2 Kings 4:22

And she called unto her husband, and said, Send me, I pray thee, one of the young men, and one of the asses, that I may run to the man of God, and come again.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(22) One of the young men.—To lead and drive the ass.

Asses.—She-asses.

That I may run.—Notice the striking naturalness of the language, in which she promises to be back soon.

Benson Commentary

2 Kings 4:22-23. She called to her husband, and said — By a messenger whom she sent into the field to him. She seems not to have acquainted him with the child’s death; probably she feared, if he knew on what errand she wished to go to the prophet, lest he should not have faith enough to let her go. Wherefore wilt thou go to-day? it is neither new moon nor sabbath — It appears by this that the prophets acted as public instructers of the people; and that their houses were a kind of schools, or synagogues, unto which they resorted, upon the days here mentioned, to be taught their duty out of the law of God, and to have their doubts resolved. And she said, It shall be well — My going will not be troublesome to him, nor prejudicial to thee or me.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

4:18-37 Here is the sudden death of the child. All the mother's tenderness cannot keep alive a child of promise, a child of prayer, one given in love. But how admirably does the prudent, pious mother, guard her lips under this sudden affliction! Not one peevish word escapes from her. Such confidence had she of God's goodness, that she was ready to believe that he would restore what he had now taken away. O woman, great is thy faith! He that wrought it, would not disappoint it. The sorrowful mother begged leave of her husband to go to the prophet at once. She had not thought it enough to have Elisha's help sometimes in her own family, but, though a woman of rank, attended on public worship. It well becomes the men of God, to inquire about the welfare of their friends and their families. The answer was, It is well. All well, and yet the child dead in the house! Yes! All is well that God does; all is well with them that are gone, if they are gone to heaven; and all well with us that stay behind, if, by the affliction, we are furthered in our way thither. When any creature-comfort is taken from us, it is well if we can say, through grace, that we did not set our hearts too much upon it; for if we did, we have reason to fear it was given in anger, and taken away in wrath. Elisha cried unto God in faith; and the beloved son was restored alive to his mother. Those who would convey spiritual life to dead souls, must feel deeply for their case, and labour fervently in prayer for them. Though the minister cannot give Divine life to his fellow-sinners, he must use every means, with as much earnestness as if he could do so.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Send me, I pray thee, one of the young men and one of the asses - All the "young men" and all the "asses" were in the harvest field, the young men cutting and binding the sheaves, and placing them upon carts or wains, the donkeys drawing these vehicles fully laden, to the threshing-floor. Compare Amos 2:13.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

22. she called unto her husband—Her heroic concealment of the death from her husband is not the least interesting feature of the story.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And she called unto her husband,.... In the field, who might be within call, or by a messenger she sent to him:

and said, send me, I pray thee, one of the young men, and one of the asses, that I may run to the man of God, and come again; intimating that she should not be long gone, but should return again presently; saying not a word of the death of the child, or of the occasion of her going.

Geneva Study Bible

And she called unto her husband, and said, Send me, I pray thee, one of the young men, and one of the asses, that I may run to the man of God, and come again.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

22. And she called unto her husband] He appears to have been at no great distance; though the verb is used at times of a message sent by a servant. Thus Numbers 24:10 Balak says to Balaam, ‘I called thee to curse mine enemies’. Cf. also Jdg 12:1; 1 Kings 1:10; 1 Kings 1:19; 1 Kings 1:26.

one of the young men] R.V. servants. The same word which in verse 19 was rendered ‘lad’. There were servants who could be spared though the harvest was in hand.

one of the asses] The ass was the usual beast for riding on a journey. In such a country as Palestine the surefootedness of the animal is invaluable.

that I may run to the man of God] The request causes her husband little astonishment. We may therefore conclude that for religious purposes such visits had not been uncommon in the Shunammite’s life.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 22. - And she culled unto her husband, and said, Send me, I pray thee, one of the young men, and one of the asses. She "called to her husband" from the house, without calling him into the house, expressing her desire to visit Elisha, without stating the object of her visit, and asked for the necessary riding-animal and escort. The nearest part of Carmel was at least fourteen or fifteen miles from Shunem, so that she could not walk, That I may run - i.e., hasten - to the man of God. "Man of God" was evidently the designation by which Elisha was known in the house (vers. 16, 21, 25). And some again; i.e. return home before nightfall. 2 Kings 4:22

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The mother took the dead child at once up to the chamber built for Elisha, laid it upon the bed of the man of God, and shut the door behind her; she then asked her husband, without telling him of the death of the boy, to send a young man with a she-ass, that she might ride as quickly as possible to the man of God; and when her husband asked her, "Wherefore wilt thou go to him to-day, since it is neither new moon nor Sabbath?"

(Note: From these words, Theod., Kimchi, C. a Lap., Vatabl., and others have drawn the correct conclusion, that the pious in Israel were accustomed to meet together at the prophets' houses for worship and edification, on those days which were appointed in the law (Leviticus 23:3; Numbers 28:11.) for the worship of God; and from this Hertz and Hengstenberg have still further inferred, that in the kingdom of the ten tribes not only were the Sabbath and new moons kept, as is evident from Amos 8:5 also, but the prophets supplied the pious in that kingdom with a substitute for the missing Levitical priesthood.)

she replied, shalom; i.e., either "it is all well," or "never mind." For this word, which is used in reply to a question after one's health (see 2 Kings 4:26), is apparently also used, as Clericus has correctly observed, when the object is to avoid giving a definite answer to any one, and yet at the same time to satisfy him.