^4:8One day Elisha traveled to Shunem, where a prominent⁹ woman lived. She insisted that he stop for a meal.¹⁰ So whenever he was passing through, he would stop in there for a meal.¹¹^4:9She said to her husband, “Look, I’m sure¹² that the man who regularly passes through here is a very special prophet.¹³^4:10Let’s make a small private upper room¹⁴ and furnish it with¹⁵ a bed, table, chair, and lamp. When he visits us, he can stay there.”

^4:11One day Elisha¹⁶ came for a visit; he went¹⁷ into the upper room and rested.¹⁸^4:12He told his servant Gehazi, “Ask the Shunammite woman to come here.”¹⁹ So he did so and she came to him.²⁰^4:13Elisha said to Gehazi,²¹ “Tell her, ‘Look, you have treated us with such great respect.²² What can I do for you? Can I put in a good word for you with the king or the commander of the army?’ ” She replied, “I’m quite secure.”²³^4:14So he asked Gehazi,²⁴ “What can I do for her?” Gehazi replied, “She has no son, and her husband is old.” ^4:15Elisha told him, “Ask her to come here.”²⁵ So he did so²⁶ and she came and stood in the doorway.²⁷^4:16He said, “About this time next year²⁸ you will be holding a son.” She said, “No, my master! O prophet, do not lie to your servant!” ^4:17The woman did conceive, and at the specified time the next year she gave birth to a son, just as Elisha had told her.

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Footnotes

9 Heb “great,” perhaps “wealthy.”
10 Or “she urged him to eat some food.”
11 Or “he would turn aside there to eat some food.”
12 Heb “I know.”
13 Heb “holy man of God.”
14 Heb “a small upper room of a wall”; according to עֲלִיָּה, this refers to “a fully walled upper room.”
15 Heb “and let’s put there for him.”
16 Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
17 Heb “turned aside.”
18 Or “slept there.”
19 Heb “Call for this Shunammite woman.”
20 Heb “and he called for her and she stood before him.”
21 Heb “he said to him.”
22 Heb “you have turned trembling to us with all this trembling.” The exaggerated language is probably idiomatic. The point seems to be that she has taken great pains or gone out of her way to be kind to them. Her concern was a sign of her respect for the prophetic office.
23 Heb “Among my people I am living.” This answer suggests that she has security within the context of her family.
24 Heb “and he said.”
25 Heb “Call for her.”
26 Heb “and he called her.”
27 Heb “and he called for her and she stood in the door.”
28 Heb “at this appointed time, at the time [when it is] reviving.” For a discussion of the second phrase see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (), .