Bible Strands
2 Kings 8:5
And Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha had brought the dead back to life. Just then the woman whose son Elisha had revived came to appeal to the king for her house and her land. So Gehazi said, “My lord the king, this is the woman, and this is the son Elisha restored to life.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Gehazi addresses the king while recounting Elisha’s miracles, interrupted by the Shunammite woman’s arrival to reclaim her property. The exchange occurs immediately after the king’s direct request for a report on Elisha’s deeds.
The words — The Hebrew מְסַפֵּר (mesapper) denotes recounting or narrating, while הֶחֱיָה (heche'yah) specifically means he had restored to life. These terms anchor the narrative on the factual reporting of a resurrection event.
The thread — The event directly parallels Elisha’s earlier revival of the Shunammite’s son in 2 Kings 4:35. The narrative structure of a sudden arrival also echoes the coincidental encounters described in Ruth 2:3.
Why it lands — The text requires a reader to recognize how divine acts intersect with administrative and legal processes. It demands attention to how reported miracles trigger immediate earthly restitution.
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 it came to pass, as he was telling the king how he had restored a dead body to life, that, behold, the woman, whose son he had restored to life, cried to the king for her house and for her land. And Gehazi said, My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life.
Cross-references
- 2 Kings 4:35 Elisha turned away and paced back and forth across the room. Then he got on the bed and stretched himself out over the boy again, and the boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes.
- Matthew 10:29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.
- Ruth 2:3 So Ruth departed and went out into the field and gleaned after the harvesters. And she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech.
- 1 Samuel 26:17 Then Saul recognized David’s voice and asked, “Is that your voice, David my son?” “It is my voice, my lord and king,” David said.
- 2 Kings 6:26 As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, “Help me, my lord the king!”
- Esther 5:14 His wife Zeresh and all his friends told him, “Have them build a gallows fifty cubits high, and ask the king in the morning to have Mordecai hanged on it. Then go to the banquet with the king and enjoy yourself.” The advice pleased Haman, and he had the gallows constructed.
- Esther 6:11 So Haman took the robe and the horse, arrayed Mordecai, and paraded him through the city square, crying out before him, “This is what is done for the man whom the king is delighted to honor!”
- Psalms 145:1 A Psalm of praise. Of David. I will exalt You, my God and King; I will bless Your name forever and ever.
- Proverbs 16:9 A man’s heart plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.
- Ecclesiastes 9:11 I saw something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong; neither is the bread to the wise, nor the wealth to the intelligent, nor the favor to the skillful. For time and chance happen to all.