2 Kings 4:18-28 | The Way of Scripture

2 Kings 4:18-28

How does the mother bring her grief to Elisha?

Berean Standard Bible

18 And the child grew, and one day he went out to his father, who was with the harvesters. 19 “My head! My head!” he complained to his father. So his father told a servant, “Carry him to his mother.” 20 After the servant had picked him up and carried him to his mother, the boy sat on her lap until noon, and then he died. 21 And she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God. Then she shut the door and went out. 22 And the woman called her husband and said, “Please send me one of the servants and one of the donkeys, that I may go quickly to the man of God and return.” 23 “Why would you go to him today?” he replied. “It is not a New Moon or a Sabbath.” “Everything is all right,” she said. 24 Then she saddled the donkey and told her servant, “Drive onward; do not slow the pace for me unless I tell you.” 25 So she set out and went to the man of God at Mount Carmel. When the man of God saw her at a distance, he said to his servant Gehazi, “Look, there is the Shunammite woman. 26 Please run out now to meet her and ask, ‘Are you all right? Is your husband all right? Is your child all right?’” And she answered, “Everything is all right.” 27 When she reached the man of God at the mountain, she clung to his feet. Gehazi came over to push her away, but the man of God said, “Leave her alone, for her soul is in deep distress, and the LORD 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?’”

What is the context?

After the child has grown, he complains of head pain while with his father in the field. A servant carries him to his mother, and he dies on her lap at noon. The account states his death without identifying a modern medical diagnosis.

She lays him on Elisha’s bed, closes the door, and travels to find the prophet at Mount Carmel. Her brief replies on the way do not erase the distress revealed when she reaches him and grasps his feet.

Elisha tells Gehazi to leave her alone because she is deeply troubled, and acknowledges that the Lord has hidden the cause from him. She asks whether she had requested a son and recalls her plea not to be deceived. Her anguish is heard rather than dismissed as disloyalty.

How is this passage commonly understood?

Wesley recognizes her haste and attachment to the prophet. The passage also expressly limits Elisha’s knowledge: being a prophet does not make him aware of everything that has happened. The woman’s restrained words to others should not be imposed as a rule that grieving parents must conceal their pain.

What is our position?

We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.

Where can I study this further?

No deeper study linked yet.

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