Bible Strands
2 Kings 4:21
And she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God. Then she shut the door and went out.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The Shunammite woman carries her dead son to Elisha’s residence immediately after his death and before she requests a donkey from her husband. She places the child on the prophet’s bed and withdraws from the room.
The words — The verb וַ/תַּ֙עַל (va./Ta.'al) denotes her ascent to the upper room, while מִטַּ֖ת (mi.Tat) identifies the specific location where she places the child. The verb וַ/תִּסְגֹּ֥ר (va./tis.Gor) records her closing the door behind her before leaving.
The thread — The placement of a dead child on a prophet’s bed recurs when Elisha later finds the boy on his own bed in 2 Kings 4:32. This mirrors Elijah’s earlier action of taking a widow’s son to an upper room in 1 Kings 17:19.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition of deliberate, physical preparation for divine intervention rather than passive waiting. It requires the reader to note the precise sequence of actions that precedes prophetic power.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And she went up, and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and shut the door upon him, and went out.
Cross-references
- 2 Kings 4:32 When Elisha reached the house, there was the boy lying dead on his bed.
- 1 Kings 17:19 But Elijah said to her, “Give me your son.” So he took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed.
- 2 Kings 4:7 She went and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil, and pay your debt. Then you and your sons can live on the remainder.”
- 2 Kings 4:10 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.”