2 Kings — Chapter 4

And he said: Go, borrow of all thy neighbours empty vessels, not a few. Lapide, citing S. Bernard and S. Augustine: The empty vessels signify souls emptied of worldly desires and passions, which God fills with the oil of grace and charity. He who is full of himself and the world cannot receive God's gifts. The miracle teaches that divine grace multiplies itself freely in those who open their hearts and persist in seeking it.

She went and told the man of God. And he said: Go, sell the oil, and pay thy creditor; and thou and thy sons shall live of the rest. Lapide, with S. Augustine, sermon 206: By the oil is signified charity, which grows by being given away. As the oil grew as long as there were empty vessels, so charity multiplies the more one distributes it. \"Bread of charity given to a hundred men remains whole; to the whole world, whole.\"

He said to her: In this time, and this same hour, if life be the companion, thou shalt have a son in thy womb. Lapide: The Shunammite woman, who showed such extraordinary hospitality to the prophet without asking for reward, received the gift of a son she had not sought. This teaches that pure hospitality shown to God's servants, without ulterior motive, draws down divine blessings beyond expectation. The child born to the sterile woman is also a type of the supernatural life born in the soul that receives the Holy Spirit.

And she answered: It is well. Lapide: The Shunammite's answer \"It is well\" when her son lay dead, before she reached the prophet, is one of the great acts of faith in the Old Testament — akin to \"The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord\" (Job i.21). She did not reveal the child's death to her husband or to Gehazi, but pressed directly to Elisha, knowing that in the prophet she would find the remedy. Lapide sees in her a figure of the soul in spiritual desolation that presses directly to God without delay or complaint to others.

He said to Giezi: Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thy hand, and go; if any man meet thee, salute him not; and if any man salute thee, answer him not; and lay my staff upon the face of the child. Lapide: Elisha's staff, sent ahead by Gehazi without result, is interpreted by S. Augustine as the Law of Moses: \"The staff without Elisha availed nothing, because the cross without Christ could do nothing.\" Christ Himself had to come down to the dead, applying Himself limb to limb, mouth to mouth, in the Incarnation. The Law could flog Egypt but could not liberate from the original fall; only Christ could do that.

He stretched himself upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands; and he bowed himself upon him, and the child's flesh grew warm. Lapide, with S. Augustine (Serm. 106 De Temp.) and S. Bernard (Serm. 46 In Cant.): Elisha applying himself to the dead boy limb for limb is a clear type of the Incarnation, in which Christ \"applied\" His Godhead to our humanity — mouth to mouth (His word to our understanding), hands to hands (His works as our pattern), eyes to eyes (His contemplation). \"What Elisha prefigured in this boy, Christ has fulfilled in the whole human race.\" S. Ambrose adds that Elisha warming the boy with his spirit signifies Christ who descended into our death to give us the heat of life and resurrection. S. Cyril and Rupert of Deutz see here a symbol of the Eucharist, in which Christ wholly applies Himself to the soul.

The child yawned seven times, and opened his eyes. Lapide, citing S. Augustine: The seven yawnings of the child signify the sevenfold grace of the Holy Spirit, which is given to the human race raised from the death of sin by the coming of Christ. This is the same Spirit who hovered over the waters at creation and who descended upon the Apostles at Pentecost.

He said: Bring meal. And when they had brought it, he cast it into the pot, and said: Pour out for the people, that they may eat. And there was no more bitterness in the pot. Lapide, citing S. Bernard (Serm. 65 Inter parvos): The pot full of wild gourds (colocynths) is a figure of sharp preaching that seems bitter and harsh to those who hear it. The meal added by the prophet represents charity, which sweetens all correction. \"The preacher can sound the notes of salutary admonition, but only God can give the taste of charity to the palate of the heart.\"

He set it before them, who ate and had left over, according to the word of the Lord. Lapide: Elisha multiplying twenty barley loaves for a hundred men is a clear prefiguration of Christ multiplying five loaves for five thousand. Both show that the word of God is not bound by the quantity of human means, and that divine Providence freely multiplies what is given in faith for the feeding of souls.