2 Kings 4:29
in 2 Kings 4So Elisha said to Gehazi, “Tie up your garment, take my staff in your hand, and go! If you meet anyone, do not greet him, and if anyone greets you, do not answer him. Then lay my staff on the boy’s face.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Then he said to Gehazi, Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thy 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.
KJV
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.
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This verse in 2 Kings 4
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Salute him not - Compare the marginal reference. Salutation is the forerunner of conversation and one bent on speed would avoid every temptation to loiter. Lay my staff upon the face of the child - Perhaps to assuage the grief of the mother, by letting her feel that something was being done for her child.
This site's exposition
Gird up thy loins, and
The staff sent ahead by a servant's hand tests whether a prophet's power can travel by a borrowed object rather than his own presence, the same question the floating axe head and Elisha's bones will answer later in his ministry. The command to salute no man by the way and answer no salute matches the errand's urgency to the letter Jesus gives the seventy in Luke 10:4, a mission too pressing for the road's courtesies. The staff, it turns out, is not the answer; the man himself will be.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
After the death of her son, that woman went out and prostrated herself at the feet of holy Elisha, but the blessed man gave his staff to his servant and said to him, "Go, and lay my staff on the face of the child. If …
When he saw her suffering and anguish, he immediately sent his disciple, entrusting him with his staff, and told him to lay it on the dead child and to inform him about the results of his ministry. He wanted the resurrection of the dead to …
A commentator
Augustine of HippoEXPOSITION ON PSALM 70 (EXPOSITION 1).19 · Written in the 5th century.
proposed
There is another representation of the same truth: Elisha's action in first dispatching his servant with his staff to raise the dead child. The son of the woman who had given Elisha hospitality had died; the news was brought to Elisha, and he sent his servant with the staff. "Go," he told him, "lay the staff on the dead child." Was the prophet unsure what to do? The servant went on ahead and placed the staff on the corpse; but the dead child did not revive. "If a law capable of giving life had been granted to us, then of course righteousness would have been obtainable through the law." The law sent through a servant did not bring life. But Elisha, who had sent his staff with his servant, was to follow later himself and bring the child to life. After hearing that the child had not revived, Elisha came in person; he was a type of our Lord, who had sent his servant ahead of him with a staff that represents the Law. He came to the dead child lying there and placed his body over him. But the dead person was an infant and Elisha a grown man, so he contracted his adult stature and somehow curtailed it, making himself like a child so that he matched the corpse in size. The dead child arose when the living man had fitted himself to him; the Lord accomplished what the staff had failed to do; grace achieved what the Law could not.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
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;
Then he said to Gehazi, gird up thy loins,....
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The act of Gehazi was allowed to fail, in order to free the Shunammite, and the people of Israel at large, of the superstitious notion of supposing a miraculous virtue resided in any person, or in any rod, and to prove that it was only through earnest prayer and faith in the power of God and for His glory that this and every miracle was to be performed.
Salute him not - Make all the haste thou possibly canst, and lay my staff on the face of the child; he probably thought that it might be a case of mere suspended animation or a swoon, and that laying the staff on the face of the child might act as a stimulus to excite the animal motions.
The words behind it
23 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֨אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| לְגֵיחֲזִ֜י | legeichazi | to Gehazi | H1522 → | 12 times |
| חֲגֹ֣ר | chagor | gird up | H2296 → | 44 times |
| מָתְנֶ֗יךָ | mateneikha | loins your | H4975 → | 47 times |
| וְקַ֨ח | vekach | and take | H3947 → | 966 times |
| מִשְׁעַנְתִּ֣י | mishanti | staff my | H4938 → | 12 times |
| בְיָדְךָ֮ | veyadekha | in hand your | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| וָלֵךְ֒ | valekh | and go | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | if | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| תִמְצָ֥א | timtza' | you will meet | H4672 → | 455 times |
| אִישׁ֙ | ʾish | anyone | H376 → | 1663 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תְבָרְכֶ֔נּוּ | tevarekhenu | you must bless him | H1288 → | 330 times |
| וְכִֽי־ | vekhi- | and if | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| יְבָרֶכְךָ֥ | yevarekha | he will bless you | H1288 → | 330 times |
| אִ֖ישׁ | ʾish | anyone | H376 → | 1663 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תַעֲנֶנּ֑וּ | taanenu | you must answer him | H6030 → | 331 times |
| וְשַׂמְתָּ֥ | vesamta | and you will put | H7760 → | 584 times |
| מִשְׁעַנְתִּ֖י | mishanti | staff my | H4938 → | 12 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| פְּנֵ֥י | penei | [the] face of | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| הַנָּֽעַר׃ | hanaar | the lad | H5288 → | 239 times |
וַיֹּ֨אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
לְגֵיחֲזִ֜יto Gehazi
legeichaziH1522 →12 times
חֲגֹ֣רgird up
chagorH2296 →44 times
מָתְנֶ֗יךָloins your
mateneikhaH4975 →47 times
וְקַ֨חand take
vekachH3947 →966 times
מִשְׁעַנְתִּ֣יstaff my
mishantiH4938 →12 times
בְיָדְךָ֮in hand your
veyadekhaH3027 →1618 times
וָלֵךְ֒and go
valekhH1980 →1546 times
כִּֽי־if
ki-H3588 →4482 times
תִמְצָ֥אyou will meet
timtza'H4672 →455 times
אִישׁ֙anyone
ʾishH376 →1663 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
תְבָרְכֶ֔נּוּyou must bless him
tevarekhenuH1288 →330 times
וְכִֽי־and if
vekhi-H3588 →4482 times
יְבָרֶכְךָ֥he will bless you
yevarekhaH1288 →330 times
אִ֖ישׁanyone
ʾishH376 →1663 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
תַעֲנֶנּ֑וּyou must answer him
taanenuH6030 →331 times
וְשַׂמְתָּ֥and you will put
vesamtaH7760 →584 times
מִשְׁעַנְתִּ֖יstaff my
mishantiH4938 →12 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
פְּנֵ֥י[the] face of
peneiH6440 →2123 times
הַנָּֽעַר׃the lad
hanaarH5288 →239 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
1 Kings 18:46And the hand of the LORD came upon Elijah, and he tucked his cloak into his belt and ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 3:14
So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the LORD upon me.
- Ezekiel 1:3
the word of the LORD came directly to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the River Kebar. And there the LORD’s hand was upon him.
- 2 Kings 9:1
Now Elisha the prophet summoned one of the sons of the prophets and said to him, “Tuck your cloak under your belt, take this flask of oil, and go to Ramoth-gilead.
- 2 Kings 3:15
But now, bring me a harpist.” And while the harpist played, the hand of the LORD came upon Elisha
- Isaiah 8:11
For this is what the LORD has spoken to me with a strong hand, instructing me not to walk in the way of this people:
- Ezekiel 3:14
Through
Luke 10:4Carry no purse or bag or sandals. Do not greet anyone along the road.
it leads to
- Luke 22:35
Then Jesus asked them, “When I sent you out without purse or bag or sandals, did you lack anything?” “Nothing,” they answered.
- Luke 22:35
Through
2 Kings 2:14Then he took the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and struck the waters. “Where now is the LORD, the God of Elijah?” he asked. And when he had struck the waters,…
it leads to
- John 14:12
Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever believes in Me will also do the works that I am doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
- John 14:12
Through
2 Kings 9:1Now Elisha the prophet summoned one of the sons of the prophets and said to him, “Tuck your cloak under your belt, take this flask of oil, and go to Ramoth-gilead.
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 10:1
Then Samuel took a flask of oil, poured it on Saul’s head, kissed him, and said, “Has not the LORD anointed you ruler over His inheritance?
- 1 Samuel 10:1
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 2 Kings
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, EXPOSITION ON PSALM 70 (EXPOSITION 1).19; Caesarius of Arles, EXPOSITION 1 OF PSALM 70:19; Ephrem the Syrian, ON THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS 4:17; F. W. Farrar, The Second Book of Kings (Expositor's Bible); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.