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the Week of Proper 23 / Ordinary 28
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Read the Bible

English Standard Version

2 Kings 4:14

And he 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.
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."
Amplified Bible
Later Elisha said, "What then is to be done for her?" Gehazi answered, "Well, 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

8 One day Elisha went on to Shunem, where a wealthy woman lived, who urged him to eat some food. So whenever he passed that way, he would turn in there to eat food. 9 And she said to her husband, "Behold now, I know that this is a holy man of God who is continually passing our way. 10 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." 11 One day he came there, and he turned into the chamber and rested there. 12 And he said to Gehazi his servant, "Call this Shunammite." When he had called her, she stood before him. 13 And he said to him, "Say now to her, ‘See, you have taken all this trouble for us; what is to be done for you? Would you have a word spoken on your behalf to the king or to the commander of the army?'" She answered, "I dwell among my own people." 14 And he said, "What then is to be done for her?" Gehazi answered, "Well, she has no son, and her husband is old." 15 He said, "Call her." And when he had called her, she stood in the doorway. 16 And he said, "At this season, about this time next year, you shall embrace a son." And she said, "No, my lord, O man of God; do not lie to your servant." 17 But the woman conceived, and she bore a son about that time the following spring, 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 regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell.
Genesis 4:6
The Lord said to Cain, "Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen?
Genesis 4:11
And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.
Genesis 4:12
When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth."
Genesis 4:13
Cain said to the Lord , "My punishment is greater than I can bear.
Genesis 4:14
Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me."
Genesis 4:15
Then the Lord said to him, "Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold." And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him.
Genesis 4:16
Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
Genesis 4:20
Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock.
Genesis 4:24
If Cain's revenge is sevenfold, then Lamech's is 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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