What Does 2 Kings 4:8 Mean in the King James?
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.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The word translated “constrained” carries the force of holding firm: this welcome turns a passing visit into a return.
THE MEANING
Her welcome takes hold of a traveler’s route: she brings him into her home and gives him bread, and he keeps turning in whenever he passes. Hospitality becomes a recurring place of welcome along the road.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A small welcome cannot change the shape of a passing day. Here, one woman’s firm invitation gives a passing encounter a place to return.
THE ROOT
וַתַּחֲזֶק־בּוֹ
vatachazeq-bo
GROWS FROM
חזק
Be strong, make firm, or take hold.
“constrained” in this verse is vatachazeq-bo. The verb applied to the woman comes from חזק (chazaq), “be strong” or “take hold”; it carries more force than a casual offer. The same root can describe strengthening and firmness, so her welcome gives the encounter a reason to recur.
ALSO GROWS
chazaq: Be strong, prevail, or hold fast.
חָזַק
This basic form shows the firmness carried by her insistence.
chizzeq: Strengthen or make firm.
חִזֵּק
This related form shows how the root can describe giving something strength, as her welcome gives the encounter a lasting place.
אֱלִישָׁע
ʾElishaʿ
GROWS FROM
ישע
Deliver, bring into safety.
The name אֱלִישָׁע (ʾElishaʿ) means “my God is deliverance,” carrying the root יָשַׁע (yashaʿ), “deliver.” The verse places this named presence inside a woman’s repeated, sustaining welcome.
ALSO GROWS
yashaʿ: Deliver, bring out of distress.
יָשַׁע
This root supplies the deliverance carried in Elisha’s name.
yeshuʿah: Deliverance, rescue.
יְשׁוּעָה
This noun makes the root’s action visible as deliverance itself.
THE PATTERN
Hospitality turns a passing encounter into shared welcome and a place to return.
And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye come to your servant. And they said, So do, as thou hast said.But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them.Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.THE THREAD
But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them.Here, too, travelers urge a visitor to stay and he enters their home. Elisha returns again and again in this verse; at Emmaus, the invitation holds the visitor at the table until shared bread opens recognition.
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