2 Kings 4:10

Bible in Basic English

So let us make a little room on the wall; and put a bed there for him, and a table and a seat and a light; so that when he comes to us, he will be able to go in there.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
so let’s make a small, walled-in upper room and put a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp there for him. Whenever he comes, he can stay there.”

Hebrew Names Version
Let us make, Please, a little chamber on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a seat, and a lamp stand: and it shall be, when he comes to us, that he shall turn in there.

King James Version
Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither.

English Standard Version
Let us make a small room on the roof with walls and put there for him a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp, so that whenever he comes to us, he can go in there."

New Century Version
Let's make a small room on the roof and put a bed in the room for him. We can put a table, a chair, and a lampstand there. Then when he comes by, he can stay there."

New English Translation
Let's make a small private upper room and furnish it with a bed, table, chair, and lamp. When he visits us, he can stay there."

Amplified Bible
"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."

New American Standard Bible
"Please, let's make a little walled upper room, and let's set up a bed for him there, and a table, a chair, and a lampstand; then it shall be, when he comes to us, that he can turn in there."

Geneva Bible (1587)
Let vs make him a litle chamber, I pray thee, with walles, & let vs set him there a bed, and a table, and a stoole, and a candlesticke, that hee may turne in thither when hee commeth to vs.

Legacy Standard Bible
Please, let us make a little walled upper chamber and let us set a bed for him there, and a table and a chair and a lampstand; and it will be, when he comes to us, that he can turn in there."

Contemporary English Version
Why don't we build him a small room on the flat roof of our house? We can put a bed, a table and chair, and an oil lamp in it. Then whenever he comes, he can stay with us."

Complete Jewish Bible
Please, let's build him a little room on the roof. We'll put a bed and a table in it for him, and a stool and a candlestick. Then, whenever he comes to visit us, he can stay there."

Darby Translation
Let us make, I pray thee, a small upper chamber with walls, and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a seat, and a lampstand; and it shall be when he cometh to us, he shall turn in thither.

Easy-to-Read Version
Please, let's make a little room on the roof for him. Let's put a bed in this room and a table, a chair, and a lampstand. Then when he comes to our house, he can have this room for himself."

George Lamsa Translation
Let us make for him a little upper room, and let us set for him there a bed and a table and a chair and a candlestick, so that when he comes to us, he shall turn in there.

Good News Translation
Let's build a small room on the roof, put a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp in it, and he can stay there whenever he visits us."

Lexham English Bible
let us make a small enclosed room upstairs and put a bed, table, chair, and lampstand there for him, so that when he comes to us, he can turn and stay there.

Literal Translation
Now let us make a little walled roof room, and let us set a bed for him there, and a table, and a chair, and a lampstand. And it shall be, when he comes to us, he shall turn in there.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
let vs make hi a litle chamber of boordes, & set a bed, a table, a stole & a candelsticke therin, that whan he commeth vnto vs, he maye resorte thither.

American Standard Version
Let us make, I pray thee, a little chamber on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a seat, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Let vs make him a litle chamber I pray thee, with walles, & let vs set him there a bed, and a table, and a stoole, and a candelsticke: that he may turne in thyther when he commeth to vs.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Let us make, I pray thee, a little chamber on the roof; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick; and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither.'

King James Version (1611)
Let vs make a litle chamber, I pray thee, on the wall, and let vs set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stoole, and a candlesticke: and it shall be when he commeth to vs, that hee shall turne in thither.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Let us now make for him an upper chamber, a small place; and let us put there for him a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall come to pass that when he comes in to us, he shall turn in thither.

English Revised Version
Let us make, I pray thee, a little chamber on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither.

Berean Standard Bible
Please let us make a small room upstairs and put in it a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp for him. Then when he comes to us, he can stay there."

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
therfor make we a litil soler to hym, and putte we therynne a litil bed to hym, and a boord, and a chaier, and a candilstike; that whanne he cometh to vs, he dwelle there.

Young's Literal Translation
let us make, I pray thee, a little upper chamber of the wall, and we set for him there a bed, and a table, and a high seat, and a candlestick; and it hath been, in his coming in unto us, he doth turn aside thither.'

Update Bible Version
Let us make, I pray you, a little chamber on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a seat, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he comes to us, that he shall turn in there.

Webster's Bible Translation
Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither.

World English Bible
Let us make, Please, a little chamber on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a seat, and a lamp stand: and it shall be, when he comes to us, that he shall turn in there.

New King James Version
Please, let us make a small upper room on the wall; and let us put a bed for him there, and a table and a chair and a lampstand; so it will be, whenever he comes to us, he can turn in there."

New Living Translation
Let's build a small room for him on the roof and furnish it with a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp. Then he will have a place to stay whenever he comes by."

New Life Bible
Let us make a little room on the second floor. And let us put a bed there for him, and a table and a chair and a lamp. Then when he comes to us, he can go in there."

New Revised Standard
Let us make a small roof chamber with walls, and put there for him a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp, so that he can stay there whenever he comes to us."

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
I pray thee, let us make a little upper chamber on the wall and set for him there - a bed, and a table, and a seat, and a lampstand, - so shall it be, when he cometh to us, that he can turn in thither.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Let us, therefore, make him a little chamber, and put a little bed in it for him, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick, that when he cometh to us he may abide there.

Revised Standard Version
Let us make a small roof chamber with walls, and put there for him a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp, so that whenever he comes to us, he can go in there."

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Please, let us make a little walled upper chamber and let us set a bed for him there, and a table and a chair and a lampstand; and it shall be, when he comes to us, that he can turn in there."

Contextual Overview

⁸ Now there came a day when Elisha went to Shunem, and there was a woman of high position living there, who made him come in and have a meal with her. And after that, every time he went by, he went into her house for a meal. ⁹ And she said to her husband, Now I see that this is a holy man of God, who comes by day after day. ¹⁰ So let us make a little room on the wall; and put a bed there for him, and a table and a seat and a light; so that when he comes to us, he will be able to go in there. ¹¹ Now one day, when he had gone there, he went into the little room and took his rest there. ¹² And he said to Gehazi, his servant, Send for this Shunammite. So in answer to his voice she came before him. ¹³ And he said to him, Now say to her, See, you have taken all this trouble for us; what is to be done for you? will you have any request made for you to the king or the captain of the army? But she said, I am living among my people. ¹⁴ 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. ¹⁵ Then he said, Send for her. And in answer to his voice she took her place at the door. ¹⁶ And Elisha said, At this time in the coming year you will have a son in your arms. And she said, No, my lord, O man of God, do not say what is false to your servant. ¹⁷ Then the woman became with child and gave birth to a son at the time named, in the year after, as Elisha had said to her.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Let us: Isaiah 32:8, Matthew 10:41, Matthew 10:42, Matthew 25:40, Mark 9:41, Luke 8:3, Romans 12:13, Hebrews 10:24, Hebrews 13:2, 1 Peter 4:9, 1 Peter 4:10

a little chamber: An aleeyah, or oleah, as the Arabs call it; a small back house annexed to the principal dwelling, in which the prophet could live in a great privacy as in his own house, and to which he could retire at pleasure, without breaking in upon the private affairs of the family, or being in his turn interrupted by them in his devotions. See note on Judges 3:20, and see note on 1 Kings 17:19

Reciprocal: 2 Kings 4:21 - the bed Proverbs 31:11 - General

Cross-References

Genesis 3:13
And the Lord God said to the woman, What have you done? And the woman said, I was tricked by the deceit of the snake and I took it.

Genesis 4:9
And the Lord said to Cain, Where is your brother Abel? And he said, I have no idea: am I my brother's keeper?

Genesis 4:10
And he said, What have you done? the voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the earth.

Genesis 9:5
And for your blood, which is your life, will I take payment; from every beast I will take it, and from every man will I take payment for the blood of his brother-man.

Genesis 18:20
And the Lord said, Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is very great, and their sin is very evil,

Exodus 3:7
And God said, Truly, I have seen the grief of my people in Egypt, and their cry because of their cruel masters has come to my ears; for I have knowledge of their sorrows;

Numbers 35:33
So do not make the land where you are living unholy: for blood makes the land unholy: and there is no way of making the land free from the blood which has come on it, but only by the death of him who was the cause of it.

Joshua 7:19
And Joshua said to Achan, My son, give glory and praise to the Lord, the God of Israel; give me word now of what you have done, and keep nothing back from me.

2 Kings 9:26
I saw the blood of Naboth and of his sons yesterday; and I will give you full payment in this field, says the Lord? So now, take him and put him in this field, as the Lord said.

Job 16:18
O earth, let not my blood be covered, and let my cry have no resting-place!

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall,.... Either of the city, to which their house might join, or of their garden, a little distance from the house; though the Jewish writers commonly understand it of a little edifice built up of walls of stone or bricks, and not one with reeds, or stud and mud:

let us set for him there a bed; that he may stay all night when he pleases:

and a table; not only to eat his food, but to write on, and lay his books on he reads. Of the table of a scholar of the wise men, in later times, we are told t, that two thirds of it were covered with a cloth, and the other third was uncovered, on which stood the plates and the herbs:

and a stool; to sit upon at table:

and a candlestick; with a candle in it, to light him in the night to read by, and the like:

and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither; where he would be free from the noise of the house, and be more retired for prayer, reading, meditation, and study, and not be disturbed with the servants of the family, and be mixed with them; all this she contrived, both for his honour, and for his quietness and peace.

t Pirke Eliezer, c. 33.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

A little chamber on the wall - The room probably projected like a balcony beyond the lower apartments - an arrangement common in the East.

A stool - Rather, “a chair.” The “chair” and “table,” unusual in the sleeping-rooms of the East, indicate that the prophet was expected to use his apartment for study and retirement, not only as a sleeping-chamber.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 2 Kings 4:10. Let us make a little chamber — Judges 1:3:20. As the woman was convinced that Elisha was a prophet, she knew that he must have need of more privacy than the general state of her house could afford; and therefore she proposes what she knew would be a great acquisition to him, as he could live in this little chamber in as much privacy as if he were in his own house. The bed, the table, the stool, and the candlestick, were really every thing he could need, by way of accommodation, in such circumstances.