2 Kings 4:37

She came in, fell at his feet, and bowed to the ground. Then she picked up her son and went out.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — The Shunammite woman enters Elisha’s presence immediately after he commands her to retrieve her resurrected son. She approaches him in a posture of reverence at the conclusion of the miracle.

The words — The text highlights וַתִּשְׁתַּחְוּ (va.tish.Ta.chu), meaning "and she bowed down," and אָרְצָה ('A.re.tza/h), meaning "toward the ground." These terms describe her physical prostration before the prophet.

The thread — This act of bodily reverence echoes the recognition of prophetic authority seen in 1 Kings 17:24 and anticipates the broader biblical pattern of divine restoration recorded in Hebrews 11:35. The posture also parallels the submission shown in 2 Kings 2:15 when the sons of the prophets acknowledge Elijah’s transferred spirit.

Why it lands — The narrative demands acknowledgment of God’s power working through a human agent. It requires the reader to recognize that reverence follows divine intervention and that restoration demands immediate action.

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

וַתָּבֹא֙va./ta.Vo'and/ she came וַתִּפֹּ֣לva./ti.Poland/ she fell עַל־'al-at רַגְלָ֔יוrag.La/vfeet/ his וַתִּשְׁתַּ֖חוּva./tish.Ta.chuand/ she bowed down אָ֑רְצָה'A.re.tza/h[the] ground/ towards וַתִּשָּׂ֥אva./ti.Sa'and/ she took up אֶת־'et-<obj.>בְּנָ֖הּbe.Na/hson/ her וַתֵּצֵֽא׃ פva./te.Tze'and/ she went out

King James Version

Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground, and took up her son, and went out.

Cross-references

Hebrews 11:35 Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused their release, so that they might gain a better resurrection.
1 Kings 17:24 Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the LORD from your mouth is truth.”
2 Kings 2:15 When the sons of the prophets who were watching him from Jericho saw what had happened, they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” And they went to meet him and bowed down to the ground before him.
2 Kings 4:27 When she reached the man of God at the mountain, she clung to his feet. Gehazi came over to push her away, but the man of God said, “Leave her alone, for her soul is in deep distress, and the LORD has hidden it from me and has not told me.”