2 Kings 4 27

2 Kings 4:27 kjv

And when she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught him by the feet: but Gehazi came near to thrust her away. And the man of God said, Let her alone; for her soul is vexed within her: and the LORD hath hid it from me, and hath not told me.

2 Kings 4:27 nkjv

Now when she came to the man of God at the hill, she caught him by the feet, but Gehazi came near to push her away. But the man of God said, "Let her alone; for her soul is in deep distress, and the LORD has hidden it from me, and has not told me."

2 Kings 4:27 niv

When she reached the man of God at the mountain, she took hold of his feet. Gehazi came over to push her away, but the man of God said, "Leave her alone! She is in bitter distress, but the LORD has hidden it from me and has not told me why."

2 Kings 4:27 esv

And when she came to the mountain to the man of God, she caught hold of his feet. And Gehazi came to push her away. But the man of God said, "Leave her alone, for she is in bitter distress, and the LORD has hidden it from me and has not told me."

2 Kings 4:27 nlt

But when she came to the man of God at the mountain, she fell to the ground before him and caught hold of his feet. Gehazi began to push her away, but the man of God said, "Leave her alone. She is deeply troubled, but the LORD has not told me what it is."

2 Kings 4 verses

2 Kings 4 27 Meaning

2 Kings 4:27 depicts the intense moment when the Shunammite woman, in profound grief over her deceased son, encounters Elisha, the man of God, on Mount Carmel. Her action of desperately clutching Elisha's feet expresses utter desperation and unvoiced anguish, a desperate plea for divine intervention. Gehazi, Elisha's servant, attempts to remove her, but Elisha immediately recognizes the depth of her suffering ("her soul is vexed within her"). In a pivotal revelation, Elisha admits that even he is unaware of the precise cause of her distress, acknowledging that the Lord has sovereignly withheld this knowledge from him, highlighting God's ultimate control over revelation and the prophet's dependence.

2 Kings 4 27 Context

The narrative of the Shunammite woman is a central account within Elisha's ministry, immediately following the purification of the poisoned pot and the feeding of a hundred men. Previously, Elisha had prophesied the birth of a son to the barren Shunammite woman, a wealthy and pious patroness who had built a room for the prophet. Now, this divinely given son has suddenly died. This verse captures the critical moment after she has traveled great haste and distance from Shunem to Mount Carmel to seek Elisha. Her urgent actions and Elisha's reaction highlight the raw emotion of the situation and the mysterious nature of divine will. Historically, prophets were revered figures through whom God often revealed His will and power, and seeking them in crisis was customary, but not all answers were immediately given. This event also sets the stage for a great miracle: the resurrection of the child.

2 Kings 4 27 Word analysis

• And when she came: Indicates immediate action upon arrival, suggesting urgency and an absence of preliminary formalities. Her mind is singular in purpose.
• to the man of God: Hebrew: ish ha'Elohim (אִישׁ הָאֱלֹהִים). This title signifies Elisha's prophetic office and his special relationship with God. It acknowledges his divine commission and authority, implying that he is God's representative.
• on the hill: Referring to Mount Carmel, a place strongly associated with prophetic revelation and divine encounter, particularly with Elijah's powerful demonstration against Baal worship (1 Kgs 18). Its elevation suggests a place of seeking divine presence.
• she caught him by the feet: Hebrew: takazbeq ba'raglaw (וַתַּחֲזֵק בְּרַגְלָיו). This is a deeply symbolic and desperate physical gesture. In the ancient Near East, grasping someone's feet or knees was a sign of humility, supplication, entreaty, profound reverence, or desperate pleading. It communicated absolute dependency, fear, or a refusal to let go until help was given, showing utter abandon to her distress and faith that Elisha possessed the power to intervene.
• but Gehazi came near to thrust her away: Hebrew: lagashesh (לַהֲדֳפָהּ). Gehazi, Elisha's servant, likely saw her action as undignified or overly familiar for a respected prophet, or perhaps he aimed to protect Elisha. His action, though seemingly protective, was a lack of empathy and spiritual discernment, failing to recognize the depths of her anguish.
• and the man of God said, Let her alone: Elisha's immediate command to his servant reveals his acute spiritual sensitivity and compassion. He recognizes the intensity of her suffering beyond the outward show, immediately silencing Gehazi's interruption.
• for her soul is vexed within her: Hebrew: napheshah marah lah (נַפְשָׁהּ מָרָה לָהּ). "Soul" (nephesh) here refers to her whole inner being, her emotions, and her very life force. "Vexed" or "bitter" (marah) signifies deep, profound emotional distress, sorrow, agitation, anguish, and possibly despair, akin to Hannah's bitterness of soul (1 Sam 1:10). It is not mere sadness but an inner turmoil and extreme grief that goes beyond verbal expression.
• and the Lord hath hid it from me, and hath not told me: Hebrew: YHVH hestir mimmenni w'lo higgid li (וַיהוָה הֶעְלִים מִמֶּנִּי וְלֹא הִגִּיד לִי). This is a crucial admission of prophetic limitation and humility. Elisha openly confesses his lack of knowledge regarding the cause of her deep sorrow, emphasizing God's sovereign control over revelation. Not everything is disclosed to even His most trusted servants, showing that divine knowledge is not exhausted by prophetic insight, and that God has purposes for revealing or withholding information. This prevents Elisha from claiming omniscient wisdom, ensuring that glory for any forthcoming miracle belongs solely to God.

Words-group analysis:

• "to the man of God on the hill... caught him by the feet": This sequence highlights the physical effort of desperate faith and pilgrimage, immediately seeking the recognized source of divine power at a sacred location.
• "thrust her away... Let her alone": This contrast perfectly encapsulates the difference between human, superficial judgment (Gehazi's officiousness) and Spirit-led, empathetic discernment (Elisha's understanding of profound suffering).
• "her soul is vexed within her: and the Lord hath hid it from me, and hath not told me": These two clauses reveal the interplay of human pain and divine mystery. Elisha understands the intensity of her suffering even as God's specific reasons for it are withheld from him, emphasizing his reliance on divine revelation and God's sovereign will in dispensing knowledge.

2 Kings 4 27 Bonus section

• The Shunammite woman's persistence in seeking Elisha, even travelling to him, and her physical demonstration of urgent need, resonate with examples of persistent faith later found in the New Testament, such as the woman with the issue of blood or the Syrophoenician woman, who likewise approached Jesus with desperate faith and received miracles.
• This passage implicitly highlights the difference between Gehazi, the professional servant, and Elisha, the true man of God, foreshadowing Gehazi's later moral and spiritual failings in contrast to Elisha's integrity.
• The fact that the Lord "hid" this event from Elisha at first demonstrates that even a prophet may not always know the full counsel or actions of God in every situation. Prophetic revelation is given according to God's purpose and timing, not always as an exhaustive disclosure. God chose not to reveal this sorrow to Elisha until the woman was present and in dire need, ensuring that the human element (her desperate seeking) played a role in precipitating the divine response.

2 Kings 4 27 Commentary

2 Kings 4:27 powerfully illustrates the depth of human anguish meeting divine empathy and the boundaries of prophetic revelation. The Shunammite woman's raw, desperate act of seizing Elisha's feet transcends mere polite petition; it's an embodied plea of utter desolation, demonstrating a deep faith that Elisha holds the key to her profound loss. Gehazi's well-intentioned but ill-placed attempt to separate her showcases a common human tendency to suppress overt displays of emotion or maintain propriety, failing to grasp the spiritual and emotional depths involved. Elisha's immediate intervention, commanding Gehazi to stand aside, underscores his spiritual insight into the woman's truly "vexed soul"—a soul deeply wounded and bitter from tragedy. Most remarkably, Elisha's candid admission that the Lord had "hid it from me, and hath not told me" serves multiple purposes: it prevents the prophet from assuming an omniscient quality, thereby keeping the focus on God as the ultimate source of knowledge and power; it reassures the woman that her grief is indeed so profound that even God's prophet is initially unaware of its specific cause; and it highlights God's sovereign control over revelation, even concerning those closest to Him. This transparency establishes trust and sets the stage for God's forthcoming, powerful intervention through Elisha.