2 Kings 4:37

THE MESSAGE

She fell at Elisha's feet, face to the ground in reverent awe. Then she embraced her son and went out with him.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
She came, fell at his feet, and bowed to the ground; she picked up her son and left.

Hebrew Names Version
Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground; and she took up her son, and went out.

King James Version
Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground, and took up her son, and went out.

English Standard Version
She came and fell at his feet, bowing to the ground. Then she picked up her son and went out.

New Century Version
She came in and fell at Elisha's feet, bowing facedown to the floor. Then she picked up her son and went out.

New English Translation
She came in, fell at his feet, and bowed down. Then she picked up her son and left.

Amplified Bible
She came and fell at his feet, bowing herself to the ground [in respect and gratitude]. Then she picked up her son and left.

New American Standard Bible
Then she came in and fell at his feet and bowed down to the ground, and she picked up her son and left.

Geneva Bible (1587)
And she came, and fell at his feete, and bowed her selfe to the ground, and tooke vp her sonne, and went out.

Legacy Standard Bible
Then she came in and fell at his feet and bowed herself to the ground, and she took up her son and went out.

Contemporary English Version
She came in and bowed down at Elisha's feet. Then she picked up her son and left.

Complete Jewish Bible
She entered, fell at his feet and prostrated herself on the floor. Then she picked up her son and went out.

Darby Translation
And she came and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground; and she took up her son, and went out.

Easy-to-Read Version
Then the Shunammite woman went into the room and bowed down at Elisha's feet. Then she picked up her son and went out.

George Lamsa Translation
Then she went in and fell at his feet and bowed herself to the ground and took up her son and went Out.

Good News Translation
She fell at Elisha's feet, with her face touching the ground; then she took her son and left.

Lexham English Bible
She came and fell at his feet and bowed down to the ground; then she picked up her son and went out.

Literal Translation
And she went in and fell at his feet, and bowed to the earth, and took up her son, and went out.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Then came she, and fell at his fete, and worshipped vnto the grounde, and toke hir sonne, and wente forth.

American Standard Version
Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground; and she took up her son, and went out.

Bible in Basic English
And she came in, and went down on her face to the earth at his feet; then she took her son in her arms and went out.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Therfore she went in, and fell at his feete, and bowed her selfe to the ground, and toke vp her sonne, and went out.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed down to the ground; and she took up her son, and went out.

King James Version (1611)
Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed her selfe to the ground, and tooke vp her sonne, and went out.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the woman went in, and fell at his feet, and did obeisance bowing to the ground; and she took her son, and went out.

English Revised Version
Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground; and she took up her son, and went out.

Berean Standard Bible
She came in, fell at his feet, and bowed to the ground. Then she picked up her son and went out.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
She cam, and felde doun to his feet, and worschipide on erthe; and sche took hir sone, and yede out.

Young's Literal Translation
And she goeth in, and falleth at his feet, and boweth herself to the earth, and lifteth up her son, and goeth out.

Update Bible Version
Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground; and she took up her son, and went out.

Webster's Bible Translation
Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground, and took up her son, and went out.

World English Bible
Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground; and she took up her son, and went out.

New King James Version
So she went in, fell at his feet, and bowed to the ground; then she picked up her son and went out.

New Living Translation
She fell at his feet and bowed before him, overwhelmed with gratitude. Then she took her son in her arms and carried him downstairs.

New Life Bible
She came and fell at his feet and put her face to the ground. Then she took up her son and went out.

New Revised Standard
She came and fell at his feet, bowing to the ground; then she took her son and left.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
So she came in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground, - and took up her son, and went forth.

Douay-Rheims Bible
She came and fell at his feet, and worshipped upon the ground: and took up her son, and went out.

Revised Standard Version
She came and fell at his feet, bowing to the ground; then she took up her son and went out.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then she went in and fell at his feet and bowed herself to the ground, and she took up her son and went out.

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

fell at his feet: 2 Kings 4:27, 2 Kings 2:15, 1 Kings 17:24

Reciprocal: Genesis 48:12 - he bowed himself 1 Samuel 25:24 - fell 1 Kings 17:23 - thy son liveth

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground,.... In reverence of him, and with the most profound gratitude and thankfulness for the mercy received:

and took up her son, and went out; of the chamber into her house, with great joy and gladness.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 37. She went in and fell at his feet — Few can enter into the feelings of this noble woman. What suspense must she have felt during the time that the prophet was employed in the slow process referred to above! for slow in its own nature it must have been, and exceedingly exhausting to the prophet himself.