2 Kings 4:28

THE MESSAGE

Then she spoke up: "Did I ask for a son, master? Didn't I tell you, ‘Don't tease me with false hopes'?"

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Then she said, “Did I ask my lord for a son? Didn’t I say, ‘Do not lie to me?’”

Hebrew Names Version
Then she said, Did I desire a son of my lord? Didn't I say, Do not deceive me?

King James Version
Then she said, Did I desire a son of my lord? did I not say, Do not deceive me?

English Standard Version
Then she said, "Did I ask my lord for a son? Did I not say, ‘Do not deceive me?'"

New Century Version
She said, "Master, did I ask you for a son? Didn't I tell you not to lie to me?"

New English Translation
She said, "Did I ask my master for a son? Didn't I say, ‘Don't mislead me?'"

Amplified Bible
Then she said, "Did I ask for a son from my lord? Did I not say, 'Do not give me false hope'?"

New American Standard Bible
Then she said, "Did I ask for a son from my lord? Did I not say, 'Do not give me false hope'?"

Geneva Bible (1587)
Then she said, Did I desire a sonne of my lord? did I not say, Deceiue me not?

Legacy Standard Bible
Then she said, "Did I ask for a son from my lord? Did I not say, ‘Do not deceive me'?"

Contemporary English Version
The woman said, "Sir, I begged you not to get my hopes up, and I didn't even ask you for a son."

Complete Jewish Bible
Then she said, "Did I ask my lord for a son? Didn't I say not to deceive me?"

Darby Translation
And she said, Did I desire a son of my lord? did I not say, Do not deceive me?

Easy-to-Read Version
Then she said, "Sir, I never asked for a son. I told you, ‘Don't trick me!'"

George Lamsa Translation
Then she said, Did I ask a son of my lord? Did I not say to you, Do not ask a son for me?

Good News Translation
The woman said to him, "Sir, did I ask you for a son? Didn't I tell you not to get my hopes up?"

Lexham English Bible
Then she said, "Did I ask for a son from my lord? Did I not say that you must not mislead me?"

Literal Translation
And she said, Did I ask a son from my lord? Did I not say, Do not deceive me?

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
She sayde: Whan desyred I a sonne of my lorde? Sayde I not, yt thou shuldest not mocke me?

American Standard Version
Then she said, Did I desire a son of my lord? did I not say, Do not deceive me?

Bible in Basic English
Then she said, Did I make a request to my lord for a son? did I not say, Do not give me false words?

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Then she saide: Did I desire a sonne of my Lorde? did I not require thee that thou shouldest not deceaue me?

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Then she said: 'Did I desire a son of my lord? did I not say: Do not deceive me?'

King James Version (1611)
Then shee said, Did I desire a sonne of my Lord ? did I not say, Doe not deceiue me?

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And she said, Did I ask a son of my lord? For did I not say, Do not deal deceitfully with me?

English Revised Version
Then she said, Did I desire a son of my lord? did I not say, Do not deceive me?

Berean Standard Bible
Then she said, "Did I ask my lord for a son? Didn't I say, 'Do not deceive me?'"

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And sche seide to hym, Whether I axide my sone of my lord? Whether Y seide not to thee, Scorne thou not me?

Young's Literal Translation
And she saith, `Did I ask a son from my lord? did I not say, Do not deceive me?'

Update Bible Version
Then she said, Did I desire a son of my lord? did I not say, Don't deceive me?

Webster's Bible Translation
Then she said, Did I ask a son from my lord? did I not say, Do not deceive me.

World English Bible
Then she said, Did I desire a son of my lord? Didn't I say, Do not deceive me?

New King James Version
So she said, "Did I ask a son of my lord? Did I not say, "Do not deceive me'?"

New Living Translation
Then she said, "Did I ask you for a son, my lord? And didn't I say, ‘Don't deceive me and get my hopes up'?"

New Life Bible
Then she said, "Did I ask you for a son? Did I not say, ‘Do not lie to me'?"

New Revised Standard
Then she said, "Did I ask my lord for a son? Did I not say, Do not mislead me?"

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then said she, Did I ask a son, of my lord? Said I not, Thou must not mislead me?

Douay-Rheims Bible
And she said to him: Did I ask a son of my lord? did I not say to thee: Do not deceive me?

Revised Standard Version
Then she said, "Did I ask my lord for a son? Did I not say, Do not deceive me?"

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then she said, "Did I ask for a son from my lord? Did I not say, 'Do not deceive me'?"

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

Did I desire: Genesis 30:1

Do not: 2 Kings 4:16

Reciprocal: 2 Kings 8:12 - my Lord Job 7:11 - the anguish Acts 9:38 - desiring

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Then she said, did I desire a son of my lord?.... It was not at her request she had one, at least the first motion was not from her; the prophet first told her, and assured her she should have one, without her asking for it; she might be pleased with it, and desire the promise might be fulfilled; but it was not an inordinate, importunate, desire of one, in which she had exceeded, that so the taking it away from her might be a correction of her for it:

did I not say, do not deceive me; by giving hopes of a child, and yet have none; and now it was equally the same, or worse, to have one, and then to have it taken away again as soon as had almost; so the Targum,

"did I not say unto thee, if a child is given me, let it live, if not, do not trouble or grieve me;''

and then, no doubt, she told him plainly the child was dead, and where she had laid it, though not recorded.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Great grief shrinks from putting itself into words. The Shunammite cannot bring herself to say, “My son is dead;” but by reproaching the prophet with having “deceived” her, she sufficiently indicates her loss.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 28. Did I desire a son of my lord? — I expressed no such wish to thee; I was contented and happy; and when thou didst promise me a son, did I not say, Do not deceive me? Do not mock me with a child which shall grow up to be attractive and engaging, but of whom I shall soon be deprived by death.