II Kings 4:31
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Gehazi went on ahead of them and laid the staff on the boy’s face, but there was no sound or response. So he went back to meet Elisha and told him, “The boy has not awakened.”
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
Great service Elisha had done, in he foregoing chapter, for the three kings: to his prayers and prophecies they owed their lives and triumphs. One would have expected that the next chapter would tell us what honours and what dignities were conferred on Elisha for this, that he should immediately be preferred at court, and made prime-minister of state, that Jehoshaphat should take him home with him, and advance him in his kingdom. No, the wise man delivered the army, but no man remembered the wise man, Ecc 9:15. Or, if he had preferment offered him, he declined it: he preferred the honour of doing good in the schools of the prophets before that of being great in the courts of princes. God magnified him, and that sufficed him - magnified him indeed, for we have him here employed in working no fewer than five miracles. I. He multiplied the poor widow's oil (Kg2 4:1-7). II. He obtained for the good Shunammite the blessing of a son in her old age (Kg2 4:8-17). III. He raised that child to life when it was dead (Kg2 4:18-27). IV. He healed the deadly pottage (Kg2 4:38-41). V. He fed 100 men with twenty small loaves (Kg2 4:42-44).
Open source ↗4:31 no sign of life: Elisha’s staff held no magical power; only God is the author of life (Acts 17:25-28).
Open source ↗Cross-references
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After He had said this, He told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to wake him up.”
so a man lies down and does not rise. Until the heavens are no more, he will not be awakened or roused from sleep.
And they took the bull that was given them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, shouting, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no sound, and no one answered as they leaped around the altar they had made.
So Saul inquired of God, “Shall I go down after the Philistines? Will You give them into the hand of Israel?” But God did not answer him that day.
So it is said: “Wake up, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
He inquired of the LORD, but the LORD did not answer him by dreams or Urim or prophets.
And many who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, but others to shame and everlasting contempt.
He went inside and asked, “Why all this commotion and weeping? The child is not dead, but asleep.”
“Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces. Should I consult with them in any way?
Midday passed, and they kept on raving until the time of the evening sacrifice. But there was no response; no one answered, no one paid attention.