2 Kings 4:28

2Ki 4:28 Then she said, Did I desire a son of my lord? did I not say, Do not deceive me?

Ver. 28. Did I desire a son of my lord?] Was I too desirous, or unduly importunate? for if so, the loss of the child had been just upon me. Strong affections will be strong afflictions.

Did I not say, Do not deceive me?] Nay, did not you say, Do not lie to me? And was that a fit word to a man of God? was there not something of unbelief in it?

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Ki 4:28. She said, Did I desire a son of my lord? — This child was not given to me upon my immoderate desire, for which I might have justly been thus chastised; but was freely promised to me by thee in God’s name, and from his special grace and favour. Did not I say, Do not deceive me? — With vain hopes of a comfort that I should never have. And I had been much happier if I had never had it, than to lose it so quickly.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

4:28 The loss of her son undid all the joy she felt at his promised birth and seemed to make that birth a cruel deception.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 28. Did I desire a son of my lord?] I expressed no such wish to thee; I was contented and happy; and when thou didst promise me a son, did I not say, Do not deceive me? Do not mock me with a child which shall grow up to be attractive and engaging, but of whom I shall soon be deprived by death.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(28) Then.—And; so in 2Ki_4:29; 2Ki_4:35.

Did I desire (ask) a son of my lord?—Only the conclusion of her appeal is given. She says, Better to have had no son, than to have had one and lost him. The opposite of our poet’s

“‘Tis better to have loved and lost,

Than never to have loved at all.”

But this last is the fruit of reflection; her words are the spontaneous outflow of a mother’s poignant sorrow. Or, perhaps, we should understand that grief does not allow her to specify the cause directly; she leaves the prophet to infer that from her questions.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

28. Did I desire a son] The words are almost reproachful and make it clear to the prophet that the child is dead. Better had it been for her not to have had the child given to her, than now to have the great sorrow of losing him.

Do not deceive me] She does not use the stronger term which occurs in the earlier part of the narrative (verse 16).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Then she said, did I desire a son of my lord?.... It was not at her request she had one, at least the first motion was not from her; the prophet first told her, and assured her she should have one, without her asking for it; she might be pleased with it, and desire the promise might be fulfilled; but it was not an inordinate, importunate, desire of one, in which she had exceeded, that so the taking it away from her might be a correction of her for it:

did I not say, do not deceive me; by giving hopes of a child, and yet have none; and now it was equally the same, or worse, to have one, and then to have it taken away again as soon as had almost; so the Targum,"did I not say unto thee, if a child is given me, let it live, if not, do not trouble or grieve me;''and then, no doubt, she told him plainly the child was dead, and where she had laid it, though not recorded.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Great grief shrinks from putting itself into words. The Shunammite cannot bring herself to say, “My son is dead;” but by reproaching the prophet with having “deceived” her, she sufficiently indicates her loss.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

A son. Better had it been for me not to have become a mother, than to be so soon delivered of my child. (Menochius)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

This child was not given to me upon my immoderate desire, for which I might have justly been thus chastised, as Rachel was, Gen 30:1, compared with Gen 35:18; but was freely promised to me by thee in God’s name, and from his special grace and favour; and therefore I trust both thou didst pray for it, and God design it as a blessing, and not as an affliction, as now it proves, unless thou dost obtain the child for me a second time, which I know thou canst do, and I humbly beg thee to do.

Do not deceive me, with vain hopes of a comfort that I should never have? And I had been much happier if I had never had it, than to lose it so quickly. Therefore thou art in some measure concerned to revive my dead hopes, and to continue to me the great blessing which thou hast procured.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

28. Did I desire a son of my lord — She speaks the emotional language of one that is bewildered with a sudden sorrow. So far as appears from what is here written, she did not relate the fact of the child’s death, but left him to infer it from the language of her grief, or learn it by special Divine revelation. But we need not assume that all she said to Elisha is here written.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Then she said, Did I desire a son of my lord? did I not say, Do not deceive me? The woman does not directly reveal her grief. Great sorrow is reticent, cannot endure to put itself into words. But she sufficiently indicates the nature of her trouble by the form of her reproach. "Did I ask for a son? Did I make complaint of my childlessness? Had I been importunate, and obtained my son of thee by much asking, I would not have complained. But I did not ask. I did not even snatch greedily at the offer. I demurred. I said, "Do not deceive me." But now thou hast done worse than deceive me. Thou hast kept the word of promise to the ear, and broken it to the hope. It is greater misery to have a child and lose him, than never to have had one at all." All this, and more, seems to be involved in the woman"s words. And the prophet fully understood their meaning.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

She said - This child was not given to me upon my immoderate desire, for which I might have justly been thus chastised, but was freely promised by thee in God's name, and from his special favour. Deceive me - With vain hopes of a comfort that I should never have. And I had been much happier if I had never had it, than to lose it so quickly.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Did I ask you for a son, my master? Did I not say, 'Do not deceive me'?

The woman uses these rhetorical questions to show that she is upset about what has happened. She is speaking about her conversation with Elisha when he told her that she was going to have a son. These questions may be written as a statement. AT: "I did not ask you to give me a son, but I did ask you not to lie to me!" (See: Rhetorical Question)

Dress for travel

"Get ready to travel"

If you meet any man, do not greet him, and if anyone greets you, do not answer him

Elisha wanted Gehazi to travel as quickly as possible, without even stopping to talk to anyone.

translationWords

deceive

staff

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

Did I not say. To you, “Do not deceive your maidservant”?

“Do not mislead”? Do not mislead me concerning a mistake.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.