Then spake Elisha unto the woman, whose son he had restored to life, saying, Arise, and go thou and thine household, and sojourn wheresoever thou canst sojourn: for the LORD hath called for a famine; and it shall also come upon the land seven years.
Ver. 1. Then spake Elisha.] Or, Elisha had spoken to the woman, so Junius rendereth it, sc., about the time of his raising her son to life: then he foretold her, by way of gratitude, this sore famine, the same, some think, with that spoken of by Joel, Joe 1:1-20 which soon after began, and lasted seven years, which was an ordinary time for great famines, as Genesis 41:27 2 Samuel 24:13 2 Kings 4:38 .
Thou and thy household.] Her husband is not mentioned; either because he was now dead, or else so decayed through old age, that he left the ordering of all to his wife, whom he knew to be pious and prudent.
For the Lord hath called for a famine.] Invitavit: A metaphor, saith Vatablus, from such as invite others to a feast, Famines and the like public calamities are God's guests, and come at his call.
Seven years.] Because the former famine of three years and a half did no good, now it is doubled.