So he asked, “Then what should be done for her?” “Well, she has no son,” Gehazi replied, “and her husband is old.”
Parallel translations
- WEB He said, “What then is to be done for her?” Gehazi answered, “Most certainly she has no son, and her husband is old.”
- KJV And he said, What then is to be done for her? And Gehazi answered, Verily she hath no child, and her husband is old.
- NKJV So he said, “What then is to be done for her?” And Gehazi answered, “Actually, she has no son, and her husband is old.”
- NASB So he said, “What then is to be done for her?” And Gehazi answered, “It is a fact that she has no son, and her husband is old.”
- NLT Later Elisha asked Gehazi, “What can we do for her?” Gehazi replied, “She doesn’t have a son, and her husband is an old man.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Gehazi observes that the woman has no son and her husband is old. The unspoken sorrow of childlessness becomes the focus of God's blessing.
Overview
Though she asked for nothing, Gehazi discerns her deep, silent need. In that culture childlessness brought grief and an uncertain future. God often meets the longings we do not voice. The scene recalls how the Lord remembered barren women like Sarah and Hannah, bringing life where there was none.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- 1 Sam 1:8“Hannah, why are you crying?” her husband Elkanah asked. “Why won’t you eat? Why is your heart so grieved? Am I not better to you than ten sons?”
- Luke 1:7But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well along in years.
- Gen 15:2–3But Abram replied, “O Lord GOD, what can You give me, since I remain childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”
- Gen 18:10–14Then the LORD said, “I will surely return to you at this time next year, and your wife Sarah will have a son!” Now Sarah was behind him, listening at the entrance to the tent.
- Judg 13:2Now there was a man from Zorah named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, whose wife was barren and had no children.
- Gen 25:21Later, Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. And the LORD heard his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived.
- 1 Sam 1:2He had two wives, one named Hannah and the other Peninnah. And Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none.
- Gen 30:1When Rachel saw that she was not bearing any children for Jacob, she envied her sister. “Give me children, or I will die!” she said to Jacob.
- Gen 17:17Abraham fell facedown. Then he laughed and said to himself, “Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah give birth at the age of ninety?”
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Christ at the center
Amid the long decline toward exile, the promise to David's house refuses to die; the flickering lamp kept burning anticipates the coming King who will not fail or be cut off.
How 2 Kings 4:14 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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