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Text -- 2 Kings 4:12-44 (NET)
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Strongs On/Off
Context
4:12 He told his servant Gehazi , “Ask the Shunammite woman to come here.” So he did so and she came to him.
4:13 Elisha said to Gehazi, “Tell her, ‘Look , you have treated us with such great respect . 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 .”
4:14 So he asked Gehazi, “What can I do for her?” Gehazi replied , “She has no son , and her husband is old .”
4:15 Elisha told him, “Ask her to come here.” So he did so and she came and stood in the doorway .
4:16 He said , “About this time next year you will be holding a son .” She said , “No , my master ! O prophet , do not lie to your servant !”
4:17 The woman did conceive , and at the specified time the next year she gave birth to a son , just as Elisha had told her.
4:18 The boy grew and one day he went out to see his father who was with the harvest workers .
4:19 He said to his father , “My head ! My head !” His father told a servant , “Carry him to his mother .”
4:20 So he picked him up and took him to his mother . He sat on her lap until noon and then died .
4:21 She went up and laid him down on the prophet’s bed . She shut the door behind her and left .
4:22 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 .”
4:23 He said , “Why do you want to go see him today ? It is not the new moon or the Sabbath .” She said , “Everything’s fine .”
4:24 She saddled the donkey and told her servant , “Lead on . Do not stop unless I say so.”
4:25 So she went to visit the prophet at Mount Carmel . When he saw her at a distance , he said to his servant Gehazi , “Look , it’s the Shunammite woman.
4:26 Now , run to meet her and ask her, ‘Are you well ? Are your husband and the boy well ?’” She told Gehazi, “Everything’s fine .”
4:27 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 . upset . The Lord has kept the matter hidden from me; he didn’t tell me about it.”
4:28 She said , “Did I ask my master for a son ? Didn’t I say , ‘Don’t mislead me?’”
4:29 Elisha told Gehazi , “Tuck your robes into your belt , take my staff , and go ! Don’t stop to exchange greetings with anyone ! Place my staff on the child’s face .”
4:30 The mother of the child said , “As certainly as the Lord lives and as you live , I will not leave you.” So Elisha got up and followed her back .
4:31 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 he told him, “The child did not wake up .”
4:32 When Elisha arrived at the house , there was the child lying dead on his bed .
4:33 He went in by himself and closed the door . Then he prayed to the Lord .
4:34 He got up on the bed and spread his body out over the boy ; he put his mouth on the boy’s mouth , his eyes over the boy’s eyes , and the palms of his hands against the boy’s palms . He bent down over him, and the boy’s skin grew warm .
4:35 Elisha went back and walked around in the house . Then he got up on the bed again and bent down over him. The child sneezed seven times and opened his eyes .
4:36 Elisha called to Gehazi and said , “Get the Shunammite woman.” So he did so and she came to him. He said to her, “Take your son .”
4:37 She came in, fell at his feet , and bowed down . Then she picked up her son and left .
Elisha Makes a Meal Edible
4:38 Now Elisha went back to Gilgal , while there was famine in the land . Some of the prophets were visiting him and he told his servant , “Put the big pot on the fire and boil some stew for the prophets .”
4:39 Someone went out to the field to gather some herbs and found a wild vine . He picked some of its fruit , enough to fill up the fold of his robe . He came back , cut it up , and threw the slices into the stew pot , not knowing they were harmful.
4:40 The stew was poured out for the men to eat . When they ate some of the stew , they cried out , “Death is in the pot , O prophet !” They could not eat it.
4:41 He said , “Get some flour .” Then he threw it into the pot and said , “Now pour some out for the men so they may eat .” There was no longer anything harmful in the pot .
Elisha Miraculously Feeds a Hundred People
4:42 Now a man from Baal Shalisha brought some food for the prophet – twenty loaves of bread made from the firstfruits of the barley harvest, as well as fresh ears of grain . Elisha said , “Set it before the people so they may eat .”
4:43 But his attendant said , “How can I feed a hundred men with this ?” He replied , “Set it before the people so they may eat , for this is what the Lord says , ‘They will eat and have some left over .’”
4:44 So he set it before them; they ate and had some left over , just as the Lord predicted .
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Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics
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Names, People and Places:
Dictionary Themes and Topics:
Elisha |
Shunem |
DANIEL, BOOK OF |
IMAGES |
JEHORAM; JORAM |
JEHOAHAZ |
Gehazi |
Shunammite |
Miracles |
Women |
Children |
Afflictions and Adversities |
Carmel |
Quotations and Allusions |
Intercession |
Dead |
Gilgal |
PROPHET |
Gourd |
Prayer |
more
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expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes -> 2Ki 4:12; 2Ki 4:12; 2Ki 4:13; 2Ki 4:13; 2Ki 4:13; 2Ki 4:14; 2Ki 4:15; 2Ki 4:15; 2Ki 4:15; 2Ki 4:16; 2Ki 4:18; 2Ki 4:19; 2Ki 4:20; 2Ki 4:21; 2Ki 4:23; 2Ki 4:23; 2Ki 4:24; 2Ki 4:24; 2Ki 4:25; 2Ki 4:25; 2Ki 4:26; 2Ki 4:27; 2Ki 4:29; 2Ki 4:29; 2Ki 4:29; 2Ki 4:30; 2Ki 4:31; 2Ki 4:32; 2Ki 4:33; 2Ki 4:34; 2Ki 4:34; 2Ki 4:34; 2Ki 4:35; 2Ki 4:35; 2Ki 4:35; 2Ki 4:36; 2Ki 4:36; 2Ki 4:38; 2Ki 4:38; 2Ki 4:38; 2Ki 4:39; 2Ki 4:39; 2Ki 4:39; 2Ki 4:39; 2Ki 4:40; 2Ki 4:41; 2Ki 4:42; 2Ki 4:42; 2Ki 4:42; 2Ki 4:43; 2Ki 4:43; 2Ki 4:44
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NET Notes: 2Ki 4:13 Heb “Among my people I am living.” This answer suggests that she has security within the context of her family.
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NET Notes: 2Ki 4:16 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 King...
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NET Notes: 2Ki 4:19 Heb “He”; the referent (the boy’s father) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
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NET Notes: 2Ki 4:25 Heb “the man of God.” The phrase has been replaced by the relative pronoun “he” in the translation for stylistic reasons.
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NET Notes: 2Ki 4:26 Heb “she said.” The narrator streamlines the story at this point, omitting any reference to Gehazi running to meet her and asking her the ...
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NET Notes: 2Ki 4:29 Heb “If you meet a man, do not greet him with a blessing; if a man greets you with a blessing, do not answer.”
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NET Notes: 2Ki 4:30 Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity. The referent must be Elisha here, since the following v...
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NET Notes: 2Ki 4:39 The Hebrew text reads, “for they did not know” (יָדָעוּ, yada’u) but some emend the final ...
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NET Notes: 2Ki 4:40 Heb “and they poured out [the stew].” The plural subject is probably indefinite.
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NET Notes: 2Ki 4:42 Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
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NET Notes: 2Ki 4:43 The verb forms are infinitives absolute (Heb “eating and leaving over”) and have to be translated in light of the context.
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