8 Now there came a day when Elisha passed over to Shunem , where there was a prominent woman , and she persuaded him to eat food . And so it was, as often as he passed by, he turned in there to eat food . 9 She said to her husband , "Behold now , I perceive that this is a holy man of God passing by us continually . 10 "Please , let us make a little walled upper chamber and let us set a bed for him there , and a table and a chair and a lampstand ; and it shall be, when he comes to us, that he can turn in there ." 11 One day he came there and turned in to the upper chamber and rested e . 12 Then he said to Gehazi his servant , "Call this Shunammite ." And when he had called her, she stood before him. 13 He said to him, "Say now to her, 'Behold , you have been careful for us with all this care ; what can I do for you? Would you be spoken for to the king or to the captain of the army ?' " And she answered , "I live among my own people ." 14 So he said , "What then is to be done for her?" And Gehazi answered , "Truly she has no son and her husband is old ." 15 He said , "Call her." When he had called her, she stood in the doorway . 16 Then he said , " At this season next year you will embrace a son ." And she said , "No , my lord , O man of God , do not lie to your maidservant ." 17 The woman conceived and bore a son at that season the next year , as Elisha had said to her.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 2 Kings 4:8-17
Commentary on 2 Kings 4:8-17
(Read 2 Kings 4:8-17)
Elisha was well thought of by the king of Israel for his late services; a good man can take as much pleasure in serving others, as in raising himself. But the Shunammite needed not any good offices of this kind. It is a happiness to dwell among our own people, that love and respect us, and to whom we are able to do good. It would be well with many, if they did but know when they are really well off. The Lord sees the secret wish which is suppressed in obedience to his will, and he will hear the prayers of his servants in behalf of their benefactors, by sending unasked-for and unexpected mercies; nor must the professions of men of God be supposed to be delusive like those of men of the world.