So he said, “What then is to be done for her?” And Gehazi answered, “Actually, she has no son, 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.
- BSB So he asked, “Then what should be done for her?” “Well, she has no son,” Gehazi replied, “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 1:8Elkanah her husband said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? Why don’t you eat? Why is your heart grieved? Am I not better to you than ten sons?”
- Luke 1:7But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they both were well advanced in years.
- Gen 15:2–3Abram said, “Lord Yahweh, what will you give me, since I go childless, and he who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?”
- Gen 18:10–14He said, “I will certainly return to you at about this time next year; and behold, Sarah your wife will have a son.” Sarah heard in the tent door, which was behind him.
- Judg 13:2There was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and childless.
- Gen 25:21Isaac entreated Yahweh for his wife, because she was barren. Yahweh was entreated by him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.
- 1 Sam 1:2He had two wives. The name of one was Hannah, and the name of other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.
- Gen 30:1When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children, or else I will die.”
- Gen 17:17Then Abraham fell on his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to him who is one hundred years old? Will Sarah, who is ninety years old, give birth?”
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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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