She was the widow of a prophet, during the time of Elisha.

Her husband had died, leaving her in debt, and her sons were about to be taken as servants.

Elisha asked her, “What do you have?” 

She had a small jar of oil. Then he told her to borrow empty jars from her neighbors. She went out to borrow 

Story has it that as she poured, the oil kept multiplying until every jar was full.  She sold the oil, paid her debts, and lived on the rest.

As I pondered today, I asked myself if the number of jars she borrowed was directly proportional to the number of people she could reach because she had good relationship with them.

The text itself (2 Kings 4:1–7) doesn’t explicitly say that the number of jars equals the number of people she could reach relationally.

The thought nagged at me. Even though this idea of mine fit naturally with what the story shows, it’s not a stated rule, but a theological insight, I couldn’t help but dig further.

She had to go outside her house to borrow jars. That act required humility, initiative and existing trust. 

The oil stopped when the jars ran out. The limit of the miracle wasn’t God’s power but the availability of jars. Community is a gift.  

I think it’s reasonable to see connections. 

To borrow jars implies there were relationships already in place. Her neighbours were willing to lend her their jars. The more people she knew and had formidable relationships with, the more jars she could have gathered. Her relational reach influenced the capacity for the miracle. 

God often works in spaces of availability, not achievement. I just imagined that the widow was a Nigerian in our times. She’d have hauled GPee tanks into that room. 

An “empty jar” can be time that you’re willing to give, attention you offer someone, a small skill placed in service. 

What if she’d gone to strangers to ask for jars? You know how in marketing we do cold calling; approaching people we haven’t met or known to patronize our offers. 

It would have been unusual and socially risky, but not inappropriate or immoral, especially given her situation. However, it would have required significant humility and courage because in Elisha’s time (9th century BCE), village life consisted of communities that had small and tight-knit villages. People depended on mutual aid to survive famine, debt, and loss. Neighbour usually meant more than just the person next door; it meant members of the local community 

So while we hear “neighbors” narrowly today, in that culture it already implied a broader social network, not close friends only.

Borrowing jars was common and ordinary, less personal than borrowing money or food. Asking someone she didn’t know well would have been awkward and potentially embarrassing.

In the larger scheme of existence, cultivating social relationships improve possibilities of our successes.
It’s something to be done intentionally and spiritedly.