2 Kings 4:18

And when the child was grown, it fell on a day, that he went out to his father to the reapers.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(18) It fell on a day.—See Note on 2Kings 4:8.

Benson Commentary

2 Kings 4:18-21. He went out to his father to the reapers — Either for pleasure, or with some message to him. He said to his father, My head, my head! — A more than common heat of the sun probably made him thus ill. The hand of Providence, however, was in the affliction, that occasion might be given to the prophet of working a wonderful miracle for the manifestation of the glory of God, like that which Elijah had wrought for the widow of Zarephath. He sat on her knees till noon, and then died — His pain was so violent, that it killed him in a few hours. She laid him on the bed of the man of God — The pious mother possesses her soul in patience under this surprising affliction: not one peevish, indecent word drops from her lips. She has a strong belief that the child will be raised to life again; like a genuine daughter of Abraham, she accounts that God is able to raise him from the dead, for she had at first received him by as great a miracle. She had doubtless heard of the raising the widow’s son at Zarephath, and that the spirit of Elijah rested on Elisha; and such confidence had she of God’s goodness, that she was very ready to believe, He that so soon took away what he had given, would restore what he had now taken away. By this faith women received their dead raised to life; Hebrews 11:35. In this faith she makes no preparation for the burial of the dead child, but for his resurrection. O woman, great is thy faith! he that inspired it would not frustrate it.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

4:18-37 Here is the sudden death of the child. All the mother's tenderness cannot keep alive a child of promise, a child of prayer, one given in love. But how admirably does the prudent, pious mother, guard her lips under this sudden affliction! Not one peevish word escapes from her. Such confidence had she of God's goodness, that she was ready to believe that he would restore what he had now taken away. O woman, great is thy faith! He that wrought it, would not disappoint it. The sorrowful mother begged leave of her husband to go to the prophet at once. She had not thought it enough to have Elisha's help sometimes in her own family, but, though a woman of rank, attended on public worship. It well becomes the men of God, to inquire about the welfare of their friends and their families. The answer was, It is well. All well, and yet the child dead in the house! Yes! All is well that God does; all is well with them that are gone, if they are gone to heaven; and all well with us that stay behind, if, by the affliction, we are furthered in our way thither. When any creature-comfort is taken from us, it is well if we can say, through grace, that we did not set our hearts too much upon it; for if we did, we have reason to fear it was given in anger, and taken away in wrath. Elisha cried unto God in faith; and the beloved son was restored alive to his mother. Those who would convey spiritual life to dead souls, must feel deeply for their case, and labour fervently in prayer for them. Though the minister cannot give Divine life to his fellow-sinners, he must use every means, with as much earnestness as if he could do so.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Do not lie - Compare a similar incredulity in Genesis 17:17; Genesis 18:12; Luke 1:20. The expression, "do not lie," which is harsh to us, accords with the plain, straightforward simplicity of ancient speech. It would not mean more than "deceive" (compare the marginal reference).

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

2Ki 4:18-37. Raises Her Dead Son.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And when the child was grown,.... Perhaps was six or seven years of age, or more:

it fell on a day that he went out to his father to the reapers; it was harvest time, and the men were reaping the corn in the fields; and his father, though a wealthy man, was with them to direct them, and see they did their business well, as Boaz formerly; and the child went out from the house to the field, to see his father and the reapers, for his recreation and diversion.

Geneva Study Bible

And when the child was grown, it fell on a day, that he went out to his father to the reapers.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

18–37. The child of the Shunammite dies, and is restored to life by Elisha (Not in Chronicles)

18. And when the child was grown] During the years which had elapsed since the birth of the child the journeys of the prophet between Samaria and Carmel had no doubt still continued, and the feeling of reverence felt by the Shunammite at first, had grown, as we see from the subsequent narrative, into complete trust, a trust which sends her to Carmel when her sorrow comes, and makes her cling to Elisha as her chief hope for relief. ‘As the Lord liveth and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee’.

to his father to the reapers] The whole picture is of a well-to-do home, where all was abundant. The husband is of the condition of Boaz (Ruth 2:1), and servants of various kinds are ready for every duty.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 18. - And when the child was grown - not grown up, for he was still a "child" (Ver. 30, 31, 35, etc.), but grown to be a boy, perhaps four or five years old - it fell on a day, that he went out to his father to the reapers. The corn-fields about Shunem attract the admiration of travelers. The husband of the Shunammite, the owner of several, was in one of them, superintending the cutting of his corn by the reapers; and the boy joined him there, as he had probably often done before. Country children delight in watching the various operations of the farmstead. 2 Kings 4:18

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

But even the faith of the pious woman was soon to be put to the test, and to be confirmed by a still more glorious revelation of the omnipotence of the Lord, who works through the medium of His prophets. When the child presented to her by God had grown up into a lad, he complained one day to the reapers of the field of a violent headache, saying to his father, "My head, my head!" He was then taken home to his mother, and died at noon upon her knees, no doubt from inflammation of the brain produced by a sunstroke.