Komentaryo sa 2 Mga Hari 4:42: Tze'enah Ure'enah, Rashi & Metzudat David

“A man came from Baal-shalishah” [4:42]. A man came from a city called Baalshalishah and he brought the prophet bread from the first growth of barley that is harvested first in the field; barley that was harvested that time. The prophet was Elisha. He said to his servant, give it to the people and let them eat. The servant said: what is this to feed a hundred men? The prophet answered: God has said that it will be enough and they will leave some. He gave them; they ate and left some behind, as God had said. The hundred men were the disciples of the prophet and he used to feed them.¹Rashi, II Kings, 4:42.

The Yalkut writes. Was Elisha a priest that he was given the offering of the first fruits [bikkurim]? The explanation is that it teaches us that whoever gives a present to a scholar; it is like he would have given bikkurim to the priest. That is why the present that the man brought to Elisha was called bikkurim.²Yalkut Shimoni, II Kings, Remez, 229.

One asks another question. Why does Scripture compare the present to bikkurim and did not call it terumah or ma’aser? The reason is that the verse teaches us that the rabbi or scholar should take as good whatever is given to him. That is why it says bikkurim, which the person is allowed to bring the priest whatever he wanted. There was no specific amount involved. However, ma’aser must be a tenth and the terumah must also be a specific amount.

From Ba’al-Shalishah. The name of a province. But [Targum] Yonoson rendered, “from the land toward the south.” “בַּעַל” is an expression meaning “a plain.” There are many [such expressions] in Scripture.

Bread from the first crop. It was during Pesach, when the grain ripens.³²Although the word בִּכּוּרִים usually refers to the new crop offering that was brought in the Beis Hamikdosh [see Shemos 34:26], here it merely means “bread from the first crop,” without reference to the new crop offering.

In their shells. In its wrapper.³³I.e., the grains were still in their husks. Alternatively, after grain is toasted and broken up, it is placed in a vessel known as צִקְלוֹן.—Ralbag

To the people. To the disciples [of the prophets] whom he sustained.