Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Kings 4:2

"And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me; what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thy handmaid hath not anything in the house, save a pot of oil." — 2 Kings 4:2 (ASV)

What do you have? —The form of the pronoun here, and in 2 Kings 4:3; 2 Kings 4:7; 2 Kings 4:16; 2 Kings 4:23 below, is peculiar, and points, as the present writer believes, to the northern origin of the narrative, rather than to later composition.

A pot of oil. —Usually explained, vas unguentarium, an “oil-flask.” Keil says that ’âsûk rather denotes “anointing,” unctio, and ’âsûk shèmen, “an anointing in (or with) oil,” i.e., oil enough for an anointing. But it seems better to take the word as a verb: “save (by which) I may anoint myself with oil” (Micah 6:15). Vulgate, parum olei, quo ungar. The Jews, like the Greeks and Romans, anointed themselves after the bath (2 Samuel 12:20).