The Meaning of 2 Kings 4:10 Explained

2 Kings 4:10

KJV: Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither.

YLT: let us make, I pray thee, a little upper chamber of the wall, and we set for him there a bed, and a table, and a high seat, and a candlestick; and it hath been, in his coming in unto us, he doth turn aside thither.'

Darby: Let us make, I pray thee, a small upper chamber with walls, and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a seat, and a lampstand; and it shall be when he cometh to us, he shall turn in thither.

ASV: Let us make, I pray thee, a little chamber on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a seat, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Let us make  a little  chamber,  I pray thee, on the wall;  and let us set  for him there a bed,  and a table,  and a stool,  and a candlestick:  and it shall be, when he cometh  to us, that he shall turn  in thither. 

What does 2 Kings 4:10 Mean?

Context Summary

2 Kings 4:8-24 - Entertaining A Prophet
The real man needs a very small supply of outward comfort, because his life is hid in God. It does not consist in the abundance of things that he possesses, but in faith, love, and hope. What a noble testimony it would be to our character, if people who saw us going to and fro became convinced that "this is an holy man of God," 2 Kings 4:9!
Sunstroke in the tropics is a frequent cause of death, Psalms 121:6. When a child is taken sick, it is the mother who is the best comforter; but there are limits to a mother's power to help. This woman of Shunem must be referred to in Hebrews 11:35. She was so sure of the life-restoring prayers of the great prophet that she did not feel it necessary to tell her husband what had befallen. Why should she grieve him, when the child would soon be given back to them! In noble confidence she dared to say that all would be well, and God did not disappoint nor fail. Shunem was fifteen miles from Carmel, and there was not an inch of the road which was not covered by the mother's splendid faith that God would make all-grace abound toward her. [source]

Chapter Summary: 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

What do the individual words in 2 Kings 4:10 mean?

Let us make please a upper room on the wall small and let us put for him there a bed and a table and a chair and a lampstand so it will be whenever he comes to us he can turn in there
נַֽעֲשֶׂה־ נָּ֤א עֲלִיַּת־ קִיר֙ קְטַנָּ֔ה וְנָשִׂ֨ים ל֥וֹ שָׁ֛ם מִטָּ֥ה וְשֻׁלְחָ֖ן וְכִסֵּ֣א וּמְנוֹרָ֑ה וְהָיָ֛ה בְּבֹא֥וֹ אֵלֵ֖ינוּ יָס֥וּר שָֽׁמָּה

נַֽעֲשֶׂה־  Let  us  make 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect Cohortative if contextual, first person common plural
Root: עָשָׂה 
Sense: to do, fashion, accomplish, make.
נָּ֤א  please 
Parse: Interjection
Root: נָא  
Sense: I (we) pray, now, please.
עֲלִיַּת־  a  upper  room 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: עֲלִיָּה  
Sense: roof-room, roof chamber.
קִיר֙  on  the  wall 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: קִיר  
Sense: wall, side.
קְטַנָּ֔ה  small 
Parse: Adjective, feminine singular
Root: קָטָן 
Sense: young, small, insignificant, unimportant.
וְנָשִׂ֨ים  and  let  us  put 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive imperfect Cohortative if contextual, first person common plural
Root: שׂוּמָה 
Sense: to put, place, set, appoint, make.
ל֥וֹ  for  him 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine singular
מִטָּ֥ה  a  bed 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: מִטָּה  
Sense: couch, bed, bier.
וְשֻׁלְחָ֖ן  and  a  table 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular
Root: שֻׁלְחָן  
Sense: table.
וְכִסֵּ֣א  and  a  chair 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular
Root: כִּסֵּא 
Sense: seat (of honour), throne, seat, stool.
וּמְנוֹרָ֑ה  and  a  lampstand 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, feminine singular
Root: מְנׄורָה  
Sense: lamp stand.
וְהָיָ֛ה  so  it  will  be 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: אֶהְיֶה 
Sense: to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.
בְּבֹא֥וֹ  whenever  he  comes 
Parse: Preposition-b, Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct, third person masculine singular
Root: בֹּוא 
Sense: to go in, enter, come, go, come in.
אֵלֵ֖ינוּ  to  us 
Parse: Preposition, first person common plural
Root: אֶל  
Sense: to, toward, unto (of motion).
יָס֥וּר  he  can  turn  in 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: סוּר 
Sense: to turn aside, depart.