2 Kings 4:29

29 Then he said to Gehazi, "Gird up your loins and take my staff in your hand and go. If you meet anyone, you must not greet them; if anyone greets you, you must not answer them. You must put my staff on the face of the boy."

2 Kings 4:29 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 4:29

Then he said to Gehazi, gird up thy loins
His loose and long garments about him, that he might make quicker dispatch in travelling:

and take my staff in thine hand, and go thy way;
not for the sake of travelling with it, but for an end after mentioned:

if thou meet any man, salute him not; and if any salute thee, answer
him not again;
that so no time may be lost:

and lay my staff upon the face of the child;
he not intending when he said this to go himself, but at the time, as near as he could, when this action was performed, would pray to God to restore life to the child; for he could not imagine that by this bare action it could be done.

2 Kings 4:29 In-Context

27 So she came to the man of God at the mountain, and she caught hold of his feet. Then Gehazi came near to push her away, but the man of God said, "Let her alone, for her soul is bitter, and Yahweh has hidden it from me and has not told me."

28 Then she said, "Did I ask for a son from my lord? Did I not say that you must not mislead me?"

29 Then he said to Gehazi, "Gird up your loins and take my staff in your hand and go. If you meet anyone, you must not greet them; if anyone greets you, you must not answer them. You must put my staff on the face of the boy."

30 Then the mother of the boy said, "{As Yahweh lives} and {as your soul lives}, I will surely not leave you." So he got up and went after her.

31 Gehazi crossed over before them, and he put the staff on the face of the boy; but there was no sound, and there was no sign of life, so he returned to meet him. He told him, saying, "The boy did not wake up."