2 Kings 4)
1 Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets to Elisha, saying, Your servant my husband (= man, Heb. 'ish) is dead; and you know that your servant did fear the Lord: and the creditor is come to take to him my two sons to be bondmen (cp. Lev.25:39 and Neh.5:5).
2 And Elisha said to her, What shall I do for you? tell me, what have you in the house? And she said, Your handmaid has not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil.
3 Then he said, Go, borrow you vessels abroad of all your neighbors, [even] empty vessels; borrow not a few (= scant not).
4 And when you are come in, you shall shut the door upon you and upon your sons, and shall pour out into all those vessels, and you shall set aside that which is full.
5 So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, [they] bringing [the vessels] to her; and she poured out (Elisha's 5th miracle. See 2:15).
6 And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said to her, [There is] not a vessel more. And the oil stayed.
7 Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay your creditor, and live you and your sons of the rest.
Q 8-17. Son given.
V 18-20. Son's death.
W 21. Elisha's bed. Placed on.
X 22-24. Her mission to Elisha.
Y 25-27. Her arrival.
X 28-31. Her converse with Elisha.
W 32,33. Elisha's bed. Found on.
V 34,35. Son raised.
U 36,37. Son restored.
U a 8. Resort of Elisha (general).
b 9,10. Accommodation.
a 11. Resort of Elisha (particular).
b 12-17. Compensation.8 And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem (= double resting-place. In the plain of Esdraelon. The native place of Abishag [1 Kings 1:3]), where [was] a wealthy woman (a person of great position [2 Sam.1:31]); and she constrained him to eat bread. And [so] it was, [that] as often as he passed by, he turned in to that place to eat bread.
9 And she said to her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this [is] a set apart man of God (see "holy" Ex. 3:5), which passes by us continually.
10 Let us make a little upper chamber (or wall-chamber), I pray you, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a lamp-stand (very little furniture used in the East today): and it shall be, when he comes to us, that he shall turn in to that place.
11 And it fell on a day, that he came to that place, and he turned into the chamber, and lay there.
12 And he said to Gehazi his young man, Call this Shunammite. And when he had called her, she stood before him.
13 And he said to him, Say now to her, Behold, you have been careful for us with all this care (= exceedingly careful); what [is] to be done for you? would you be spoken for to the king (this confidence in his influence with the king is accounted for by the miraculous aid recently given by Elisha in 3:16-19), or to the captain of the host? And she answered, I dwell among my own people.
14 And he said, What then [is] to be done for her? And Gehazi answered, Verily she has no child, and her husband is old.
15 And he said, Call her. And when he had called her, she stood in the entrance.
16 And he said, About this season, according to the time of life, you shall embrace a son. And she said, No, my lord, [you] man of God, do not lie to your handmaid.
17 And the woman conceived, and bare a son at that season that Elisha had said to her, according to the time of life (or of spring. Read "that season about the time of spring of which Elisha had said to her". The 6th miracle. See 2:15).
18 And when the child (= progeny) was grown, it fell on a day, that he went out to his father to the reapers.
19 And he said to his father, My head, my head. And he said to a lad, Carry him to his mother.
20 And when he had taken him, and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and [then] died.
21 And she went up, and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and shut [the door] upon him, and went out.
22 And she called to her husband, and said, Send me, I pray you, one of the young men, and one of the asses, that I may run to the man of God, and come again.
23 And he said, Why will you go to him today? [it is] neither new moon, nor sabbath. And she said, [It shall be] well.
24 Then she saddled an ass, and said to her servant, Drive, and go forward; slack not [your] riding for me, except I bid you.
25 So she went and came to the man of God to mount Carmel (= fruitful place). And it came to pass, when the man of Elohim saw her afar off, that he said to Gehazi (valley of vision) his young man, Behold, [yonder is] that Shunammite:
26 Run now (some codices read "now therefore"), I pray you, to meet her, and say to her, [Is it] well with you? [is it] well with your man? [is it] well with the child? And she answered, [It is] well.
27 And when she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught him by the feet: but Gehazi came near to thrust her away. And the man of God said, Let her alone; for her soul (= herself) [is] bitter within her: and the Lord has hid [it] from me, and has not told me.
28 Then she said, Did I desire a son of my lord? did I not say, Do not cajole me?
29 Then he said to Gehazi (in what Elisha said the signs given are put by fig., for things symbolized by them), Gird up your loins, and take my staff in your hand, and go your way: if you meet any man, salute him not (Idiom. The salutation being ceremonial and taking time); and if a man salute you, answer him not again: and lay my staff upon the face of the youth.
30 And the mother of the child said, [As] the Lord lives, and [as] you live, I will not leave you. And he arose, and followed her.
31 And Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff upon the face of the youth; but [there was] neither voice, nor hearing. Wherefore he went again to meet him, and told him, saying, The youth is not awaken.
32 And when Elisha was come into the house, behold, the youth was dead, [and] laid upon his bed.
33 He went in therefore, and shut the door upon them both, and prayed to the Lord.
34 And he went up, and lay upon the progeny, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands: and he stretched himself upon the progeny; and the flesh of the progeny waxed warm.
35 Then he returned, and walked in the house to and fro; and went up, and stretched himself upon him: and the youth sneezed seven times (#7 = spiritual perfection), and the youth opened his eyes.
36 And he called Gehazi, and said, Call this Shunammite. So he called her. And when she was come in to him, he said, Take up your son (the 7th miracle [2:15]).
37 Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground, and took up her son, and went out.
R c 38-. Dearth.
d -38-41. Supply. 8th miracle.
c 42. First-fruits.
d 43,44. Supply. 9th miracle.38 And Elisha came again to Gilgal: and [there was] the dearth in the land (1 of 13 famines. See Gen.12:10); and the sons of the prophets [were] sitting before him:
and he said to his servant, Set on the great pot, and boil pottage for the sons of the prophets.
39 And one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine (i.e. a plant with vine-like tendrils. Not the grape, but probably the colocynth), and gathered thereof wild gourds his lap full, and came and shred [them] into the pot of pottage: for they knew [them] not.
40 So they poured out for the men to eat (Heb. 'enosh, men of name, always used in a bad sense). And it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out, and said, O [you] man of Elohim, [there is] death in the pot (put for that which causes death). And they could not eat [thereof].
41 But he said, Then bring meal. And he cast [it] into the pot; and he said, Pour out for the people, that they may eat. And there was no evil thing in the pot (Elisha's 8th miracle [2:15]).
42 And there came a man from Baal-shalisha (= lord of trebled land. Only occ.), and brought the man of God bread of the first-fruits, twenty loaves of barley, and full ears of corn in the husk thereof. And he said, Give to the people, that they may eat.
43 And his attendant said, What, should I set this before a hundred men? (Elisha's 9th miracle. See 2:15. One of the 3 [3=divine completeness] miracles feeding multitudes. Cp. Matt.14:20; 15:34,38. #100 = God's election of grace - children of promise) He said again, Give the people, that they may eat: for thus says The Lord, They shall eat, and shall leave [thereof].
44 So he set [it] before them, and they did eat, and left [thereof], according to the word of the Lord.