2 Kings 4:31

THE MESSAGE

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."

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Gehazi went ahead of them and placed the staff on the boy’s face, but there was no sound or sign of life, so he went back to meet Elisha and told him, “The boy didn’t wake up.”

Hebrew Names Version
Gechazi passed on before them, and laid the staff on the face of the child; but there was neither voice, nor hearing. Therefore he returned to meet him, and told him, saying, The child has not awakened.

King James Version
And Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff upon the face of the child; but there was neither voice, nor hearing. Wherefore he went again to meet him, and told him, saying, The child is not awaked.

English Standard Version
Gehazi went on ahead and laid the staff on the face of the child, but there was no sound or sign of life. Therefore he returned to meet him and told him, "The child has not awakened."

New Century Version
Gehazi went on ahead and laid the walking stick on the boy's face, but the boy did not talk or move. Then Gehazi went back to meet Elisha. "The boy has not awakened," he said.

New English Translation
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."

Amplified Bible
Gehazi went on ahead of them and laid the staff on the boy's face, but there was no sound or response [from the boy]. So he turned back to meet Elisha and told him, "The boy has not awakened (revived)."

New American Standard Bible
Then Gehazi went on ahead of them and laid the staff on the boy's face, but there was no sound or response. So he returned to meet him and informed him, saying, "The boy has not awakened."

Geneva Bible (1587)
But Gehazi was gone before them, & had layed the staffe vpon the face of the childe, but he neither spake nor heard: wherefore hee returned to meete him, and told him, saying, The childe is not waken.

Legacy Standard Bible
Now Gehazi passed on before them and laid the staff on the boy's face, but there was no sound or response. So he returned to meet him and told him, saying, "The boy has not awakened."

Contemporary English Version
Gehazi ran on ahead and laid Elisha's walking stick on the boy's face, but the boy didn't move or make a sound. Gehazi ran back to Elisha and said, "The boy didn't wake up."

Complete Jewish Bible
Geichazi went on ahead of them and laid the staff on the child's face, but there was no sound or sign of life. So he went back to Elisha and told him, "The child didn't wake up."

Darby Translation
And Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff upon the face of the lad; but there was neither voice, nor sign of attention. And he returned to meet him, and told him saying, The lad is not awaked.

Easy-to-Read Version
Gehazi arrived at the house before Elisha and the Shunammite woman. Gehazi laid the walking stick on the child's face, but the child did not talk or show any sign that he heard anything. Then Gehazi came back to meet Elisha and said, "The child will not wake up!"

George Lamsa Translation
And Gehazi went on before them and laid the staff upon the face of the child; but there was neither voice nor hearing. Therefore he returned to meet Elisha, and told him, saying, The child is not awake.

Good News Translation
Gehazi went on ahead and held Elisha's stick over the child, but there was no sound or any other sign of life. So he went back to meet Elisha and said, "The boy didn't wake up."

Lexham English Bible
Gehazi crossed over before them, and he put the staff on the face of the boy; but there was no sound, and there was no sign of life, so he returned to meet him. He told him, saying, "The boy did not wake up."

Literal Translation
And Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff on the face of the boy. But there was no voice, and there was no hearing. And he turned back to meet him, and told him, saying, The boy has not awakened.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
As for Gehasi, he wente before them, and layed the staffe vpon the childes face, but there was nether voyce ner felynge. And he wente agayne to mete him, and shewed him, and sayde: The childe is not rysen vp.

American Standard Version
And Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff upon the face of the child; but there was neither voice, nor hearing. Wherefore he returned to meet him, and told him, saying, The child is not awaked.

Bible in Basic English
And Gehazi went on before them and put the stick on the child's face; but there was no voice, and no one gave attention. So he went back, and meeting him gave him the news, saying, The child is not awake.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Gehezi went before them, and layed the staffe vpon the face of the childe, but ther was neither voyce nor any feeling: wherfore he went againe to meete him, and tolde him, saying: The childe is not awaked.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff upon the face of the child; but there was neither voice, nor hearing. Wherefore he returned to meet him, and told him, saying: 'The child is not awaked.'

King James Version (1611)
And Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staffe vpon the face of the child, but there was neither voyce, nor hearing: wherefore he went againe to meete him, and tolde him, saying, The child is not awaked.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And Giezi went on before her, and laid his staff on the child’s face: but there was neither voice nor any hearing. So he returned to meet him, and told him, saying, The child is not awaked.

English Revised Version
And Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff upon the face of the child; but there was neither voice, nor hearing. Wherefore he returned to meet him, and told him, saying, The child is not awaked.

Berean Standard Bible
Gehazi went on ahead of them and laid the staff on the boy's face, but there was no sound or response. So he went back to meet Elisha and told him, "The boy has not awakened."

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Sotheli Giezi yede bifor hem, and puttide the staaf on the face of the child; and `vois was not, nether wit. And Giezi turnede ayen to the meetyng of hym; and telde to him, and seyde, The child `roos not.

Young's Literal Translation
And Gehazi hath passed on before them, and layeth the staff on the face of the youth, and there is no voice, and there is no attention, and he turneth back to meet him, and declareth to him, saying, `The youth hath not awaked.'

Update Bible Version
And Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff on the face of the child; but there was neither voice, nor hearing. Therefore he returned to meet him, and told him, saying, The child did not awaken.

Webster's Bible Translation
And Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff upon the face of the child; but [there was] neither voice, nor hearing. Wherefore he went again to meet him, and told him, saying, The child is not awaked.

World English Bible
Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff on the face of the child; but there was neither voice, nor hearing. Therefore he returned to meet him, and told him, saying, The child has not awakened.

New King James Version
Now Gehazi went on ahead of them, and laid the staff on the face of the child; but there was neither voice nor hearing. Therefore he went back to meet him, and told him, saying, "The child has not awakened."

New Living Translation
Gehazi hurried on ahead and laid the staff on the child's face, but nothing happened. There was no sign of life. He returned to meet Elisha and told him, "The child is still dead."

New Life Bible
Gehazi went on before them and laid the stick on the boy's face. But there was no sound or anything to show that the boy was alive. So Gehazi returned to meet Elisha, and told him, "The boy is not awake."

New Revised Standard
Gehazi went on ahead and laid the staff on the face of the child, but there was no sound or sign of life. He came back to meet him and told him, "The child has not awakened."

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Now, Gehazi, had passed on before them, and laid the staff on the face of the boy, but there was neither voice, nor attention, - so he returned to meet him, and told him, saying - The boy hath not awaked.

Douay-Rheims Bible
But Giezi was gone before them, and laid the staff upon the face of the child, and there was no voice nor sense: and he returned to meet him, and told him, saying: The child is not risen.

Revised Standard Version
Geha'zi went on ahead and laid the staff upon the face of the child, but there was no sound or sign of life. Therefore he returned to meet him, and told him, "The child has not awaked."

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then Gehazi passed on before them and laid the staff on the lad's face, but there was no sound or response. So he returned to meet him and told him, "The lad has not awakened."

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

neither voice: 1 Samuel 14:37, 1 Samuel 28:6, Ezekiel 14:3, Matthew 17:16-21, Mark 9:19-29, Acts 19:13-17

hearing: Heb. attention, 1 Kings 18:26, 1 Kings 18:29

not awaked: Job 14:12, Daniel 12:2, Mark 5:39, John 11:11, John 11:43, John 11:44, Ephesians 5:14

Reciprocal: 2 Kings 5:20 - Gehazi 2 Kings 8:1 - whose son Luke 9:40 - and they

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And Gehazi passed on before them,.... The prophet and the Shunammite:

and laid the staff upon the face of the child; as he was ordered:

but there was neither voice nor hearing: it seems as if he spoke when he laid the staff on the child, but it heard and answered him not, so that there was no sign of life in it:

wherefore he went again to meet him; upon the road between Carmel and Shunem:

and told him, saying, the child is not awaked; by which he expresses its being dead; or, if he knew nothing of its death, he supposed it fast asleep, which was the reason of its not hearing and answering, though the former seems best.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

There was neither voice nor hearing - Compare 1 Kings 18:29.

The child is not awakened - See 2 Kings 4:20. The euphemism by which death is spoken of as a sleep was already familiar to the Jews (see 1 Kings 1:21 note).