2 Kings 4:18

THE MESSAGE

The child grew up. One day he went to his father, who was working with the harvest hands, complaining, "My head, my head!" His father ordered a servant, "Carry him to his mother."

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
The child grew and one day went out to his father and the harvesters.

Hebrew Names Version
When the child was grown, it fell on a day, that he went out to his father to the reapers.

King James Version
And when the child was grown, it fell on a day, that he went out to his father to the reapers.

English Standard Version
When the child had grown, he went out one day to his father among the reapers.

New Century Version
The boy grew up and one day went out to his father, who was with the grain harvesters.

New English Translation
The boy grew and one day he went out to see his father who was with the harvest workers.

Amplified Bible
When the child was grown, the day came that he went out to his father, to the reapers.

New American Standard Bible
When the child was grown, the day came that he went out to his father, to the reapers.

Geneva Bible (1587)
And when the childe was growen, it fell on a day, that he went out to his father, and to the reapers.

Legacy Standard Bible
Then the child was grown. And the day came that he went out to his father to the reapers.

Contemporary English Version
One day while the boy was still young, he was out in the fields with his father, where the workers were harvesting the crops.

Complete Jewish Bible
When the child was old enough, he went out one day to be with his father, who was with the reapers.

Darby Translation
And the child grew, and it came to pass one day, that he went out to his father to the reapers.

Easy-to-Read Version
The boy grew. One day the boy went out into the fields to see his father and the men cutting the grain.

George Lamsa Translation
Now when the child had grown, he went out on a certain day to his father who was with the reapers.

Good News Translation
Some years later, at harvest time, the boy went out one morning to join his father, who was in the field with the harvest workers.

Lexham English Bible
The child grew older, and it happened one day that he went out to his father and to the reapers.

Literal Translation
And the boy grew, and the day came that he went out to his father, to the reapers.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
But whan ye childe was growne, it fortuned, yt he wente forth to his father vnto the reapers,

American Standard Version
And when the child was grown, it fell on a day, that he went out to his father to the reapers.

Bible in Basic English
Now one day, when the child was older, he went out to his father to where the grain was being cut.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And when the childe was growen, it fell on a day that he went out to his father, and to the reapers,

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And when the child was grown, it fell on a day, that he went out to his father to the reapers.

King James Version (1611)
And when the child was growen, it fell on a day that hee went out to his father, to the reapers.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the child grew: and it came to pass when he went out to his father to the reapers,

English Revised Version
And when the child was grown, it fell on a day, that he went out to his father to the reapers.

Berean Standard Bible
And the child grew, and one day he went out to his father, who was with the harvesters.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Sotheli the child encreeside; and whanne sum day was, and the child was goon out, and yede to his fadir,

Young's Literal Translation
And the lad groweth, and the day cometh that he goeth out unto his father, unto the reapers,

Update Bible Version
And when the child was grown, it fell on a day, that he went out to his father to the reapers.

Webster's Bible Translation
And when the child was grown, it happened on a day, that he went out to his father to the reapers.

World English Bible
When the child was grown, it fell on a day, that he went out to his father to the reapers.

New King James Version
And the child grew. Now it happened one day that he went out to his father, to the reapers.

New Living Translation
One day when her child was older, he went out to help his father, who was working with the harvesters.

New Life Bible
When the child was grown, he went out one day to his father who was with those gathering grain.

New Revised Standard
When the child was older, he went out one day to his father among the reapers.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And, when the child was grown, it came to pass, on a certain day, that he went out unto his father, unto the reapers;

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the child grew. And on a certain day, when he went out to his father to the reapers,

Revised Standard Version
When the child had grown, he went out one day to his father among the reapers.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
When the child was grown, the day came that he went out to his father to the reapers.

Contextual Overview

¹⁸The child grew up. One day he went to his father, who was working with the harvest hands, complaining, "My head, my head!" His father ordered a servant, "Carry him to his mother." ²⁰ The servant took him in his arms and carried him to his mother. He lay on her lap until noon and died. ²¹ She took him up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, shut him in alone, and left. ²² She then called her husband, "Get me a servant and a donkey so I can go to the Holy Man; I'll be back as soon as I can." ²³ "But why today? This isn't a holy day—it's neither New Moon nor Sabbath." She said, "Don't ask questions; I need to go right now. Trust me." ²⁴She went ahead and saddled the donkey, ordering her servant, "Take the lead—and go as fast as you can; I'll tell you if you're going too fast." And so off she went. She came to the Holy Man at Mount Carmel. The Holy Man, spotting her while she was still a long way off, said to his servant Gehazi, "Look out there; why, it's the Shunammite woman! Quickly now. Ask her, ‘Is something wrong? Are you all right? Your husband? Your child?'" She said, "Everything's fine." But when she reached the Holy Man at the mountain, she threw herself at his feet and held tightly to him. Gehazi came up to pull her away, but the Holy Man said, "Leave her alone—can't you see that she's in distress? But God hasn't let me in on why; I'm completely in the dark." Then she spoke up: "Did I ask for a son, master? Didn't I tell you, ‘Don't tease me with false hopes'?" He ordered Gehazi, "Don't lose a minute—grab my staff and run as fast as you can. If you meet anyone, don't even take time to greet him, and if anyone greets you, don't even answer. Lay my staff across the boy's face." The boy's mother said, "As sure as God lives and you live, you're not leaving me behind." And so Gehazi let her take the lead, and followed behind. But Gehazi arrived first and laid the staff across the boy's face. But there was no sound—no sign of life. Gehazi went back to meet Elisha and said, "The boy hasn't stirred." Elisha entered the house and found the boy stretched out on the bed dead. He went into the room and locked the door—just the two of them in the room—and prayed to God . He then got into bed with the boy and covered him with his body, mouth on mouth, eyes on eyes, hands on hands. As he was stretched out over him like that, the boy's body became warm. Elisha got up and paced back and forth in the room. Then he went back and stretched himself upon the boy again. The boy started sneezing—seven times he sneezed!—and opened his eyes. He called Gehazi and said, "Get the Shunammite woman in here!" He called her and she came in. Elisha said, "Embrace your son!" She fell at Elisha's feet, face to the ground in reverent awe. Then she embraced her son and went out with him. Elisha went back down to Gilgal. There was a famine there. While he was consulting with the guild of prophets, he told his servant, "Put a large pot on the fire and cook up some stew for the prophets." One of the men went out into the field to get some herbs; he came across a wild vine and picked gourds from it, filling his gunnysack. He brought them back, sliced them up, and put them in the stew, even though no one knew what kind of plant it was. The stew was then served up for the men to eat. They started to eat, and then exclaimed, "Death in the pot, O man of God! Death in the pot!" Nobody could eat it. Elisha ordered, "Get me some meal." Then he sprinkled it into the stew pot. "Now serve it up to the men," he said. They ate it, and it was just fine—nothing wrong with that stew! One day a man arrived from Baal Shalishah. He brought the man of God twenty loaves of fresh-baked bread from the early harvest, along with a few apples from the orchard. Elisha said, "Pass it around to the people to eat." His servant said, "For a hundred men? There's not nearly enough!" Elisha said, "Just go ahead and do it. God says there's plenty." And sure enough, there was. He passed around what he had—they not only ate, but had leftovers. ²⁶ One day the wife of a man from the guild of prophets called out to Elisha, "Your servant my husband is dead. You well know what a good man he was, devoted to God . And now the man to whom he was in debt is on his way to collect by taking my two children as slaves." Elisha said, "I wonder how I can be of help. Tell me, what do you have in your house?" "Nothing," she said. "Well, I do have a little oil." "Here's what you do," said Elisha. "Go up and down the street and borrow jugs and bowls from all your neighbors. And not just a few—all you can get. Then come home and lock the door behind you, you and your sons. Pour oil into each container; when each is full, set it aside." She did what he said. She locked the door behind her and her sons; as they brought the containers to her, she filled them. When all the jugs and bowls were full, she said to one of her sons, "Another jug, please." He said, "That's it. There are no more jugs." Then the oil stopped. She went and told the story to the man of God. He said, "Go sell the oil and make good on your debts. Live, both you and your sons, on what's left." One day Elisha passed through Shunem. A leading lady of the town talked him into stopping for a meal. And then it became his custom: Whenever he passed through, he stopped by for a meal. "I'm certain," said the woman to her husband, "that this man who stops by with us all the time is a holy man of God. Why don't we add on a small room upstairs and furnish it with a bed and desk, chair and lamp, so that when he comes by he can stay with us?" And so it happened that the next time Elisha came by he went to the room and lay down for a nap. Then he said to his servant Gehazi, "Tell the Shunammite woman I want to see her." He called her and she came to him. Through Gehazi Elisha said, "You've gone far beyond the call of duty in taking care of us; what can we do for you? Do you have a request we can bring to the king or to the commander of the army?" She replied, "Nothing. I'm secure and satisfied in my family." Elisha conferred with Gehazi: "There's got to be something we can do for her. But what?" Gehazi said, "Well, she has no son, and her husband is an old man." "Call her in," said Elisha. He called her and she stood at the open door. Elisha said to her, "This time next year you're going to be nursing an infant son." "O my master, O Holy Man," she said, "don't play games with me, teasing me with such fantasies!" The woman conceived. A year later, just as Elisha had said, she had a son. The child grew up. One day he went to his father, who was working with the harvest hands, complaining, "My head, my head!" His father ordered a servant, "Carry him to his mother." The servant took him in his arms and carried him to his mother. He lay on her lap until noon and died. She took him up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, shut him in alone, and left. She then called her husband, "Get me a servant and a donkey so I can go to the Holy Man; I'll be back as soon as I can." "But why today? This isn't a holy day—it's neither New Moon nor Sabbath." She said, "Don't ask questions; I need to go right now. Trust me." She went ahead and saddled the donkey, ordering her servant, "Take the lead—and go as fast as you can; I'll tell you if you're going too fast." And so off she went. She came to the Holy Man at Mount Carmel. The Holy Man, spotting her while she was still a long way off, said to his servant Gehazi, "Look out there; why, it's the Shunammite woman! Quickly now. Ask her, ‘Is something wrong? Are you all right? Your husband? Your child?'" She said, "Everything's fine." ²⁷ But when she reached the Holy Man at the mountain, she threw herself at his feet and held tightly to him. Gehazi came up to pull her away, but the Holy Man said, "Leave her alone—can't you see that she's in distress? But God hasn't let me in on why; I'm completely in the dark." ²⁸ Then she spoke up: "Did I ask for a son, master? Didn't I tell you, ‘Don't tease me with false hopes'?" ²⁹ He ordered Gehazi, "Don't lose a minute—grab my staff and run as fast as you can. If you meet anyone, don't even take time to greet him, and if anyone greets you, don't even answer. Lay my staff across the boy's face."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

to the reapers: Ruth 2:4

Reciprocal: 1 Kings 17:17 - the son of the woman 2 Kings 4:8 - it fell on 2 Kings 8:1 - whose son

Cross-References

Genesis 5:21
When Enoch was sixty-five years old, he had Methuselah. Enoch walked steadily with God. After he had Methuselah, he lived another 300 years, having more sons and daughters. Enoch lived a total of 365 years.

Genesis 36:2
Esau married women of Canaan: Adah, daughter of Elon the Hittite; Oholibamah, daughter of Anah and the granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite; and Basemath, daughter of Ishmael and sister of Nebaioth.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And when the child was grown,.... Perhaps was six or seven years of age, or more:

it fell on a day that he went out to his father to the reapers; it was harvest time, and the men were reaping the corn in the fields; and his father, though a wealthy man, was with them to direct them, and see they did their business well, as Boaz formerly; and the child went out from the house to the field, to see his father and the reapers, for his recreation and diversion.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 2 Kings 4:18. When the child was grown — We know not of what age he was, very likely four or six, if not more years; for he could go out to the reapers in the harvest field, converse, &c.