, and has a round yellow fruit of the size of a large orange. This fruit is exceedingly bitter, produces colic, and affects the nerves. His lap full; as many as he could carry in the sinus, or large fold, of his beged, or shawl. And came and shred them into the pot of pottage: for they knew them not; i.e. the sons of the prophets, who stood by and saw them shred into the pot, did not recognize them, or did not know that they were unwholesome.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
One [of them]
אֶחָ֣ד (’e·ḥāḏ)
Number - masculine singular
Strong's 259: United, one, first

went out
וַיֵּצֵ֨א (way·yê·ṣê)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 3318: To go, bring, out, direct and proxim

to
אֶל־ (’el-)
Preposition
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

the field
הַשָּׂדֶה֮ (haś·śā·ḏeh)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 7704: Field, land

to gather
לְלַקֵּ֣ט (lə·laq·qêṭ)
Preposition-l | Verb - Piel - Infinitive construct
Strong's 3950: To pick up, to gather, to glean

herbs,
אֹרֹת֒ (’ō·rōṯ)
Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 219: Luminousness, prosperity, a plant

and he found
וַיִּמְצָא֙ (way·yim·ṣā)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 4672: To come forth to, appear, exist, to attain, find, acquire, to occur, meet, be present

a wild
שָׂדֶ֔ה (śā·ḏeh)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 7704: Field, land

vine
גֶּ֣פֶן (ge·p̄en)
Noun - common singular construct
Strong's 1612: A vine, the grape

from
מִמֶּ֛נּוּ (mim·men·nū)
Preposition | third person masculine singular
Strong's 4480: A part of, from, out of

which he gathered
וַיְלַקֵּ֥ט (way·laq·qêṭ)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Piel - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 3950: To pick up, to gather, to glean

as many wild
שָׂדֶ֖ה (śā·ḏeh)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 7704: Field, land

gourds
פַּקֻּעֹ֥ת (paq·qu·‘ōṯ)
Noun - feminine plural construct
Strong's 6498: The wild cucumber

as his garment [could hold.
בִגְד֑וֹ (ḇiḡ·ḏōw)
Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 899: A covering, clothing, treachery, pillage

Then he came back
וַיָּבֹ֗א (way·yā·ḇō)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 935: To come in, come, go in, go

and cut them up
וַיְפַלַּ֛ח (way·p̄al·laḥ)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Piel - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 6398: To slice, break open, pierce

into
אֶל־ (’el-)
Preposition
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

the pot
סִ֥יר (sîr)
Noun - common singular construct
Strong's 5518: A pot, a thorn, a hook

of stew,
הַנָּזִ֖יד (han·nā·zîḏ)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 5138: Something sodden or boiled, pottage

though
כִּֽי־ (kî-)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

no one
לֹ֥א (lō)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

knew [what they were].
יָדָֽעוּ׃ (yā·ḏā·‘ū)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 3045: To know


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OT History: 2 Kings 4:39 One went out into the field (2Ki iiKi ii ki 2 kg 2kg)
2 Kings 4:38
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