2 Kings 7:19

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex) 2 Kings 7:19 appears in the Hebrew Old Testament. The text above is from the Westminster Leningrad Codex. Each word links to its Strong’s number, a concise gloss, and parsing drawn from the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible morphology. Click any word for its full Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB) entry.
Download image
Cite this verse

2 Kings 7:19 (World English Bible). Public Domain. Lemma interlinear Bible study tool, https://lemma.gebible.app/v/2-kings/7/19.

Show BibTeX & RIS
BibTeX
RIS
English Translation
and that captain answered the man of God, and said, Now, behold, if Yahweh should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be? and he said, Behold, you shall see it with your eyes, but shall not eat of it:
World English Bible · Public Domain
Download a study sheet

One document with this verse’s original text, its word-by-word gloss line, the meaning frame, cross-references with their text, attributed commentary, and full source and license credits — printable, and it pastes into notes with its structure intact.

This verse Autodidact and up

Study sheet (.html) Plain text (.txt)

A passage Seminary Student

Up to 50 verses in one chapter. A passage sheet keeps up to 6 commentary sources and 12 cross-references per verse, in the order this page ranks them, and says so on the sheet whenever that leaves anything out. Ask for a single verse and you get the Autodidact verse sheet above.

Everything on this page stays free to read, with no account — the sheet is a download of what is already on screen, not access to it.

Want to remove ads? Support Godless Engineer
Compare translations 3

The same verse in 3 English versions, stacked beneath the original-language interlinear above. Click any original word for its lexicon entry.

Each is an independent rendering of the whole verse — the interlinear is not word-aligned to these translations.

Highlighted words mark where these versions differ — a whole-verse word diff, not a word-by-word alignment.

  • World English Bible Public Domain
    and that captain answered the man of God, and said, Now, behold, if Yahweh should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be? and he said, Behold, you shall see it with your eyes, but shall not eat of it:
  • King James Version Public Domain
    And that lord answered the man of God, and said, Now, behold, if the LORD should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.
  • unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
    that the captain had answered the man of God and said, “Behold Yahweh, making windows in the heavens, may this thing be?” And he had said, “Behold you, seeing with your eyes, but from there you will not eat.”

unfoldingWord Literal Text — © unfoldingWord, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Word-aligned USFM3 via Door43 (git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ult).

Versions to compare (up to 4)

3 of 4 selected

Show all 18 translations

Every available English version of this verse, each an independent rendering of the whole verse.

  • World English Bible Public Domain
    and that captain answered the man of God, and said, Now, behold, if Yahweh should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be? and he said, Behold, you shall see it with your eyes, but shall not eat of it:
  • Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
    And the officer had answered the man of God, “Look, even if the LORD were to make windows in heaven, could this really happen?” So Elisha had replied, “You will see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of it!”
  • Majority Standard Bible Public Domain
    And the officer had answered the man of God, “Look, even if the LORD were to make windows in heaven, could this really happen?” So Elisha had replied, “You will see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of it!”
  • King James Version Public Domain
    And that lord answered the man of God, and said, Now, behold, if the LORD should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.
  • American Standard Version (1901) Public Domain
    and that captain answered the man of God, and said, Now, behold, if Jehovah should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be? and he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof:
  • Revised Version (1885) Public Domain
    and that captain answered the man of God, and said, Now, behold, if the LORD should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be? and he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof:
  • Geneva Bible (1599) Public Domain
    But the prince had answered the man of God, and saide, Though the Lord would make windowes in the heauen, coulde it come so to passe? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not eate thereof.
  • Douay-Rheims (1899) Public Domain
    When that lord answered the mall of' God, and said: Although the Lord should make flood-gates in heaven, could this come to pass which thou sayest? And he said to him: Thou shalt see with thy eyes, and shalt not eat thereof.
  • Young's Literal Translation Public Domain
    and the captain answereth the man of God, and saith, `And lo, Jehovah is making windows in the heavens -- it is according to this word?' and he saith, `Lo, thou art seeing with thine eyes, and thereof thou dost not eat;'
  • Literal Standard Version CC BY-SA 4.0
    and the captain answers the man of God and says, “And behold, YHWH is making windows in the heavens—will this thing be?” And he says, “Behold, you are seeing it with your eyes, and you do not eat thereof”;
  • Unlocked Literal Bible CC BY-SA 4.0
    That captain had answered the man of God and said, “See, even if Yahweh should make windows in heaven, can this thing happen?” Elisha had said, “See, you will watch it happen with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of it.”
  • unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
    that the captain had answered the man of God and said, “Behold Yahweh, making windows in the heavens, may this thing be?” And he had said, “Behold you, seeing with your eyes, but from there you will not eat.”
  • Darby Bible Public Domain
    And the captain answered the man of God and said, Behold, if Jehovah should make windows in the heavens, would such a thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.
  • World Messianic Bible Public Domain
    and that captain answered the man of God, and said, “Now, behold, if the LORD made windows in heaven, might such a thing be?” and he said, “Behold, you will see it with your eyes, but will not eat of it.”
  • Webster's Bible Public Domain
    And that lord answered the man of God, and said, Now, behold, if the LORD should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thy eyes, but shalt not eat of it.
  • Free Bible Version CC BY-SA 4.0
    Also the officer who was the king's assistant had said to the man of God, “Look, even if the Lord opened windows in heaven what you say couldn't happen!” Elisha had replied, “You'll see it with your own eyes, but you won't get to eat any of it.”
  • Bible in Basic English Public Domain
    And that captain said to the man of God, Even if the Lord made windows in heaven, would such a thing be possible? And he said to him, Your eyes will see it, but you will not have a taste of the food.
  • JPS Tanakh (1917) Public Domain
    and that captain answered the man of God, and said: 'Now, behold, if the LORD should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be?' and he said: 'Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof';

Literal Standard Version (2020), Covenant Press — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org). Unlocked Literal Bible (unfoldingWord) — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org). unfoldingWord Literal Text — © unfoldingWord, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Word-aligned USFM3 via Door43 (git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ult). Free Bible Version, Dr. Jonathan Gallagher — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org).

Word by word

More ways to search: Search by grammar → Find every occurrence → Compare this word →

Practice this passage: Drill this verse → Learn its vocabulary →

אֲרֻבּוֹת֙
ʼărubbâh
H699
“lattices”
Noun, Common, Feminine, Plural, Absolute
Part of Speech
Noun
Type
Common
Gender
Feminine
Number
Plural
State
Absolute
Full BDB Definition

Origin: participle passive of H693 (as if for lurking)

TWOT: 156d

lattice, window, sluice - (CLBL) chimney (lattice opening where smoke escapes)
  1. וַיַּ֨עַן ʻânâh H6030 “and · to answer” Conjunction + Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular
  2. הַשָּׁלִ֜ישׁ shâlîysh H7991 “the · officer” Particle, Definite Article + Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute
  3. אֶת ʼêth H853 “-” Particle, Direct Object
  4. אִ֣ישׁ ʼîysh H376 “man of” Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct
  5. הָאֱלֹהִים֮ ʼĕlôhîym H430 “the · God(s)” Particle, Definite Article + Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute
  6. וַיֹּאמַר֒ ʼâmar H559 “and · to say” Conjunction + Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular
  7. וְהִנֵּ֣ה hinnêh H2009 “and · behold” Conjunction + Particle, Demonstrative
  8. יְהוָ֗ה Yᵉhôvâh H3068 “LORD” Noun, Proper
  9. עֹשֶׂ֤ה ʻâsâh H6213 “doing” Verb, Qal, Participle Active, Masculine, Singular, Absolute
  10. בַּשָּׁמַ֔יִם shâmayim H8064 “in/at the · heaven(s)” Preposition, Determined + Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute
  11. הֲיִהְיֶ֖ה hâyâh H1961 “to be” Particle, Interrogative + Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular
  12. כַּדָּבָ֣ר dâbâr H1697 “like/as the · word” Preposition, Determined + Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute
  13. הַזֶּ֑ה zeh H2088 “the · this” Particle, Definite Article + Pronoun, Demonstrative, Masculine, Singular
  14. וַיֹּ֗אמֶר ʼâmar H559 “and · to say” Conjunction + Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular
  15. הִנְּךָ֤ hên H2005 “behold · you” Particle, Demonstrative + Suffix, Personal, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular
  16. רֹאֶה֙ râʼâh H7200 “seeing” Verb, Qal, Participle Active, Masculine, Singular, Absolute
  17. בְּעֵינֶ֔יךָ ʻayin H5869 “in/at · eyes · your” Preposition + Noun, Common, Both, Dual, Construct + Suffix, Personal, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular
  18. וּמִשָּׁ֖ם shâm H8033 “and · from · there” Conjunction + Preposition + Adverb
  19. לֹ֥א lôʼ H3808 “not” Particle, Negative
  20. תֹאכֵֽל ʼâkal H398 “to eat” Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

21
words
20
distinct lemmas
Historical
section

Notable vocabulary

The rarest word here is אֲרֻבּוֹת֙ lattice H699 — appearing just 9 times in the whole Hebrew Bible.

Shared distinctive vocabulary

אֲרֻבּוֹת֙ lattice H699 occurs in 9 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:

Grammatical profile

  • 7 verbs
  • 8 nouns
  • 1 pronoun
  • 1 adverb
  • 4 particles

Verb forms

  • וַיַּ֨עַן Qal · Sequential Imperfect
  • וַיֹּאמַר֒ Qal · Sequential Imperfect
  • עֹשֶׂ֤ה Qal · Participle Active
  • הֲיִהְיֶ֖ה Qal · Imperfect
  • וַיֹּ֗אמֶר Qal · Sequential Imperfect
  • רֹאֶה֙ Qal · Participle Active
  • תֹאכֵֽל Qal · Imperfect

Repetition

A word recurs within this verse — often emphatic in Hebrew:

  • וַיֹּאמַר֒ to say H559 ×2

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 41 words from the Hebrew and 36 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — closely comparable.

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

In the original languages it is 21 Hebrew tokens and 32 Greek tokens — but the two are counted differently (Hebrew bundles its prefixes and suffixes into one token; the Greek is in lemma form), so that isn’t a like-for-like length.

Cross-references

1

Topical passages linked to 2 Kings 7:19 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

  • 2 Kings 7:2 Then the captain on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, Behold, if Yahweh should make windows in heaven, might this thing be? He said, Behold, you shall see it with your eyes, but shall not eat of it.

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew 2 Kings 7:19 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

וַיַּ֨עַן הַשָּׁלִ֜ישׁ אֶת אִ֣ישׁ הָאֱלֹהִים֮ וַיֹּאמַר֒ וְהִנֵּ֣ה יְהוָ֗ה עֹשֶׂ֤ה אֲרֻבּוֹת֙ בַּשָּׁמַ֔יִם הֲיִהְיֶ֖ה כַּדָּבָ֣ר הַזֶּ֑ה וַיֹּ֗אמֶר הִנְּךָ֤ רֹאֶה֙ בְּעֵינֶ֔יךָ וּמִשָּׁ֖ם לֹ֥א תֹאכֵֽל

and that captain answered the man of God, and said, Now, behold, if Yahweh should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be? and he said, Behold, you shall see it with your eyes, but shall not eat of it:

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX 2 Kings 7:19 Septuagint · lemma form

καί ἀποκρίνω ὁ τριστάτης ὁ ελισαιε καί εἶπον ἰδού κύριος ποιέω καταρράκτης ἐν ὁ οὐρανός μή εἰμί ὁ ῥῆμα οὗτος καί εἶπον ελισαιε ἰδού ὁράω ὁ ὀφθαλμός σύ καί ἐκεῖθεν οὐ ἐσθίω

And the officer answered Elisaie, and said, Behold, if the Lord makes flood-gates in heaven, shall this thing be? and Elisaie said, Behold, you shall see it with your eyes, but you shall not eat thereof.

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

On this verse, Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers discusses the Septuagint’s reading. Read the note in Commentary ↓

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Targum (Aramaic paraphrase)

1

The Targum is the ancient Jewish Aramaic paraphrase of the Hebrew Scriptures — an interpretive translation, not the Hebrew text itself. Onkelos (literal) and Pseudo-Jonathan (expansive) render the Torah, and Jonathan the Prophets. Coverage is partial: where no permissively-licensed English translation exists for a verse, only the Aramaic is shown. This is verse-level text, not a word-by-word alignment to the Hebrew.

  1. Targum Jonathan Prophets (Joshua–Malachi)
    וַאֲתֵיב גִבָּרָא יַת נְבִיָא דַייָ וַאֲמַר וְאִלוּ יְיָ פָּתַח כַּוִין וּמָחִית טוּבָא מִן שְׁמַיָא הַיְהֵי כְּפִתְגָמָא הָדֵין וַאֲמַר הָא אַתְּ חָזֵי בְּעֵינָךְ וּמִתַּמָן לָא תֵיכוּל:

    (no public-domain English translation for this verse)

    Targum Jonathan — Aramaic: “Mikraot Gedolot” (public domain). English: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “London "Chaldee Paraphrase," 1871” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.

Commentary

Notes on 2 Kings 7:19 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

2Ki 7:19 And that lord answered the man of God, and said, Now, behold, [if] the LORD should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.

Ver. 19. See on 2Ki 7:2.

Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes.] The like misery shall befall reprobates at the last day; {Luk 13:28} they shall see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and themselves thrust out.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(19) That lord.—The adjutant.

Now.—And.

Might such a thing be?—Literally, Might it happen according to this word? But the LXX., Syriac, and Vulg.,with many Hebrew MSS., read, as in 2Ki_7:2, “Might this thing (or word) be?”

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Gill's Exposition

And so it fell out unto him,.... As the prophet predicted:

for the people trod upon him in the gate, and he died; See Gill on Kg2 7:17.

Next: 2 Kings Chapter 8

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The Pulpit Commentary

And that lord answered the man of God, and said, Now, behold, if the Lord should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, hut shalt not eat thereof (see the comment on the preceding verse).

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

2 Kings, in the Historical, opens this verse with 21 words (20 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is ʼărubbâh (“lattice”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

  1. How does “lattice” (ʼărubbâh) shape what this verse is saying?
  2. How does Genesis 7:11, which shares the word «lattice», read alongside this verse?
  3. What does the repetition of “to say” (2× in this one verse) do in this verse?
  4. The translations on this page render this verse differently — a whole-verse word diff, not a word-by-word alignment. What might account for the different wordings?
  5. «וַיַּ֨עַן» is a Qal Sequential Imperfect verb. How does that grammatical form shape the action described?
  6. Compare how Trapp's Complete Commentary and Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers read this verse. Where do they agree or differ?

Things to notice

Reading settings

Reading text

Shown beneath each verse's original-language words.

Old Testament
Old Testament edition

Read the OT as the Masoretic Hebrew (MT) or the Greek Septuagint (LXX).

English shown for the Greek Septuagint (in the Hebrew ↔ Greek comparison).

Comparing translations? Open the Compare panel on any verse page to stack up to four side by side.