2 Kings 4:18-37
New English Translation
18 The boy grew and one day he went out to see his father who was with the harvest workers.[a] 19 He said to his father, “My head! My head!” His father[b] told a servant, “Carry him to his mother.” 20 So he picked him up and took him to his mother. He sat on her lap[c] until noon and then died. 21 She went up and laid him down on the prophet’s[d] bed. She shut the door behind her and left. 22 She called to her husband, “Send me one of the servants and one of the donkeys, so I can go see the prophet quickly and then return.” 23 He said, “Why do you want to go see him today? It is not the new moon[e] or the Sabbath.” She said, “Everything’s fine.”[f] 24 She saddled the donkey and told her servant, “Lead on.[g] Do not stop unless I say so.”[h]
25 So she went to visit[i] the prophet at Mount Carmel. When he[j] saw her at a distance, he said to his servant Gehazi, “Look, it’s the Shunammite woman. 26 Now, run to meet her and ask her, ‘Are you well? Are your husband and the boy well?’” She told Gehazi,[k] “Everything’s fine.” 27 But when she reached the prophet on the mountain, she grabbed hold of his feet. Gehazi came near to push her away, but the prophet said, “Leave her alone, for she is very upset.[l] The Lord has kept the matter hidden from me; he didn’t tell me about it.” 28 She said, “Did I ask my master for a son? Didn’t I say, ‘Don’t mislead me?’” 29 Elisha[m] told Gehazi, “Tuck your robes into your belt, take my staff,[n] and go! Don’t stop to exchange greetings with anyone![o] Place my staff on the child’s face.” 30 The mother of the child said, “As certainly as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So Elisha[p] got up and followed her back.
31 Now Gehazi went on ahead of them. He placed the staff on the child’s face, but there was no sound or response. When he came back to Elisha[q] he told him, “The child did not wake up.” 32 When Elisha arrived at the house, there was[r] the child lying dead on his bed. 33 He went in by himself and closed the door.[s] Then he prayed to the Lord. 34 He got up on the bed and spread his body out over[t] the boy; he put his mouth on the boy’s[u] mouth, his eyes over the boy’s eyes, and the palms of his hands against the boy’s palms. As he bent down across him, the boy’s skin[v] grew warm. 35 Elisha[w] went back and walked around in the house.[x] Then he got up on the bed again[y] and bent down over him. The child sneezed seven times and opened his eyes. 36 Elisha[z] called to Gehazi and said, “Get the Shunammite woman.” So he did so[aa] and she came to him. He said to her, “Take your son.” 37 She came in, fell at his feet, and bowed down. Then she picked up her son and left.
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- 2 Kings 4:18 tn Heb “to his father, to the harvesters.”
- 2 Kings 4:19 tn Heb “He”; the referent (the boy’s father) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- 2 Kings 4:20 tn Heb “knees.”
- 2 Kings 4:21 tn Heb “man of God’s.”
- 2 Kings 4:23 sn The new moon was a time of sacrifice and special feasts (Num 28:14; 1 Sam 20:5). Apparently it was a convenient time to visit a prophet. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 57.
- 2 Kings 4:23 tn Heb “peace.”
- 2 Kings 4:24 tn Heb “lead [the donkey on] and go.”
- 2 Kings 4:24 tn Heb “do not restrain for me the riding unless I say to you.”
- 2 Kings 4:25 tn Heb “went and came.”
- 2 Kings 4:25 tn Heb “the man of God.” The phrase has been replaced by the relative pronoun “he” in the translation for stylistic reasons.
- 2 Kings 4:26 tn Heb “she said.” The narrator streamlines the story at this point, omitting any reference to Gehazi running to meet her and asking her the questions.
- 2 Kings 4:27 tn Heb “her soul [i.e., ‘disposition’] is bitter.”
- 2 Kings 4:29 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- 2 Kings 4:29 tn Heb “take my staff in your hand.”
- 2 Kings 4:29 tn Heb “If you meet a man, do not greet him with a blessing; if a man greets you with a blessing, do not answer.”
- 2 Kings 4:30 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity. The referent must be Elisha here, since the following verse makes it clear that Gehazi had gone on ahead of them.
- 2 Kings 4:31 tn Heb “to meet him.”
- 2 Kings 4:32 tn Heb “look.”
- 2 Kings 4:33 tn Heb “and closed the door behind the two of them.”
- 2 Kings 4:34 tn Heb “he went up and lay down over.”
- 2 Kings 4:34 tn Heb “his” (also in the next two clauses).
- 2 Kings 4:34 tn Or perhaps, “body”; Heb “flesh.”
- 2 Kings 4:35 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- 2 Kings 4:35 tn Heb “and he returned and went into the house, once here and once there.”
- 2 Kings 4:35 tn Heb “and he went up.”
- 2 Kings 4:36 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- 2 Kings 4:36 tn Heb “and he called for her.”
2 Kings 4:18-37
World English Bible
18 When the child was grown, one day he went out to his father to the reapers. 19 He said to his father, “My head! My head!”
He said to his servant, “Carry him to his mother.”
20 When he had taken him, and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees until noon, and then died. 21 She went up and laid him on the man of God’s bed, and shut the door on him, and went out. 22 She called to her husband, and said, “Please send me one of the servants, and one of the donkeys, that I may run to the man of God, and come again.”
23 He said, “Why would you want go to him today? It is not a new moon or a Sabbath.”
She said, “It’s all right.”
24 Then she saddled a donkey, and said to her servant, “Drive, and go forward! Don’t slow down for me, unless I ask you to.”
25 So she went, and came to the man of God to Mount Carmel. When the man of God saw her afar off, he said to Gehazi his servant, “Behold, there is the Shunammite. 26 Please run now to meet her, and ask her, ‘Is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with your child?’”
She answered, “It is well.”
27 When she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught hold of his feet. Gehazi came near to thrust her away; but the man of God said, “Leave her alone; for her soul is troubled within her; and Yahweh has hidden it from me, and has not told me.”
28 Then she said, “Did I ask you for a son, my lord? Didn’t I say, ‘Do not deceive me’?”
29 Then he said to Gehazi, “Tuck your cloak into your belt, take my staff in your hand, and go your way. If you meet any man, don’t greet him; and if anyone greets you, don’t answer him again. Then lay my staff on the child’s face.”
30 The child’s mother said, “As Yahweh lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.”
So he arose, and followed her.
31 Gehazi went ahead of them, and laid the staff on the child’s face; but there was no voice and no hearing. Therefore he returned to meet him, and told him, “The child has not awakened.”
32 When Elisha had come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and lying on his bed. 33 He went in therefore, and shut the door on them both, and prayed to Yahweh. 34 He went up, and lay on the child, and put his mouth on his mouth, and his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands. He stretched himself on him; and the child’s flesh grew warm. 35 Then he returned, and walked in the house once back and forth; and went up, and stretched himself out on him. Then the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes. 36 He called Gehazi, and said, “Call this Shunammite!” So he called her.
When she had come in to him, he said, “Take up your son.”
37 Then she went in, fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground; then she picked up her son, and went out.
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