2 Kings 4:16

16 and Elisha said to her, "By this time next year you will be holding a son in your arms." ¹ "Oh!" she exclaimed. "Please, sir, don't lie to me. You are a man of God!"

2 Kings 4:16 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 4:16

And he said, about this season
In the next year:

according to the time of life;
the usual time women go with child:

thou shalt embrace a son;
in thine arms, that shall be born of thee, which she should have in her lap, and in her bosom:

and she said, nay, my lord, do not lie unto thine handmaid;
or speak unto her what was not truth; it was so great, and so unaccountable, how it could be in her circumstances, that she could not believe it to be true, though she wished it might; or do not deceive me with vain and false words, or flatter me, jest with me, which would be unbecoming his character as a man of God, and prophet of the Lord; according to the Targum, she wished it might prove true, and she not deceived; see ( 2 Kings 4:28 ) .

2 Kings 4:16 In-Context

14 Elisha asked Gehazi, "What can I do for her then?" He answered, "Well, she has no son, and her husband is an old man."

15 "Tell her to come here," Elisha ordered. She came and stood in the doorway,

16 and Elisha said to her, "By this time next year you will be holding a son in your arms." "Oh!" she exclaimed. "Please, sir, don't lie to me. You are a man of God!"

17 But, as Elisha had said, at about that time the following year she gave birth to a son.

18 Some years later, at harvest time, the boy went out one morning to join his father, who was in the field with the harvest workers.

Cross References

• 1. 4.16Genesis 18.4.