2 Kings 4:11-17
New English Translation
11 One day Elisha[a] came for a visit; he went[b] into the upper room and rested.[c] 12 He told his servant Gehazi, “Ask the Shunammite woman to come here.”[d] So he did so and she came to him.[e] 13 Elisha said to Gehazi,[f] “Tell her, ‘Look, you have treated us with such great respect.[g] What can I do for you? Can I put in a good word for you with the king or the commander of the army?’” She replied, “I’m quite secure.”[h] 14 So he asked Gehazi,[i] “What can I do for her?” Gehazi replied, “She has no son, and her husband is old.” 15 Elisha told him, “Ask her to come here.”[j] So he did so[k] and she came and stood in the doorway.[l] 16 He said, “About this time next year[m] you will be holding a son.” She said, “No, my master! O prophet, do not lie to your servant!” 17 The woman did conceive, and at the specified time the next year she gave birth to a son, just as Elisha had told her.
Read full chapterNotas al pie
- 2 Kings 4:11 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- 2 Kings 4:11 tn Heb “turned aside.”
- 2 Kings 4:11 tn Or “slept there.”
- 2 Kings 4:12 tn Heb “Call for this Shunammite woman.”
- 2 Kings 4:12 tn Heb “and he called for her and she stood before him.”
- 2 Kings 4:13 tn Heb “he said to him.”
- 2 Kings 4:13 tn Heb “you have turned trembling to us with all this trembling.” The exaggerated language is probably idiomatic. The point seems to be that she has taken great pains or gone out of her way to be kind to them. Her concern was a sign of her respect for the prophetic office.
- 2 Kings 4:13 tn Heb “Among my people I am living.” This answer suggests that she has security within the context of her family.
- 2 Kings 4:14 tn Heb “and he said.”
- 2 Kings 4:15 tn Heb “Call for her.”
- 2 Kings 4:15 tn Heb “and he called her.”
- 2 Kings 4:15 tn Heb “and he called for her and she stood in the door.”
- 2 Kings 4:16 tn Heb “at this appointed time, at the time [when it is] reviving.” For a discussion of the second phrase see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 57.
2 Kings 4:11-17
International Standard Version
11 One day, Elisha[a] came by to visit and stopped in to rest in the upper chamber. 12 He told his attendant[b] Gehazi, “Call this Shunammite.” So when he had summoned her, she stood in front of him.
13 Elisha[c] told him, “Ask her, ‘Look how you’ve gone to all this trouble to care for us! What can I do for you? Do you wish to be mentioned to the king or to the head of the army?’”
She replied, “I’m at home[d] living among my own people.”
14 He responded, “What, then, is to be done on her behalf?”
Gehazi answered, “Well, she has no son and her husband is growing old.”
15 “Call her,” Elisha[e] ordered. After he called her, she came and stood in the doorway, 16 and he told her, “About this time next year you will be embracing a son.”
“No, sir! Please, as a godly man,[f] don’t mislead your servant!” 17 But the woman did conceive and did bear a son at that very same time the next year, just as Elisha had told her.
Read full chapterNotas al pie
- 2 Kings 4:11 Lit. he
- 2 Kings 4:12 Lit. his young man; and so throughout the chapter
- 2 Kings 4:13 Lit. He
- 2 Kings 4:13 So LXX; the Heb. lacks at home
- 2 Kings 4:15 Lit. he
- 2 Kings 4:16 Or a man of God
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