וַיֹּ֨אמֶר אֵלֶ֤יהָ אֱלִישָׁע֙ מָ֣ה אֶֽעֱשֶׂה־לָּ֔ךְ הַגִּ֣ידִי לִ֔י מַה־יֶּשׁ־לכי [לָ֖ךְ] בַּבָּ֑יִת וַתֹּ֗אמֶר אֵ֣ין לְשִׁפְחָתְךָ֥ כֹל֙ בַּבַּ֔יִת כִּ֖י אִם־אָס֥וּךְ שָֽׁמֶן׃
Eliseo le disse: «Che cosa posso fare per te? Dimmi, che cosa hai in casa?». Ed ella rispose: «La tua serva non ha nulla in casa, se non un po' d'olio per ungersi».
Derashot HaRan
The first premise: It is the desire and will of the Blessed One to keep the world on its natural course as far as possible. Nature being precious in His eyes, He alters it only when it is absolutely necessary to do so. This accounts for Moses' asking (Numbers 11:22): "Shall flocks and herds be slain for them…?" Moses was assuming that the Blessed One would not originate a miracle and a wonder for them in vain, simply to fill their stomachs, and he wondered, on the premise of the world following its natural course: How would there be enough meat for this vast multitude? And because this natural course is precious in the eyes of the L-rd and desired by Him, as we have written, sometimes, when He must originate a miracle and a wonder, He combines with it something natural to be a kind of support to it, though that natural element in itself not be sufficient for the miracle but only supportive of it. As Elisha said to the wife of one of the prophet's sons (II Kings 4:2): "Tell me what you have in the house…" and being answered that she had only a cruse of oil, he instructed her (Ibid 3): "Go and borrow vessels from abroad, from all of your neighbors, empty vessels, and do not be sparing…" all those vessels subsequently being filled from the one cruse of oil. Now there is no question that it was impossible in point of nature for so much oil to come forth from a cruse which contained almost no oil at all. In spite of this, the prophet desired to satisfy G-d's will that there be some kind of natural support for the miracle. This is the first premise.