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Thursday, July 31st, 2025
the Week of Proper 12 / Ordinary 17
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Amplified Bible

2 Kings 4:14

Later Elisha said, "What then is to be done for her?" Gehazi answered, "Well, she has no son and her husband is old."

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Shunammite;   Women;   Thompson Chain Reference - Childlessness;   Family;   Home;   Trouble;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Gehazi;   Shunem;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Elisha;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Miracle;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Hospitality;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Gehazi;   Shunem;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Elisha;   Furniture;   Kings, 1 and 2;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Marriage;   Medicine;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Gehazi ;   Shunammite ;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Elisha;   Gehazi;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Children;   Eli'sha;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Kingdom of Israel;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Gehazi;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
So he asked, “Then what should be done for her?”
Hebrew Names Version
He said, What then is to be done for her? Gechazi answered, Most assuredly she has no son, and her husband is old.
King James Version
And he said, What then is to be done for her? And Gehazi answered, Verily she hath no child, and her husband is old.
English Standard Version
And he said, "What then is to be done for her?" Gehazi answered, "Well, she has no son, and her husband is old."
New Century Version
Elisha said to Gehazi, "But what can we do for her?" He answered, "She has no son, and her husband is old."
New English Translation
So he asked Gehazi, "What can I do for her?" Gehazi replied, "She has no son, and her husband is old."
New American Standard Bible
So he said, "What then is to be done for her?" And Gehazi answered, "It is a fact that she has no son, and her husband is old."
Geneva Bible (1587)
Againe he sayde, What is then to be done for her? Then Gehazi answered, In deede she hath no sonne, and her husband is olde.
Legacy Standard Bible
So he said, "What then is to be done for her?" And Gehazi answered, "Truly she has no son, and her husband is old."
Contemporary English Version
"Then what can we do for her?" Elisha asked Gehazi. Gehazi replied, "I do know that her husband is old, and that she doesn't have a son."
Complete Jewish Bible
He said, "What, then, is to be done for her?" Geichazi answered, "There's one thing — she doesn't have a son; and her husband is old.
Darby Translation
And he said, What then is to be done for her? And Gehazi said, Verily, she has no son, and her husband is old.
Easy-to-Read Version
Elisha said to Gehazi, "What can we do for her?" He answered, "I know! She does not have a son, and her husband is old."
George Lamsa Translation
Then he said, What shall I do for her? And Gehazi said to him, Verily she has no son and her husband is old.
Good News Translation
Elisha asked Gehazi, "What can I do for her then?" He answered, "Well, she has no son, and her husband is an old man."
Lexham English Bible
Then he said, "What may be done for her?" Gehazi said, "Well, she has no son, and her husband is old."
Literal Translation
And he said, What then shall I do for her? And Gehazi said, Truly there is no son to her. And her husband is old.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
He sayde: What hast thou then to do? Gehasi sayde: Alas, she hath no sonne, and hir hu?bade is olde.
American Standard Version
And he said, What then is to be done for her? And Gehazi answered, Verily she hath no son, and her husband is old.
Bible in Basic English
So he said, What then is to be done for her? And Gehazi made answer, Still there is this, she has no son and her husband is old.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And he said againe: What is to be done for her? Gehezi aunswered: Ueryly she hath no childe, and her husband is olde.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And he said: 'What then is to be done for her?' And Gehazi answered: 'Verily she hath no son, and her husband is old.'
King James Version (1611)
And he said, What then is to bee done for her? And Gehazi answered, Uerily she hath no child, and her husband is old.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And he said to Giezi, What must we do for her? and Giezi his servant said, Indeed she has no son, and her husband is old.
English Revised Version
And he said, What then is to be done for her? And Gehazi answered, Verily she hath no son, and her husband is old.
Berean Standard Bible
So he asked, "Then what should be done for her?" "Well, she has no son," Gehazi replied, "and her husband is old."
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And he seide, What therfor wole sche that Y do to hir? Giezi seide to hym, Axe thou not, for she hath no sone, and hir hosebonde is eeld.
Young's Literal Translation
And he saith, `And what -- to do for her?' and Gehazi saith, `Verily she hath no son, and her husband [is] aged.'
Update Bible Version
And he said, What then is to be done for her? And Gehazi answered, Truly she has no son, and her husband is old.
Webster's Bible Translation
And he said, What then [is] to be done for her? And Gehazi answered, Verily she hath no child, and her husband is old.
World English Bible
He said, What then is to be done for her? Gehazi answered, Most assuredly she has no son, and her husband is old.
New King James Version
So he said, "What then is to be done for her?" And Gehazi answered, "Actually, she has no son, and her husband is old."
New Living Translation
Later Elisha asked Gehazi, "What can we do for her?" Gehazi replied, "She doesn't have a son, and her husband is an old man."
New Life Bible
So Elisha said, "What then is to be done for her?" Gehazi answered, "She has no son, and her husband is old."
New Revised Standard
He said, "What then may be done for her?" Gehazi answered, "Well, she has no son, and her husband is old."
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
So he said, What then can be done for thee? And Gehazi said, Verily, she hath no, son, and, her husband, is, old.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And he said: What will she then that I do for her? And Giezi said: Do not ask, for she hath no son, and her husband is old.
Revised Standard Version
And he said, "What then is to be done for her?" Geha'zi answered, "Well, she has no son, and her husband is old."
THE MESSAGE
Elisha conferred with Gehazi: "There's got to be something we can do for her. But what?" Gehazi said, "Well, she has no son, and her husband is an old man."
New American Standard Bible (1995)
So he said, "What then is to be done for her?" And Gehazi answered, "Truly she has no son and her husband is old."

Contextual Overview

8Now there came a day when Elisha went over to Shunem, where there was a prominent and influential woman, and she persuaded him to eat a meal. Afterward, whenever he passed by, he stopped there for a meal. 9She said to her husband, "Behold, I sense that this is a holy man of God who frequently passes our way. 10"Please, let us make a small, fully-walled upper room [on the housetop] and put a bed there for him, with a table, a chair, and a lampstand. Then whenever he comes to visit us, he can turn in there." 11One day he came there and turned in to the upper room and lay down to rest. 12And he said to Gehazi his servant, "Call this Shunammite." So he called her and she stood before him. 13Now he said to Gehazi, "Say to her now, 'You have gone to all this trouble for us; what can I do for you? Would you like to be mentioned to the king or to the captain of the army?'" She answered, "I live among my own people [in peace and security and need no special favors]." 14Later Elisha said, "What then is to be done for her?" Gehazi answered, "Well, she has no son and her husband is old."15He said, "Call her." So Gehazi called her, and she [came and] stood in the doorway. 16Elisha said, "At this season next year, you will embrace a son." She said, "No, my lord. O man of God, do not lie to your maidservant." 17But the woman conceived and gave birth to a son at that season the next year, just as Elisha had said to her.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

she hath no child: Genesis 15:2, Genesis 15:3, Genesis 17:17, Genesis 18:10-14, Genesis 25:21, Genesis 30:1, Judges 13:2, 1 Samuel 1:2, 1 Samuel 1:8, Luke 1:7

Cross-References

Genesis 4:5
but for Cain and his offering He had no respect. So Cain became extremely angry (indignant), and he looked annoyed and hostile.
Genesis 4:6
And the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you so angry? And why do you look annoyed?
Genesis 4:11
"And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's [shed] blood from your hand.
Genesis 4:12
"When you cultivate the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength [it will resist producing good crops] for you; you shall be a fugitive and a vagabond [roaming aimlessly] on the earth [in perpetual exile without a home, a degraded outcast]."
Genesis 4:13
Cain said to the LORD, "My punishment is greater than I can bear.
Genesis 4:14
"Behold, You have driven me out this day from the face of the land; and from Your face (presence) I will be hidden, and I will be a fugitive and an [aimless] vagabond on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me."
Genesis 4:15
And the LORD said to him, "Therefore, whoever kills Cain, a sevenfold vengeance [that is, punishment seven times worse] shall be taken on him [by Me]." And the LORD set a [protective] mark (sign) on Cain, so that no one who found (met) him would kill him.
Genesis 4:16
So Cain went away from the [manifested] presence of the LORD, and lived in the land of Nod [wandering in exile], east of Eden.
Genesis 4:20
Adah gave birth to Jabal; he became the father of those [nomadic herdsmen] who live in tents and have cattle and raise livestock.
Genesis 4:24
"If Cain is avenged sevenfold [as the LORD said he would be], Then Lamech [will be avenged] seventy-sevenfold."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And he said,.... That is, Elisha to Gehazi, when he returned to him, and told him what the Shunammite said:

what then is to be done for her? something he thought should be done in gratitude, the favours they had received, and advises with his servant what could be thought of, he being one about the house:

and Gehazi answered, verily she hath no child, and her husband is old; and so not likely to have any by him; as children were always very desirable by women, and especially in those days, the servant suggests, that no doubt to have one would be very acceptable to her.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 2 Kings 4:14. What then is to be done for her? — It seems that the woman retired as soon as she had delivered the answer mentioned in the preceding verse.


 
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