מלכים ב, פרק ד׳, פסוק מ״ב

In the midst of a severe famine, God orchestrates the arrival of a man carrying a modest grain offering to the prophet Elisha, setting the stage for a profound miracle that would feed a multitude of hungry students. The man travels from Baal-shalishah, a district located in the southern region [רש״י, רד״ק, מצודת ציון, חומת אנך]. He brings with him bread baked from the very first barley harvest, a crop that typically ripens around the time of Passover.

Alongside the bread, the man brings an additional portion of grain. Commentators offer varying descriptions of this offering, viewing it either as soft, moist ears of grain that had not yet fully ripened [מצודת דוד, מצודת ציון, ביאור שטיינזלץ], or as roasted barley broken into large pieces to provide immediate nourishment during the famine [רלב״ג, אברבנאל]. There are also differing views on how the grain was transported. It may have been brought while still enclosed in its natural husk [מצודת דוד, מצודת ציון, רד״ק], or simply carried within a sack, pouch, or folded garment [רש״י, רלב״ג, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. The offering is characterized as first fruits, which raises a question, as Elisha was a prophet rather than a priest. While some explain this as a simple technical description of the season's first harvest [אברבנאל], others uncover a deeper spiritual principle. They suggest that presenting a gift to a Torah scholar is considered equivalent to offering first fruits to a priest. Furthermore, just as first fruits have no fixed required amount, this detail teaches that a scholar must graciously accept any gift presented to him, regardless of its size [צאינה וראינה, חומת אנך].

The man brought twenty loaves with the intention that the prophet himself would eat them. Elisha's servant also wanted to reserve this meager supply exclusively for his master so it might last him a few days [מלבי״ם, אלשיך]. However, Elisha acts with complete selflessness and commands his servant to distribute the bread to the one hundred hungry students who relied on him. Driven by steadfast faith in God's promise that the people would eat and leave food over, Elisha ensures that his students are fed first. In their merit, a divine blessing rested upon the bread. The modest offering multiplied miraculously, thoroughly satisfying the crowd and allowing Elisha to eat from the leftovers [אלשיך].

This extraordinary event, where a scarce amount of food is multiplied to feed the masses, closely parallels the miracles associated with Elisha's teacher, Elijah. It directly echoes the times when Elijah was miraculously sustained by ravens, and when the jar of flour belonging to the widow of Zarephath did not run empty [אברבנאל].