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 chapterFootnotes
- 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
New Living Translation
11 One day Elisha returned to Shunem, and he went up to this upper room to rest. 12 He said to his servant Gehazi, “Tell the woman from Shunem I want to speak to her.” When she appeared, 13 Elisha said to Gehazi, “Tell her, ‘We appreciate the kind concern you have shown us. What can we do for you? Can we put in a good word for you to the king or to the commander of the army?’”
“No,” she replied, “my family takes good care of me.”
14 Later Elisha asked Gehazi, “What can we do for her?”
Gehazi replied, “She doesn’t have a son, and her husband is an old man.”
15 “Call her back again,” Elisha told him. When the woman returned, Elisha said to her as she stood in the doorway, 16 “Next year at this time you will be holding a son in your arms!”
“No, my lord!” she cried. “O man of God, don’t deceive me and get my hopes up like that.”
17 But sure enough, the woman soon became pregnant. And at that time the following year she had a son, just as Elisha had said.
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