2 Re 4:23

23 Ed egli le disse: Perchè vai oggi a lui? Egli non è dì di calendi, nè sabato. Ed ella disse: Datti pace.

2 Re 4:23 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 4:23

And he said, wherefore wilt thou go to him today?
&c.] What reason is there for it? what is the meaning of it?

it is neither new moon nor sabbath;
neither the first day of the month, nor the seventh day of the week, times which were religiously observed; so with the Heathens the new moon and the seventh of the week, and so the fourth, were sacred ^F21; which notions they borrowed from the Jews, (See Gill on 1 Samuel 20:5) and when, it seems, it was usual to frequent the house of the prophet, to hear the word of God read and explained, and other religious exercises performed, as praying and singing praise, and receiving some good instructions and advice. Joseph Kimchi gives a different sense of these words:

``there is not a month past, no, not a week, since thou sawest him;''

why therefore shouldest thou be in such haste to go to him? so the words for new moon and sabbath may signify:

and she said, it shall be well;
it was right for her to go, and it would be well for him and her, and the family; or, "peace" ^F23, be easy and quiet, farewell: it is much he had no mistrust of the death of the child, or that it was worse, since it went from him ill.

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FOOTNOTES:

F21 Hesiod. Opera & Dies, l. 2.
F23 (Mwlv) "pax", Pagninus, Montanus

2 Re 4:23 In-Context

21 Allora ella salì, e lo coricò sopra il letto dell’uomo di Dio; poi chiuse l’uscio sopra lui, e se ne uscì fuori;

22 e mandò a dire al suo marito: Deh! mandami uno dei servitori, ed una delle asine, acciocchè io corra fino all’uomo di Dio; poi ritornerò.

23 Ed egli le disse: Perchè vai oggi a lui? Egli non è dì di calendi, nè sabato. Ed ella disse: Datti pace.

24 Ed ella fece sellar l’asina, e disse al suo servitore: Guidala, e va’ via; non rattenermi di cavalcare, se non che io te lo dica.

25 Ed ella andò; e venne all’uomo di Dio, nel monte Carmel. E quando l’uomo di Dio l’ebbe veduta dinanzi a sè, disse a Ghehazi, suo servitore: Ecco quella Sunamita.