2 Kings 4:9-19

9 She said to her husband, "I can see that this is a holy man of God who keeps stopping at our place.
10 Please, let's build him a little room on the roof. We'll put a bed and a table in it for him, and a stool and a candlestick. Then, whenever he comes to visit us, he can stay there."
11 One day Elisha came to visit there, and he went into the upper room to lie down.
12 He said to Geichazi his servant, "Call this Shunamit." He called her; and when she arrived,
13 he said to him, "Tell her this: 'You have shown us so much hospitality! What can I do to show my appreciation? Do you want me to say anything to the king for you? or to the commander of the army?" She answered, "I'm happy living as I do, among my own people."
14 He said, "What, then, is to be done for her?" Geichazi answered, "There's one thing - she doesn't have a son; and her husband is old.
15 Elisha said, "Call her." After he called her, she stood in the doorway.
16 He said, "Next year, when the season comes around, you will be holding a son." "No, my lord," she answered. "Man of God, don't lie to your servant!"
17 But the woman conceived and gave birth to a son the following year when the season came around, just as Elisha had said to her.
18 When the child was old enough, he went out one day to be with his father, who was with the reapers.
19 Suddenly he cried out to his father, "My head! My head hurts!" He said to his servant, "Carry him back to his mother."

2 Kings 4:9-19 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.

Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.