מלכים ב, פרק ד׳, פסוק מ״א

In a moment of sudden danger, a prepared meal is discovered to be laced with a deadly poison. The prophet Elisha must act immediately to save the people, and his physical intervention brings about a twofold miracle: it neutralizes the lethal threat and transforms the ruined dish into a nourishing meal.

Elisha instructs the people to bring flour. Because the stew had already been served into individual bowls, this command required gathering all the portions and returning them to the main cooking pot [מצודת דוד, רד״ק, חומת אנך]. Pooling the food together avoided the need to add flour to each person's bowl separately [רד״ק].

The choice to use flour presents an interesting dynamic. Elisha could have simply spoken a word to eliminate the toxin, or he could have used another harmful substance to cure the damage, as God often performs miracles by healing with the very element that caused the harm [מלבי״ם, אלשיך]. However, simply speaking a cure would only neutralize the poison; it would not turn the stew back into food. Miracles generally do not create something out of nothing; they require an existing physical foundation to work upon. Because the poison was inherently destructive and the exact opposite of nourishment, the stew no longer contained anything that could physically sustain the people. By throwing in the flour, Elisha introduced a new material base. This gave the divine blessing something tangible to rest upon, transforming the entire pot into a healthy, edible meal [מלבי״ם].

Once the flour is added, Elisha tells them to serve the stew again so the people can eat [מצודת דוד, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. The flour miraculously corrects the taste and entirely eradicates the danger [מצודת דוד, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. Furthermore, the healing effect of this miracle works retroactively. Even those who had already eaten the poisoned food before the intervention suffer no harm whatsoever [מלבי״ם].