And he said unto his father, My head, my head. And he said to a lad, Carry him to his mother.
Parallel translations
- WEB He said to his father, “My head! My head!” He said to his servant, “Carry him to his mother.”
- BSB “My head! My head!” he complained to his father. So his father told a servant, “Carry him to his mother.”
- NKJV And he said to his father, “My head, my head!” So he said to a servant, “Carry him to his mother.”
- NASB And he said to his father, “My head, my head!” And his father said to his servant, “Carry him to his mother.”
- NLT Suddenly he cried out, “My head hurts! My head hurts!” His father said to one of the servants, “Carry him home to his mother.”
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
The boy cries out in sudden head pain, and his father sends him to his mother. A sudden affliction strikes the gift God had given.
Overview
The child's distress, perhaps from heat or illness, comes without warning. The father, busy at harvest, sends him to his mother's care. The scene shows that even God's gifts are touched by the brokenness of this world. It sets up the test of the Shunammite's faith and God's power to restore.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 2
- Jer 4:19My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.
- Job 14:1–2Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 4:19 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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