2 Kings 4:28
in 2 Kings 4Then she said, “Did I ask you for a son, my lord? Didn’t I say, ‘Do not deceive me?’”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Then she said, Did I desire a son of my lord? did I not say, Do not deceive me?
KJV
Then she said, Did I desire a son of my lord? did I not say, Do not deceive me?
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This verse in 2 Kings 4
Commentary
7 notes on this verseDid I desire a son of my lord? - I expressed no such wish to thee; I was contented and happy; and when thou didst promise me a son, did I not say, Do not deceive me? Do not mock me with a child which shall grow up to be attractive and engaging, but of whom I shall soon be deprived by death.
This site's exposition
caught him by the feet
on 2 Kings 4:27-28
Elisha states his own limit plainly, the Lord hath hid it from me, and hath not told me, a prophet's knowledge bounded by what is revealed rather than total, the same boundary Micaiah's court scene will dramatize later at 1 Ki 22. The woman's answer in the next verse throws Elisha's own promise back at him almost word for word, did I not say, Do not deceive me, holding the man of God to the word he gave rather than accepting comfort in place of it.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"The woman conceived and bore a son at that season, in due time, as Elisha had declared to her," but after a few years, the child died. His mother placed the corpse on the bed of the prophet in the high room of her house …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
She said - This child was not given to me upon my immoderate desire, for which I might have justly been thus chastised, but was freely promised by thee in God's name, and from his special favour.
Then she said, did I desire a son of my lord?....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The violent paroxysm of grief into which she fell on approaching him, appeared to Gehazi an act of disrespect to his master; he was preparing to remove her when the prophet's observant eye perceived that she was overwhelmed with some unknown cause of distress. How great is a mother's love! how wondrous are the works of Providence!
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Great grief shrinks from putting itself into words. The Shunammite cannot bring herself to say, “My son is dead;” but by reproaching the prophet with having “deceived” her, she sufficiently indicates her loss.
The words behind it
10 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַתֹּ֕אמֶר | vatomer | and she said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| הֲשָׁאַ֥לְתִּי | hashaalti | ¿ did I ask for | H7592 → | 171 times |
| בֵ֖ן | ven | a son | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| מֵאֵ֣ת | meet | from with | H854 → | 929 times |
| אֲדֹנִ֑י | ʾadoni | lord my | H113 → | 333 times |
| הֲלֹ֣א | halo' | ¿ not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| אָמַ֔רְתִּי | ʾamarti | did I say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תַשְׁלֶ֖ה | tashleh | you must deceive | H7952 → | |
| אֹתִֽי׃ | ʾoti | <obj.> me | H853 → | 10935 times |
וַתֹּ֕אמֶרand she said
vatomerH559 →5305 times
הֲשָׁאַ֥לְתִּי¿ did I ask for
hashaaltiH7592 →171 times
בֵ֖ןa son
venH1121 →4930 times
מֵאֵ֣תfrom with
meetH854 →929 times
אֲדֹנִ֑יlord my
ʾadoniH113 →333 times
הֲלֹ֣א¿ not
halo'H3808 →5168 times
אָמַ֔רְתִּיdid I say
ʾamartiH559 →5305 times
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
תַשְׁלֶ֖הyou must deceive
tashlehH7952 →
אֹתִֽי׃<obj.> me
ʾotiH853 →10935 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
2 Kings 4:16And Elisha declared, “At this time next year, you will hold a son in your arms.” “No, my lord,” she said. “Do not lie to your maidservant, O man of God.”
it leads to
- Genesis 18:10
Then 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…
- Luke 1:13
But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John.
- Genesis 18:12–15
So she laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?”
- Genesis 17:21
But I will establish My covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this time next year.”
- Genesis 17:16–17
And I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will descend from her.”
- Genesis 18:10
Through
Genesis 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.
it leads to
- Job 5:2
For resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple.
- Genesis 29:31
When the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, He opened her womb; but Rachel was barren.
- Genesis 37:11
And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept in mind what he had said.
- Job 5:2
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 2 Kings
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ephrem the Syrian, ON THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS 4:17; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil, The Books of the Kings and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.