Daily Thought for Wednesday 2nd April 2025
But he replied, “There is not a jar left”. Then the oil stopped flowing.
2 Kings 4:6
Managing as miracle
Stuart Kelly
I have a deep fondness for the minor characters in the Bible, for the parts that we tend to overlook or that do not figure in the lectionary. Elisha might well be the Number One at playing Second Fiddle. Normally we only hear about him when Elijah ascends into heaven and his mantle falls upon him; or when Jesus rebukes the people of Nazareth, mentioning that only Naaman the Syrian was healed “in the time of Elisha”. We overlook Elisha calling on wild bears to attack children who mocked him for his hair loss, or the mysterious floating axe-heads.
But this miracle story, although compact, is deep. It is part of a series of more familiar stories: afterwards Elisha will raise the well-to-do Shunammite’s son (just as his master did with the widow of Zarephath), and feed thousands as well as miraculously making a toxic stew edible. So this part fits with narratives of restoration and provision – indeed, the widow of Zarephath also had oil multiplied.
The differences are telling. The widow here is in debt, and her sons will be indentured; perfectly legally according to the Torah. There are three things that seem conspicuous. Elisha gives agency to the woman and her sons: they are to go out and they are to close the door on Elisha afterwards. The prophet is a catalyst for the process. They are to ask their neighbours for empty vessels. Elisha is not telling them to ask for charity, but for what has already been used. The words in Hebrew are importantly not the same. The “vessels” of the neighbours are kelim, a catchall, everyday word for a utensil. The widow’s jar is asuk –a hapax logomenon: it only occurs once, here, in Hebrew. What kind of jar is the asuk? It seems to denote a smaller flask, perhaps for nard or myrrh; something expensive in smaller measures. Finally, this is not a version of the magic porridge pot, producing endlessly. Faith provides not a surplus or an excess. It provides just enough. Elisha did not need to be the Top Prophet, and the widow did not want to be an oil magnate. When we pray, do we pray for what is sufficient rather than exceptional?
Shall we pray?:
Lord, help us in our prayers to see the small ways and modest gestures by which you can effect greater changes. Make us sensible to when we need to stand back, and when we can work with what is to hand. Instruct us in how to ensure that the best is not an impediment to the better.
Stuart Kelly is an elder in Cheviot Churches and interim moderator for Ale and Teviot United linked with Jedburgh and Oxnam.