2 Kings 4:21-31

21 She took him upstairs and laid him on the bed of the man of God, left [the room], and shut the door behind her.

22 She called her husband and said, "Please send me one of the servants and one of the donkeys. I will go quickly to the man of God and come back again."

23 Her husband asked, "Why are you going to him today? It isn't a New Moon Festival or a day of worship." But she said goodbye to him.

24 She saddled the donkey. Then she told her servant, "Lead on. Don't slow down unless I tell you."

25 So she came to the man of God at Mount Carmel. When he saw her coming at a distance, he told his servant Gehazi, "There is the woman from Shunem.

26 Run to meet her and ask her how she, her husband, and the boy are doing." "Everyone's fine," she answered.

27 When she came to the man of God at the mountain, she took hold of his feet. Gehazi went to push her away. But the man of God said, "Leave her alone. She is bitter. The LORD has hidden the reason from me. He hasn't told me."

28 The woman said, "I didn't ask you for a son. I said, 'Don't raise my hopes.'"

29 The man of God told Gehazi, "Put on a belt, take my shepherd's staff in your hand, and go. Whenever you meet anyone, don't stop to greet him. If he greets you, don't stop to answer him. Lay my staff on the boy's face."

30 The boy's mother said, "I solemnly swear, as the LORD and you live, I will not leave without you." So Elisha got up and followed her.

31 Gehazi went ahead of them and put the staff on the boy's face, but there was no sound or sign of life. So Gehazi came back to meet the man of God. Gehazi told him, "The boy didn't wake up."

2 Kings 4:21-31 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.