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.
Then spake Elisha unto the woman - rather, 'had spoken.' The repetition of Elisha's direction to the Shunammite is merely given as an introduction to the following narrative; and it probably took place before the events recorded in 2 Kings 5:1-27; 2 Kings 6:1-33.
The Lord hath called for a famine. All such calamities are chastisements inflicted by the hand of God; and this famine was to be of double duration to that one which happened in the time of Elijah (James 5:17) - a just increase of severity, since the Israelites still continued obdurate and incorrigible under the ministry and miracles of Elisha (Leviticus 26:21; Leviticus 26:24; Leviticus 26:28).