2 Kings 4:13-23

13 And he said to him, Say now to her, Behold, thou hast been careful for us with all this care; what is to be done for thee? wouldest thou be spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the host? And she said, I dwell among mine own people.
14 And he said, What then is to be done for her? And Gehazi said, Verily, she has no son, and her husband is old.
15 And he said, Call her; and he called her; and she stood in the doorway.
16 And he said, At this appointed time, when thy term is come, thou shalt embrace a son. And she said, No, my lord, man of God, do not lie to thy handmaid.
17 And the woman conceived, and bore a son at that appointed time in the next year as Elisha had said to her.
18 And the child grew, and it came to pass one day, that he went out to his father to the reapers.
19 And he said to his father, My head, my head! And he said to the servant, Carry him to his mother.
20 And he carried him, and brought him to his mother; and he sat on her knees till noon, and died.
21 And she went up, and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and shut [the door] upon him, and went out.
22 And she called to her husband, and said, Send me, I pray thee, one of the young men, and one of the asses, and I will run to the man of God, and come again.
23 And he said, Why wilt thou go to him to-day? It is neither new moon nor sabbath. And she said, [It is] well.

2 Kings 4:13-23 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO 2 KINGS 4

This chapter treats of the miracles of Elisha, of his multiplying a poor widow's pot of oil for the payment of her husband's debts, 2Ki 4:1-7 of obtaining a son for a Shunamitish woman, who had been very hospitable to him, 2Ki 4:8-17, of his raising up her son to life when dead, 2Ki 4:18-37, of his curing the deadly pottage made of wild gourds, 2Ki 4:38-41, and of his feeding one hundred men with twenty barley loaves, 2Ki 4:42-44.

Footnotes 6

  • [a]. Or 'alacrity.'
  • [b]. Or 'at [this] time of the year' [lit. 'life'], as ver. 17; Gen. 18.14.
  • [c]. Lit. 'the.'
  • [d]. Heb. 'young man,' as ver. 19, and often.
  • [e]. Here, 'she-asses.'
  • [f]. Lit. 'Peace,' so also (4 times) in ver. 26.
The Darby Translation is in the public domain.