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Friday, September 12th, 2025
the Week of Proper 18 / Ordinary 23
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Read the Bible

Douay-Rheims Bible

2 Kings 4:14

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.

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."
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.
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 And there was a day when Eliseus passed by Sunam: now there was a great woman there, who detained him to eat bread: and as he passed often that way, he turned into her house to eat bread. 9 And she said to her husband: I perceive that this is a holy man of God, who often passeth by us. 10 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. 11 Now, there was a certain day, when he came, and turned into the chamber, and rested there. 12 And he said to Giezi, his servant: Call this Sunamitess. And when he had called her, and she stood before him, 13 He said to his servant: Say to her: Behold, thou hast diligently served us in all things; what wilt thou have me to do for thee? Hast thou any business, and wilt thou, that I speak to the king, or to the general of the army? And she answered: I dwell in the midst of my own people. 14 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. 15 Then he bid him call her. And when she was called, and stood before the door, 16 He said to her: At this time, and this same hour, if life be in company, thou shalt have a son in thy womb. But she answered: Do not, I beseech thee, my lord, thou man of God, do not lie to thy handmaid. 17 And the woman conceived, and brought forth a son in the time, and at the same hour that Eliseus had said.

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 to Cain and his offerings he had no respect: and Cain was exceeding angry, and his countenance fell.
Genesis 4:6
And the Lord said to him: Why art thou angry? and why is thy countenance fallen?
Genesis 4:11
Now therefore cursed shalt thou be upon the earth, which hath opened her mouth and received the blood of thy brother at thy hand.
Genesis 4:12
When thou shalt till it, it shall not yield to thee its fruit: a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be upon the earth.
Genesis 4:13
And Cain said to the Lord: My iniquity is greater than that I may deserve pardon.
Genesis 4:14
Behold thou dost cast me out this day from the face of the earth, and from thy face I shall be hid, and I shall be a vagabond and a fugitive on the earth: every one therefore that findeth me, shall kill me.
Genesis 4:15
And the Lord said to him: No, it shall not so be: but whosoever shall kill Cain, shall be punished sevenfold. And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, that whosoever found him should not kill him.
Genesis 4:16
And Cain went out from the face of the Lord, and dwelt as a fugitive on the earth at the east side of Eden.
Genesis 4:20
And Ada brought forth Jabel: who was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of herdsmen.
Genesis 4:24
Sevenfold vengeance shall be taken for Cain: but for Lamech seventy times 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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