Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
2 Kings 4:19

Clarke's Commentary

Verse 2 Kings 4:19. My head, any head. — Probably affected by the coup de soleil, or sun stroke, which might, in so young a subject, soon occasion death, especially in that hot country.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Miracles of care for the remnant (4:1-44)

The widow of one of the prophets was in desperate trouble. She had hardly any food left and was about to lose her only means of income; for her sons were to be taken from her in payment for a debt. Elisha’s miraculous provision of oil enabled her to pay the debt and so preserve a few of God’s faithful in days of extreme hardship (4:1-7).
Another of Israel’s faithful was the wife of a wealthy landowner. She recognized Elisha as God’s representative and offered him hospitality as often as he needed it. As with the poor widow of the previous story, Elisha provided for the woman’s future, in this case by promising her a son (8-17). Some years later the son died. The woman, still strong in faith, reasoned that seeing the prophet had promised her the son in the first place (even though she had not asked for a son), he had the responsibility to correct what had gone wrong. He was God’s representative and she would speak with no other (18-31). She insisted that Elisha himself go to her house, and again she would accept no other. Her faith was rewarded when Elisha brought her son back to life (32-37).
Elisha moved around the schools of the young prophets to instruct and encourage the faithful. At one school, during a time of famine, food was so scarce that the men had to eat wild plants. In these circumstances they suffered a serious loss when one of their meals was ruined because somebody had mistakenly cooked a poisonous plant. God lovingly provided for them through Elisha (38-41).
On another occasion God’s care for the faithful was shown when a farmer brought an offering of food that was miraculously multiplied to feed Elisha and a hundred of his followers (42-44).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

THE CHILD DIED AND HIS MOTHER APPEALED TO ELISHA

"And when the child was grown, it fell on a day, that he went out to his father to the reapers. And he said unto his father, My head, my head. And he said to his servant, Carry him to his mother. And when he had taken him, and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and then died. And she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and shut the door upon him, and went out. And she called unto her husband, and said, Send me, I pray thee, one of the servants, and one of the asses, that I may go to the man of God, and come again. And he said, Wherefore wilt thou go to him today? it is neither new moon nor sabbath. And she said, It shall be well. Then she saddled an ass, and said to her servant, Drive, and go forward; slacken me not the riding, except I bid thee. And so she went and came unto the man of God to mount Carmel."

It was harvest, the busiest time of the year, and the Shunammite woman avoided the kind of delay and commotion that would have resulted if she had passed along the knowledge of the death of their child. Her husband's trust of her was so complete that, despite his wondering why his wife was undertaking such a journey on that particular day, he manifested perfect confidence in her good judgment.

"When the child was grown" This cannot mean that the child had become an adult. He was at this time a small boy, easily carried by a servant to the child's mother, and easily carried by her upstairs to the private room of the prophet.

"It shall be well" The word thus rendered is actually "peace" in the Hebrew,International Critical Commentary, op. cit., p. 369. and carried with it the implication that everything was ALL RIGHT. The dead child's mother was absolutely unwilling to admit the child's death to anyone until she had accomplished her appeal to Elisha.

LaSor tells us that the purpose of the servant's attending this journey was that of "walking by the ass (or behind him) continually urging the beast forward."The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 351.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

The child’s malady was a sunstroke. The inhabitants of Palestine suffered from this (Psalms 121:6; Isaiah 49:10; Judith 8:3).

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 4

Now there was a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets who came to Elisha, saying, My husband is dead; and his creditors is come to take my two boys as slaves to pay for his debt. And Elisha said, What shall I do for you? what do you have in your house? She said, All I have is a pitcher of oil ( 2 Kings 4:1-2 ).

He said, "Alright, send your sons out and let them borrow every kind of a bucket and container they can find from the neighbor. Get all of the pitchers, everything they can. Not a few. Just get as many as they can. And then when you come into the house, close the door and take the pitcher of oil you have and fill all of the vessels."

So she went from him, and borrowed all the vessels; and she poured out. And it came to pass, when all the vessels were full, that she said, Isn't there any more vessels? They said, Not any more ( 2 Kings 4:5-6 ).

And so the oil sort of multiplied to fill all the vessels. She came to Elisha and said, "What shall I do now?" And he said, "Sell it and pay your debts and live off the rest."

Now it came to pass on a certain day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, and there was a great woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, as often as he passed by there, that he stopped to eat bread at her house. And she said to her husband, I perceive that this man is a prophet. Let's build him a little chamber here so that whenever he comes by, he has a place to lie down and rest and we'll always have provision for him. So they made a little chamber for him there on the wall; and they put a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick. And so it came to pass one day as he came to the chamber and turned in there, he said to Gehazi his servant, Go call the woman to me ( 2 Kings 4:8-12 ).

And so she came and he said, "You know, you've been gracious to me. What do you want me to do for you? Shall I speak to the king for you? You've taken great care of me and all. I like to return a favor." And she said, "I dwell among my own people. I don't have any ambitions to meet the king or the captain of the host. I mean, I'm very content right here." So Gehazi said, "Look, she doesn't have any children, her husband's an old man."

And so he said, Call her. And when she stood there in the door. He said, [You're going to get pregnant,] you're going to have a son about this season. Next year about this time you're going to be holding a little boy. And she said, [Oh,] don't lie to me now ( 2 Kings 4:16 ).

Don't build up my hopes. But yet within a year she was holding her own son.

Now it came to pass as the child grew up that he was out in the field with his dad. And he began to cry, Daddy, my head aches. My head aches. And so the dad ordered the servants to carry him back to his mother and she held him until he died. And so she laid him on Elisha's bed. She shut the door and she called her husband, and she said, Send me, I pray you, one of the young men, and one of the donkeys, that I may run to the man of God, and return home. And he said, Why do you want to go to him? It's not the new moon or the Sabbath day. And she said, It's going to be well ( 2 Kings 4:18-23 ).

Now it's sort of a, "Why do you want to go to church today, it's not Sunday kind of a thing, you know."

And so she saddled the donkey, and she said to the servant, Drive, and go forward; and don't slack thy riding for me, unless I tell you. So when they came to the man of God in mount Carmel. It came to pass, when the man of God saw her afar off, he said to Gehazi his servant, Behold, here comes that Shunammite woman: Run now, I pray, and meet her, and say unto her, Is it well with you? is it well with your husband? is it well with your child? And she answered, It is well. And when she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught him by the feet: and Gehazi started to push her away. But Elisha said, No, let her alone; her soul is vexed within her: and the LORD hath hid it from me, and hath not told me ( 2 Kings 4:24-27 ).

Now this is lest the people get hold of the story of Elisha today and his capacities of being able to know things, people's thoughts and so forth. Lest they attribute that to some kind of mental capacities, mind reading or whatever. God inserted this into the stories so that you would know that his was a gift of God and God could withhold that gift. And if God withheld the gift, he didn't know anything just like the rest of us. He only knew as God would reveal. And he was a little surprised that God had hid from him what was wrong with the Shunammite woman. Now, I'm surprised whenever God reveals something to me. But he was surprised that something wasn't revealed. The fact that here she's got real problem and the Lord hasn't revealed to me what it is.

And so she said, Did I ask you for a child? ( 2 Kings 4:28 )

Now you know my heart was bound up in this child.

And he said to Gehazi, Quick, put on your coat and take my staff in your hand, and run: and lay it on the head of the child. [Don't stop and talk to any men on the way, just run.] And the mother of the child said, As the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, I'm not going to leave you. So he arose, and followed her ( 2 Kings 4:29-30 ).

I see here a mother's love demonstrated. I see here the determination and the power of a mother's love. I mean, she's not going to accept any substitutes. "Don't send a servant. You think you're going to get by with that? I'm not leaving you. I came for you." And her determination that Elijah, or Elisha rather, go with her. And she's not about to just accept Gehazi running with his staff to put it upon her son's head.

And so Gehazi ran on before them, and laid the staff on the face of the child; but there was neither voice, nor hearing. And so he came back to meet them, and he told Elisha, The child did not wake up. When Elisha was come to the house, behold, the child was dead, and laying there on Elisha's bed. And he went in, and he shut the door upon the two of them, and he prayed unto the LORD. And he laid upon the child, put his mouth upon his mouth, eyes upon his eyes, his hands upon his hands: stretched himself upon the child; and the flesh of the child began to warm. Then he returned, and walked around in the house; and then he went back and stretched himself on the child again: and the child sneezed seven times, and opened his eyes. And he called Gehazi, and said, Call the Shunammite. And they called her. And when she was come in, he said, Take up your son. And she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground, and took up her son, and went out. So Elisha then came down again to Gilgal [coming south and west]: and there was a dearth in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him: and he said, Set up a big boiling pot on the fire there and boil up some pottage for the sons of the prophets. And so these guys went out and gathered the wild herbs, [wild vegetables, and all the greens in the field, and some guy got hold of some wild gourds, not knowing any better]. And he shred them into this great bowl of pottage that they were cooking up for the prophets. So when they started to dish it out and these guys started eating, oh, it was horrible and they began to cry, There's death in the pot. And so Elisha said, Bring me some meal. And he poured the meal in, stirred it, cooked it, and then they poured it out again and the noxious pottage was palatable. Then there came a man from Baalshalisha, and he brought Elisha some bread and some ears of corn. [And there were a hundred prophets there.] And Elisha said, Ah, we're going to have a feast. They said, You can't feed a hundred men with that little bit of bread and corn. And he said, Give to the people that they may eat: for thus saith the Lord, They shall all eat, and they will have some leftover. So he set it before them, and they did eat, according to the word of the Lord ( 2 Kings 4:31-44 ).

And we are reminded of the miracles in the New Testament of Christ feeding the five thousand men, besides women and children with the five loaves and two fish. That same kind of a miracle, the same type happened here where the hundred men all ate and there was food left over from the bread and the ears of corn that this man has brought. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

God’s blessing of those who honor Him 4:8-37

In contrast to the incident above, this one shows God’s blessing on a wealthy woman. She was not the marriage partner of a prophet but a simple faithful believer in Yahweh (cf. 2 Kings 4:8-10; 2 Kings 4:16; 2 Kings 4:21-22; 2 Kings 4:24-25; 2 Kings 4:27; 2 Kings 4:30; 2 Kings 4:37). She was living among unbelievers in Israel (cf. Rahab, Ruth, et al.). Her husband appears to have been only a formal participant in Yahweh worship rather than thoroughly dedicated to Him (2 Kings 4:19; 2 Kings 4:23). His words may imply that he expected Elisha to be available only on holy days, but he showed genuine concern for his son’s health. [Note: Patterson and Austel, p. 186.]

The story illustrates the great blessing (fertility) that God will bring on those who award Him the place He deserves (cf. Hannah). He went as far as giving this infertile woman (2 Kings 4:14) a son and then restoring him to life when he died. Her respect for Yahweh is clear from her respect for His prophet (2 Kings 4:9-10; 2 Kings 4:13; 2 Kings 4:30; 2 Kings 4:37).

Shunem stood in the Jezreel Valley. Gehazi (2 Kings 4:12) had become Elisha’s servant as Elisha had been Elijah’s. As such he was the potential successor to his ministry. "I live among my own people" (2 Kings 4:13) translates an idiom that meant, "I am content." At first the woman found it hard to believe that God would reward her with a child (2 Kings 4:16; cf. Sarah).

Evidently the woman concluded that it was better if her husband did not know about their son’s death for some reason that the writer did not state (2 Kings 4:22-23). Though she had respect for Gehazi (2 Kings 4:26), she had much more confidence in Elisha’s ability to help her.

"Disciples can be an obstacle to the needy reaching the master (Matthew 19:13-14)." [Note: Wiseman, p. 204.]

Grasping his feet (2 Kings 4:27) showed her desperate dependence on his power, her humility, and her veneration for Elisha (cf. Matthew 28:9). Perhaps Elisha told Gehazi to go and heal the lad to test the woman’s faith (2 Kings 4:29). The staff was a symbol of his power. However, she said in the strongest terms that her confidence was in Yahweh and in Elisha (2 Kings 4:30). The phrase "As the Lord lives" occurs seven times in 1 Kings and seven times in 2 Kings. It is always the testimony of true faith in Yahweh. Elisha probably intended that Gehazi’s failure would teach him this lesson: God works in response to fervent, dependent prayer, not in response to some fetish or some formal act (2 Kings 4:31; cf. Matthew 7:14-21).

Only God’s power made active by petition could restore the boy’s life (2 Kings 4:33). Elisha’s physical contact with him connected the power of God through the prophet and the miracle unmistakably (2 Kings 4:34; cf. 1 Kings 17:21-23). Seven sneezes, not more or less, would have signified an act of God to ancient Near Easterners (cf. Genesis 1; 2 Kings 5:14).

"In our pericope Elisha acts as a sort of intermediary for childbirth, analogous to Baal’s role in the Ugaritic tablets. YHWH, not Baal, not Elisha for that matter, grants the Shunammite a child. The child dies, bringing to mind the story of Elijah in 1 Kings 17. Prayer raises the child to life, illustrating not only that YHWH gives children, but that he can take them to himself or restore them to life." [Note: Battenfield, p. 28.]

If God could create new life and then revive it, as He did here, He could also give Israel life (at the Exodus) and revive it (in Elisha’s day). This story, as many others in Kings, is another powerful polemic against Baal and for Yahweh.

"This scene also shows that prophets not only are preachers of sin and repentance; they also are agents of God’s healing mercy and kind compassion." [Note: House, p. 268.]

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

And he said unto his father, my head, my head,.... After he had been some time with him, he complained of a pain in his head, which might be owing, as Abarbinel thinks, to the sun's beating upon it, being harvest time, and hot weather; and the pain being exceeding great and vehement, he repeated his complaint, see Jeremiah 4:19

and he said to a lad, carry him home to his mother; his father gave orders to a lad that attended the reapers to have him home to his mother, that she might give him something to ease him of his pain.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      18 And when the child was grown, it fell on a day, that he went out to his father to the reapers.   19 And he said unto his father, My head, my head. And he said to a lad, Carry him to his mother.   20 And when he had taken him, and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and then died.   21 And she went up, and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and shut the door upon him, and went out.   22 And she called unto her husband, and said, Send me, I pray thee, one of the young men, and one of the asses, that I may run to the man of God, and come again.   23 And he said, Wherefore wilt thou go to him to day? it is neither new moon, nor sabbath. And she said, It shall be well.   24 Then she saddled an ass, and said to her servant, Drive, and go forward; slack not thy riding for me, except I bid thee.   25 So she went and came unto the man of God to mount Carmel. And it came to pass, when the man of God saw her afar off, that he said to Gehazi his servant, Behold, yonder is that Shunammite:   26 Run now, I pray thee, to meet her, and say unto her, Is it well with thee? is it well with thy husband? is it well with the child? And she answered, It is well.   27 And when she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught him by the feet: but Gehazi came near to thrust her away. And the man of God said, Let her alone; for her soul is vexed within her: and the LORD hath hid it from me, and hath not told me.   28 Then she said, Did I desire a son of my lord? did I not say, Do not deceive me?   29 Then he said to Gehazi, Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thine hand, and go thy way: if thou meet any man, salute him not; and if any salute thee, answer him not again: and lay my staff upon the face of the child.   30 And the mother of the child said, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And he arose, and followed her.   31 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.   32 And when Elisha was come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid upon his bed.   33 He went in therefore, and shut the door upon them twain, and prayed unto the LORD.   34 And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands: and he stretched himself upon the child; and the flesh of the child waxed warm.   35 Then he returned, and walked in the house to and fro; and went up, and stretched himself upon him: and the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes.   36 And he called Gehazi, and said, Call this Shunammite. So he called her. And when she was come in unto him, he said, Take up thy son.   37 Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground, and took up her son, and went out.

      We may well suppose that, after the birth of this son, the prophet was doubly welcome to the good Shunammite. He had thought himself indebted to her, but henceforth, as long as she lives, she will think herself in his debt, and that she can never do too much for him. We may also suppose that the child was very dear to the prophet, as the son of his prayers, and very dear to the parents, as the son of their old age. But here is,

      I. The sudden death of the child, though so much a darling. He was so far past the perils of infancy that he was able to go to the field to his father, who no doubt was pleased with his engaging talk, and his joy of his son was greater than the joy of his harvest; but either the cold or the heat of the open field overcame the child, who was bred tenderly, and he complained to his father that his head ached, 2 Kings 4:19; 2 Kings 4:19. Whither should we go with our complaints, but to our heavenly Father? Thither the Spirit of adoption brings believers with all their grievances, all their desires, teaching them to cry, with groanings that cannot be uttered, "My head, my head; my heart, my heart." The father sent him to his mother's arms, his mother's lap, little suspecting any danger in his indisposition, but hoping he would drop asleep in his mother's bosom and awake well; but the sickness proved fatal; he slept the sleep of death (2 Kings 4:20; 2 Kings 4:20), was well in the morning and dead by noon: all the mother's care and tenderness could not keep him alive. A child of promise, a child of prayer, and given in love, yet taken away. Little children lie open to the arrests of sickness and death. But how admirably does the prudent pious mother guard her lips under this surprising affliction! Not one peevish murmuring word comes from her. She has a strong belief that the child will be raised to life again: like a genuine daughter of Abraham's faith, as well as loins, she accounts that God is able to raise him from the dead, for thence at first she received him in a figure,Hebrews 11:19. She had heard of the raising of the widow's son of Sarepta, and that the spirit of Elijah rested on Elisha; and such confidence had she of God's goodness that she was very ready to believe that he who so soon took away what he had given would restore what he had now taken away. By this faith women received their dead raised to life,Hebrews 11:35. In this faith she makes no preparation for the burial of her dead child, but for its resurrection; for she lays him on the prophet's bed (2 Kings 4:21; 2 Kings 4:21), expecting that he will stand her friend. O woman! great is thy faith. he that wrought it would not frustrate it.

      II. The sorrowful mother's application to the prophet on this sad occasion; for it happened very opportunely that he was now at the college upon Mount Carmel, not far off.

      1. She begged leave of her husband to go to the prophet, yet not acquainting him with her errand, lest he should not have faith enough to let her go, 2 Kings 4:22; 2 Kings 4:22. He objected, It is neither new moon nor sabbath (2 Kings 4:23; 2 Kings 4:23), which intimates that on those feasts of the Lord she used to go to the assembly in which he presided, with other good people, to hear the word, and to join with him in prayers and praises. She did not think it enough to have his help sometimes in her own family, but, though a great woman, attended on public worship, for which this was none of the times appointed; therefore, said the husband, "why wilt thou go to day? What is the matter?" "No harm," said she, "It shall be well, so you will say yourself hereafter." See how this husband and wife vied with each other in showing mutual regard; she was so dutiful to him that she would not go till she had acquainted him with her journey, and he so kind to her that he would not oppose it, though she did not think fit to acquaint him with her business. 2. She made all the haste she could to the prophet (2 Kings 4:24; 2 Kings 4:24), and he, seeing her at a distance, sent his servant to enquire whether any thing was amiss, 2 Kings 4:25; 2 Kings 4:26. The questions were particular: Is it well with thee? Is it well with thy husband? Is it well with the child? Note, It well becomes the men of God, with tenderness and concern, to enquire about the welfare of their friends and their families. The answer was general It is well. Gehazi was not the man that she came to complain to, and therefore she put him off with this; she said little, and little said is soon amended (Psalms 39:1; Psalms 39:2), but what she did say was very patient: "It is well with me, with my husband, with the child"--all well, and yet the child dead in the house. Note, When God calls away our dearest relations by death it becomes us quietly to say, "It is well both with us and them;" it is well, for all is well that God does; all is well with those that are gone if they have gone to heaven, and all well with us that stay behind if by the affliction we are furthered in our way thither. 3. When she came to the prophet she humbly reasoned with him concerning her present affliction. She threw herself at his feet, as one troubled and in grief, which she never showed till she came to him who, she believed, could help her, 2 Kings 4:27; 2 Kings 4:27. When her passion would do her service she knew how to discover it, as well as how to conceal it when it would do her disservice. Gehazi knew his master would not be pleased to see her lie at his feet, and therefore would have raised her up; but Elisha waited to hear from her, since he might not know immediately from God, what was the cause of her trouble. God discovered things to his prophets as he saw fit, not always as they desired; God did not show this to the prophet, because he might know it from the good woman herself. What she said was very pathetic. She appealed to the prophet, (1.) Concerning her indifference to this mercy which was now taken from her: "Did I desire a son of my lord? No, thou knowest I did not; it was thy own proposal, not mine; I did not fret for the want of a son, as Hannah, nor beg, as Rachel, Give me children or else I die." Note, When any creature-comfort is taken from us, it is well if we can say, through grace, that we did not set our hearts inordinately upon it; for, if we did, we have reason to fear it was given in anger and taken away in wrath. (2.) Concerning her entire dependence upon the prophet's word: Did I not say, Do not deceive me? Yes, she did say so (2 Kings 4:16; 2 Kings 4:16), and this reflection upon it may be considered either, [1.] As quarrelling with the prophet for deceiving her. She was ready to think herself mocked with the mercy when it was so soon removed, and that it would have been better she had never had this child than to be deprived of him when she began to have comfort in him. Note, The loss of a mercy should not make us undervalue the gift of it. Or, [2.] As pleading with the prophet for the raising of the child to life again: "I said, Do not deceive me, and I know thou wilt not." Note, However the providence of God may disappoint us, we may be sure the promise of God never did, nor ever will, deceive us: hope in that will not make us ashamed.

      III. The raising of the child to life again. We may suppose that the woman gave Elisha a more express account of the child's death, and he gave her a more express promise of his resurrection, than is here related, where we are briefly told,

      1. That Elisha sent Gehazi to go in all haste to the dead child, gave him his staff, and bade him lay that on the face of the child, 2 Kings 4:29; 2 Kings 4:29. I know not what to make of this. Elisha knew that Elijah raised the dead child with a very close application, stretching himself upon the child, and praying again and again, and could he think to raise this child by so slight a ceremony as this, especially when nothing hindered him from coming himself? Shall such a power as this be delegated, and to no better man that Gehazi? Bishop Hall suggests that it was done out of human conceit, and not by divine instinct, and therefore it failed of the effect; God will not have such great favours made too cheap, nor shall they be too easily come by, lest they be undervalued.

      2. The woman resolved not to go back without the prophet himself (2 Kings 4:30; 2 Kings 4:30): I will not leave thee. She had no great expectation from the staff, she would have the hand, and she was in the right of it. Perhaps God intended hereby to teach us not to put that confidence in creatures, that are servants, which the power of the Creator, their Master and ours, will alone bear the weight of. Gehazi returns re infecta--without success, without the tidings of any sign of life in the child (2 Kings 4:31; 2 Kings 4:31): The child is not awaked, intimating, to the comfort of the mother, that its death was but a sleep, and that he expected that it would shortly be awaked. In the raising of dead souls to spiritual life ministers can do no more by their own power than Gehazi here could; they lay the word, like the prophet's staff, before their faces, but there is neither voice nor hearing, till Christ, by his Spirit, comes himself. The letter alone kills; it is the Spirit that gives life. It is not prophesying upon dry bones that will put life into them, breath must come from heaven and breathe upon those slain.

      3. The prophet, by earnest prayer, obtained from God the restoring of this dead child to life again. He found the child dead upon his own bed (2 Kings 4:32; 2 Kings 4:32), and shut the door upon them twain,2 Kings 4:33; 2 Kings 4:33. Even the dead child is spoken of as a person, one of the twain, for it was still in being and not lost. He shut out all company, that he might not seem to glory in the power God had given him, or to use it for ostentation and to be seen of men. Observe,

      (1.) How closely the prophet applied himself to this great operation, perhaps being sensible that he had tempted God too much in thinking to effect it by the staff in Gehazi's hand, for which he thought himself rebuked by the disappointment. He now found it a harder task than he then thought, and therefore addressed himself to it with great solemnity. [1.] He prayed unto the Lord (2 Kings 4:33; 2 Kings 4:33), probably as Elijah had done, Let this child's soul come into him again. Christ raised the dead to life as one having authority--Damsel, arise--young man, I say unto thee, Arise--Lazarus, come forth (for he was powerful and faithful as a Son, the Lord of life), but Elijah and Elisha did it by petition, as servants. [2.] He lay upon the child (2 Kings 4:34; 2 Kings 4:34), as if he would communicate to him some of his vital heat or spirits. Thus he expressed the earnestness of his desire, and gave a sign of that divine power which he depended upon for the accomplishment of this great work. He first put his mouth to the child's mouth, as if, in God's name, he would breathe into him the breath of life; then his eyes to the child's eyes, to open them again to the light of life; then his hands to the child's hands, to put strength into them. He then returned, and walked in the house, as one full of care and concern, and wholly intent upon what he was about. Then he went up stairs again, and the second time, stretched himself upon the child,2 Kings 4:35; 2 Kings 4:35. Those that would be instrumental in conveying spiritual life to dead souls must thus affect themselves with their case, and accommodate themselves to it, and labour fervently in prayer for them.

      (2.) How gradually the operation was performed. At the first application, the flesh of the child waxed warm (2 Kings 4:34; 2 Kings 4:34), which gave the prophet encouragement to continue instant in prayer. After a while, the child sneezed seven times, which was an indication, not only of life, but liveliness. Some have reported it as an ancient tradition that when God breathed into Adam the breath of life the first evidence of his being alive was sneezing, which gave rise to the usage of paying respect to those that sneeze. Some observe here that sneezing clears the head, and there lay the child's distemper.

      (3.) How joyfully the child was restored alive to his mother (2 Kings 4:36; 2 Kings 4:37), and all parties concerned were not a little comforted,Acts 20:12. See the power of God, who kills and makes alive again. See the power of prayer; as it has the key of the clouds, so it has the key of death. See the power of faith; that fixed law of nature (that death is a way whence there is no returning) shall rather be dispensed with than this believing Shunammite shall be disappointed.

Kelly Commentary on Books of the Bible

However, the next chapter (2 Kings 3:1-27) brings us at once into earthly circumstances. "Now Jehoram the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah." There was no doubt a painful state of things most offensive to God. Not that the king of Judah was not pious, but that his testimony was ruined by his alliance with the kingdom of Israel. Accordingly, then, we find there is great weakness here, though God deals in nothing but tender mercy and goodness. The king of Moab provokes a rebellion against the king of Israel, and Jehoram goes to put it down. He calls upon Jehoshaphat to fulfil his treaty obligations, and, with the king of Edom, goes against the refractory king of Moab. But they come into difficulties. They are in danger of being themselves overthrown.

"Alas!" said the king of Moab, after they had been for some time without water and food for the cattle "alas! that Jehovah hath called these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Moab." Jehoshaphat knew better. "Is there not here a prophet of Jehovah," says he, "that we may enquire of Jehovah by him?" And one of them tells him of Elisha. Jehoshaphat at once recognized him. He knows that the word of Jehovah is with him. So they go down to him; and Elisha says to the king of Israel, "What have I to do with thee? Get thee to the prophets of thy father and to the prophets of thy mother. And the king of Israel said unto him, Nay; for Jehovah hath called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab." False confidence soon yields to real despair, but faith can be calm and wait upon God. "And Elisha said, As Jehovah liveth before whom I stand, surely were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look toward thee, nor see thee."

There is no doubt in this a rebuke, and a stern one, but we shall find that the action of the prophet is full of grace. "But now bring me a minstrel." He felt, as it were, that he was out of tune with his proper ministry. The presence of the wicked king had disturbed the heavenly tone of his soul. "Bring me a minstrel. And it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of Jehovah came upon him. And he said, Thus saith Jehovah, Make this valley full of ditches. For thus saith Jehovah, Ye shall not see wind, neither shall ye see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, that ye may drink, both ye and your cattle and your beasts. And this is but a light thing in the sight of Jehovah; he will deliver the Moabites also into your hand." Thus an answer of mercy comes instead of judgment. "And it came to pass in the morning, when the meat offering was offered, that behold there came water by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water." This very thing misleads the Moabites, for they fancy it is blood. "And they rose up early in the morning and the sun shone upon the waters, and the Moabites saw the water on the other side as red as blood" for God was pleased that so it should appear. "And they said, This is blood: the kings are surely slain, and they have smitten one another; now therefore Moab to the spoil." They were caught in their own trap. "But when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rode up and smote the Moabites, so that they fled before them; but they went forward smiting the Moabites even in their country. And they beat down the cities, and on every good piece of land cast every man his stone, and filled it; and they stopped all the wells of water, and felled all the good trees: only in Kirharaseth left they the stones thereof; howbeit the slingers went about and smote it. And when the king of Moab saw that the battle was too sore for him, he took with him seven hundred men that drew swords, to break through even unto the king of Edom; but they could not." The defeat not only was immediate but hopeless, so much so that the king was guilty of an act that filled the people of Edom with indignation against Israel. "For he took his eldest son that should have reigned in his stead and offered him for a burnt offering upon the wall. And there was great indignation against Israel, and they departed from him." This then was another signal manifestation of the mercy that God had caused to shine through Elisha.

But we find further in the next chapter (2 Kings 4:1-44), and in a very beautiful way not in these outward events that the world calls great, but in that which in my judgment is a still more blessed pledge, a witness of the real greatness of God. The greatness of God is far more shown in His care for souls, for individuals and in his ability to think of the least want and of the least necessity of His people. "Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear Jehovah; and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons as bondmen." Elisha asked her what she wished him to do, and what she had in the house. "And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil." Now it is according to what we can receive that God loves to bless us. "Go, borrow thee," says he, "vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few. And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full. So she went from him and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out. And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed." It is only so that the blessing stays. There never can be a stay to the blessing as long as there is a heart ready to receive it. What a remarkable illustration! "Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt."

But this is not all. There is no doubt the rich supply of that which is the well-known type too, of what is essential of the Spirit. But further, "It fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman" that is, a person of consequence "and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread" for Elisha was not as Elijah. Elijah was more after the pattern of John the Baptist who repelled the advances of men; who rebuked, if he came across those who were in exalted station but living to dishonour God. Elisha, on the contrary, was a witness of grace, and he therefore does not turn away from the habitations of men into the desert, but could, as we see, pass in to eat bread with this Shunammite. "And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually. Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick; and it shall be when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither."

So on one day that he was there, he bethought him of a return of love for the love that was shown to him. And he called the Shunammite, and when she stood before him, he said unto her, "Behold thou hast been careful for us with all this care what is to be done for thee? Wouldst thou be spoken for to the king or to the captain of the host?" We can hardly conceive such an enquiry from Elijah; it was perfectly in keeping with Elisha; and I am anxious to bring out strongly the contrast between this twofold ministry. "And she answered, I dwell among mine own people"; she was right, she was content; and godliness with contentment is great gain. "He said to Gehazi, What then is to be done for her? And Gehazi answered, Verily she hath no child and her husband is old. And he said, Call her. And when he had called her, she stood in the door. And he said, About this season, according to the time of life, thou shalt embrace a son. And she said, Nay, my lord, thou man of God, do not lie unto thine handmaid" but so it was according to the word of the prophet.

Yet in this world, even the mercies and the gifts of God are not without deep trial, and so it was that the Shunammite's son for the more that he was loved and valued as the gift of God, most especially by his mother, sorrow was her portion was taken sick, comes home to his mother and dies. "And she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God and shut the door upon him and went out. And she called unto her husband and said, Send me, I pray thee, one of the young men, and one of the asses, that I may run to the man of God and come again." The husband little knowing what was the matter, wonders, but the point is yielded, and she sets out and comes in full haste to mount Carmel. And the man of God seeing her afar off, remarks upon it to his servant Gehazi. And when she came to him she caught him by the feet, so that the servant wished to repel her. But the prophet knew right well that there was some worthy cause for an action so peculiar. "Her soul is vexed within her," said he most surely, "and Jehovah hath hid it from me" even the one that was the witness of grace none the less. "Then she said, Did I desire a son, O my lord? did I not say, Do not deceive me?"

He understands. He says to Gehazi, "Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thine hand and go thy way." He was to go peremptorily, heeding no one, saluting no one. He had his mission to lay the prophet's staff upon the face of the child. This would not satisfy the faith of the mother. The staff would not do. The prophet, and nothing else than the prophet, must go. She said, "As Jehovah liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And he arose and followed her."

So here again was another test of faith, and she was right. "And Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff upon the face of the, child; but there was neither voice nor hearing. Yes, she was right. "Wherefore he went again to meet him, and told him saying, The child is not awaked. And when Elisha was come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid upon his bed. He went in therefore, and shut the door upon them twain, and prayed unto Jehovah. And he went up and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands, and he stretched himself upon the child; and the flesh of the child waxed warm."

All the world might have done it in vain. God was pleased so to draw out the mind and heart of the prophet. It was not merely to be a cold request or even an earnest one. It showed in the most vivid manner that God had an interest in the prophet and answers faith. "Then he returned, and walked in the house to and fro; and went up and stretched himself upon him; and the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes. And he called Gehazi and said, Call this Shunammite. So he called her. And when she was come in unto him, he said, Take up thy son. Then she went in and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground, and took up her son and went out."

Here then was not merely the gracious reply of what was good, but the power that was superior to evil, in its form most terrible to man upon the earth, superior to death. And this too in perfect grace. It was not that the Shunammite had asked him for the blessing, for it was he who had sought to give the blessing. But at the same time God wrought in her heart to expect another, and she was not disappointed.

Yet it was not merely in this way; for now we find a dearth in the land. And the sons of the prophets were there. "And as they were seething pottage, one of them put in some wild gourds, which were poisonous. So they poured out for the men to eat, and it came to pass as they were eating of the pottage that they cried out and said, O thou man of God, there is death in the pot. And they could not eat thereof. But he said, Then bring meal. And he cast it into the pot; and he said, Pour out for the people that they may eat. And there was no harm in the pot." It is the same character of gracious power.

Further, another thing it was unselfishly gracious; for when the prophet was presented with twenty loaves of barley and full ears of corn in the husks thereof, he says again, "Give unto the people that they may eat." We remember the remarkable difference in the case of Elijah, who tested the faith of the poor widow by asking first for himself. Not but what he knew the power that would meet her need, but still he tested her after so severe a sort. But in this case, thoroughly characteristic of Elisha's ministry, what is sent to him, he gives to others. And his servant, astonished, asked him, "What, should I set this before an hundred men? He said again, Give the people that they may eat, for thus saith Jehovah, They shall eat and shall leave thereof. So he set it before them, and they did eat and left thereof, according to the word of Jehovah." There is no stinting with God. But it is not merely in the midst of the distressed, and the mourning, and the needy, and the dying, or dead, of God's people. The grace of God, when once it begins to flow, breaks over all boundaries.

And this is what we learn in the chapter that now follows (2 Kings 5:1-27) and that we have authority from God to interpret it so, can be easily shown. Our Lord Himself shows that the very essence of the teaching of this chapter is the grace that went out sovereignly to visit the Gentiles. There were many lepers in Israel, but it was not there that grace worked. If grace works it will prove its own character, it will prove its own sovereignty, it will prove its own wisdom. God was looking for the neediest where He could be least expected where there was evidently no claim upon Him. Naaman the Syrian, commander in chief of the most powerful Gentile army opposed to Israel, was the one that God was pleased to visit with His mercy and in a manner altogether peculiar, and most encouraging. A little maid of Israel, a little captive maid, becomes the instrument of making it known. But the king of Israel's own powerlessness comes out, for he knew right well that it was not in man to cure leprosy; it was one of the things that God kept in His own power. However, here was exactly the opportunity of the prophet.

I have already referred to the fact, and it is even more remarkable in Elisha's case than in Elijah's, that it is more in deed than in word that we find these two prophets manifesting God. Acts may be as prophetic as words, and their acts were so. We are entitled therefore to give them the fullest meaning they can bear a meaning, of course, guided by scripture elsewhere; for we must bear in mind that symbolic language is just as precise as the ordinary language of every day, and I should say rather more so. It is not everyone that can understand it so easily, but when the heart gets accustomed to the language of the book of God, it is not found so very difficult. There must, of course, be the hearing ear and the attentive heart; but I say again that the symbols of scripture are as fixed in their meaning as the plain language of it.

Now, in this case, we have the Gentile coming to the prophet, and he comes as Gentiles will do, very full of their own thoughts and their own expectations. But the heart must prove its own utter ignorance and folly; it is only so that the full blessing may come. However, to Jordan he must go. His own rivers would not suit just because they were his own. The river of God that is the river for the leper. And there he goes down into the waters of death, for such is the meaning of Jordan not merely for the Jew to enter in, but for the Gentile by grace to receive the full blessing of God. And this, too, when Israel had utterly departed from the living God, and was under a cloud. This chapter puts it very strongly, for I have no doubt that guilty, covetous and unbelieving, is as rightly descriptive of the state of Israel now as then.

Naaman was of the Gentile race; but, alas! the Jew is accursed with the leprosy from which the Gentile is delivered. And such was the state, not merely without a blessing, but under a judicial curse from God. The Gentile then is delivered, and we see the beautiful picture of a man not only set free, but with conscience active because he was set free. I do not say that he was all right; it is in vain to expect that all at once, but he was on the right road. And beautiful it is, beloved friends, to learn the lesson I think we all need it sometimes not to hurry souls, and not to be anxious to form them according to our own mould or our own measure.

Thus we see, though the prophet could have answered at once as to the difficulty that Naaman presented, he leaves him in the hands of God. He had done that which ought well to awaken and exercise the conscience of the Gentile. He would rather leave him than give him premature knowledge. There is nothing that often more stifles the divine life. When people want to use their little well they should be disciplined in the right use of the little they know already. This was the case then with Naaman. Gehazi, alas! Disappears: he has gone out from the presence of God as Israel is now, as it were, gone out from God's presence.

In the next scene (2 Kings 6:1-33) we have Elisha still in the same career of grace. The sons of the prophets find the place where they dwell is too strait for them, and they say, "Let us go to Jordan," and there they take beams, and so on, for the construction of their large dwellings. "But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water. And he cried, and said, Alas, master! for it was borrowed."

Now here again we see the same thing. It is not reprimand. No doubt there was carelessness, but it is the grace that can meet every need, the little just as much as the great. And I do not hesitate to say that true greatness shows itself in its capacity to take in the little. "And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he showed him the place. And he cut down a stick and cast it in thither, and the iron did swim. Therefore, said he, Take it up to thee; and he put out his hand and took it."

In what follows we have what is on a totally different scale, that is, the deliverance that appears from the enemy. Elisha's servant was alarmed, but the prophet prays for him. The film is removed from his eyes, and he sees how true is the word that more were on their side than on that of their adversaries. Elisha's prayer then is answered by the Lord and the mountain was seen to be full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. "And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed unto Jehovah and said, Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness. And he smote them with blindness." But then there is all the difference even between this act and Elijah's. Where Elijah sends anything of the sort, he leaves them to it. When Elisha seems to depart for a season from grace, it is only to show the fuller grace in the end just like our Lord, who, when appearing to be deaf to the Syro-Phenician's request, only meant to send her away with a greater blessing, and a deeper sense of the Lord's goodness.

So now, Elisha leads these very, blinded, men into Samaria, into the city which least of all they would have wished so to enter. They were helpless prisoners so much so that the king of Israel wants to smite them; but the prophet stays his hand. "My father, shall I smite them?" "Thou shalt not smite them. Wouldest thou smite those whom thou hast taken captive with thy sword and with thy bow? Set bread and water before them that they may eat and drink and go to their master." And what was the effect? "The bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel. To have smitten them would have only provoked another campaign. To have smitten them with blindness and to have restored their sight, and then to have fed them with bread and water in the very heart of the enemy's land, brought the immediate surrounding of the power of God so impressively before their eyes that the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel. It was no doubt a most effectual blow, but it was a blow of mercy and not of judgment.

What next follows I may be brief upon. We are all more or less familiar, no doubt, with the great famine in Samaria, and how the Lord changed everything, and changed so surprisingly, and by such simple means. The distress was excessive. The king of Israel was most helpless, and all was in confusion. "And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman unto him saying, Help, my lord, O king. And he said, If Jehovah do not help thee whence shall I help thee?" "And she answered, This woman said unto me, Give thy son that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow. So we boiled my son and did eat him; and I said unto her on the next day, Give thy son that we may eat him, and she hath hid her son." No wonder that the king rent his clothes, and wore sackcloth; but there was no fear of God on the contrary, there was a murderous intent against the prophet of God.

The blame was laid upon him. "But Elisha sat in his house and the elders sat with him; and the king sent a man from before him; but ere the messengers came to him, he said to the elders, See ye how this son of a murderer" (for indeed he was) "hath sent to take away mine head." But there is no fire that comes down from heaven to consume him quite the contrary. He said, "Behold this evil is of Jehovah; what should I wait for Jehovah any longer." There was no fear of God before the king's eyes. There was no confidence in God; and the fear of, and confidence in, God go together.

Now what does Elisha say? "Hear ye the word of Jehovah. Thus saith Jehovah, Tomorrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria." There was to be then the utmost abundance, and that, too, the very next day, where there was this most excessive famine even to the eating of poor little children. We can understand how that unbelieving lord should challenge the word of the prophet and say, "Behold, if Jehovah would make windows in heaven, might this thing be?" He did not expect that God was listening, and that God was answering, for his prophet instantly replies, "Thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof." And so it was.

Then we have details of the four lepers brought before us, and the fleeing away of the Syrians, and the abundance that was left behind, and the way in which they themselves had found the mercy of God meeting them in their distress. They became the heralds of it to others that were only less distressed than themselves. Thus was the word accomplished, and there was abundance of food for the people. The word was fulfilled to the letter, but not yet was the ministry of Elisha exhausted.

For in the next chapter (2 Kings 8:1-29) he goes and says to the woman whose son he had restored to life, "Arise, and go thou and thy household, and sojourn wheresoever thou canst sojourn." What was he going to do? To inflict a famine upon the land? Nay. We do not hear that it was he that prayed for it, but we do hear that it was he that warned this Shunammite, so that she should be preserved from the bitter consequences of the famine. It was an intervention of grace and not an execution of judgment. The Shunammite woman is told to go where she can. "It shall come upon the land," says he, "for seven years. And the woman arose and did after the saying of the man of God. And she went with her household and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years." And when the full time of dearth was passed, this woman returned.

Can one doubt that as Gehazi represents Israel in their unbelief, and the solemn judgment of God upon them, because of it, and that too when the Gentile receives the blessing (for nothing more irritated Israel, as we see in the New Testament, than the Gentile receiving such a blessing of God), so here we find this woman is the sign of the return of Israel after the long period. The full term of famine has passed over the land once favoured of God, but now given up to the miserable curse. She returns again, then, out of the land of the Philistines, and she comes and cries to the king for her house and land. And the king was talking at that very moment with Gehazi (or what remained of this miserable man) of the wonders he had once seen, but no longer had an active personal interest in. And this is all that poor Israel can do. This is all that Gehazi does in the courts of the king.

So the Jew may talk of his traditional glory, but he has got none now. All that he can have now is to his shame. He is a wanderer and a vagabond on the face of the earth. No matter what he may be, such is an Israelite now. He is under the very badge of shame. He carries on his brow his sentence as a wanderer and a leper before God. But there are bright hopes for Israel, and to Israel they will surely come. Not to this generation the generation that cast out the Lord and has continued in its unbelief it will still come under the desperate judgments of God. But there is a generation to come. I believe therefore that as Gehazi is the type of this generation, the woman now returning after the seven years is the type of the generation to come. And she has all restored to her, and the fruits of the field. She not merely enters upon her land intact, but all that she should have had during the long seven years is all given back; for the Lord will repay with interest all that is due to Israel. And what will He not count due when He is pleased to take up the cause of His ancient people? Thus, then, we have Elisha still in the activity of grace.

And he comes to Damascus, and there he acts more strictly as a prophet than we have usually seen him, though I do not doubt that all was prophetic. All his actions were prophetic, as I have been endeavouring a little to show you here. And Elisha tells Hazael, in answer to the request of the king of Syria, that his master was to die, but that there was no necessity that he should die. Alas! he was to die by the treacherous hand of man; and the man was there. It was none other than this Hazael. Elisha said to him, "Go, say unto him, Thou mayest certainly recover; howbeit Jehovah hath showed me that he shall surely die." This was a riddle. "And he settled his countenance stedfastly, until he was ashamed." For deep thoughts passed in the prophet's mind as he looked upon the face of the murderer the murderer in prospect. "And the man of God wept." Well he might as he thought of such ways upon earth. "And Hazael said, Why weepeth my lord? And he answered, Because I know the evil that thou wilt do unto the children of Israel. And Hazael said, But what! is thy servant a dog that he should do this great thing? And Elisha answered, Jehovah hath showed me that thou shalt be king over Syria." And so it came to pass. And the chapter pursues the public events of the kingdom, on which I need not dwell more than just to finish the story of Elisha.

But in 2 Kings 9:1-37, Elisha again is found. "He called one of the children of the prophets and said unto him, Gird up thy loins and take this box of oil in thine hand and go to Ramoth Gilead. And when thou comest thither, look out there Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi and go in and make him arise up from among his brethren." And so it was done. The young man went and anointed him for his work. He gives him his terrible commission, and Jehu does not fail of accomplishing it the commission of destroying, cutting off from Ahab every male. "And I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah. And the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the portion of Jezreel," the portion of sin, of covetousness and blood. But here I must close for the present.