“And Elisha returned to Gilgal… and he said to his servant, ‘Put on the large pot, and boil stew for the sons of the prophets.’ So one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered from it a lap full of wild gourds, and came and sliced them into the pot of stew, though they did not know what they were. Now it happened as they were eating the stew, they cried out and said, ‘Man of God, there is death in the pot!’ And they could not eat it.

“So he said, ‘Then bring some flour.’ And he put it into the pot, and said, “Serve it to the people, that they may eat.’ And there was nothing harmful in the pot.” (2 Kings 4:38-41)

A great famine was underway (2 Kings 4:38; 6:25; 7:3-4; 8:1). Many people were with Elisha (cf. 2 Kings 4:43). Perhaps, it was due to these circumstances that the gatherer gathered what he could. He did so without a great deal of discrimination or prudence.

As they began to eat, they discerned that something was wrong. Was it the taste? Was it nausea? Was it pain experienced? We are not told. But, something prompted a reaction. There was death in the pot. The Septuagint identifies these wild gourds as wild cucumbers, also known as the Apple of Sodom (cf. Deuteronomy 32:32)” (Michael Whitworth, How to Lose a Kingdom in 400 Years, footnote p. 275). James Burton Coffman comments, “Stigers identified these wild gourds as ‘wild cucumbers, egg-shaped gourds having a bitter taste, and producing violent diarrhea when eaten, or even death” (studylight.org).

How did the flour remove the harmful effects of from the pot? I do not believe that there is a natural explanation. I believe that this was a miracle. The ESV Study Bible comments, “As with the salt thrown into the water (2:21), the flour used by Elisha is a visible sign of the Lord’s power working through Elisha.” This was a visible aid that Elisha, the Chef, was correcting the matter. This was done supernaturally.

Lessons to Learn

1. Good intentions are not enough. The one who gathered the wild gourds meant to do no harm. He was trying to feed the people. “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death” (Proverbs 14:12; 16:25).
2. Discernment is needed. In this case, those who ate discerned soon enough, that something was wrong, to save themselves. We need to be spiritually discerning. “Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil” (1Thessalonians 5:21-22).