2 Kings 4:30

And the mother of the child said, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And he arose, and followed her.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(30) I will not leave thee.—She wished the prophet himself to go to her child. The writer appropriately substitutes “the mother of the child” for “the Shunammite” or “the woman” in connection with this impassioned utterance, which induced the prophet to yield to her wishes.

Benson Commentary

2 Kings 4:30. And the mother of the child said, I will not leave thee — Until thou goest with me; for she had no great confidence in Gehazi, nor was her faith so strong as to think that the prophet could work so great a miracle at that distance, and by his staff. And he arose, and followed her — Being overcome by her importunity, and his tenderness toward so great a friend.

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

Salute him not - Compare the marginal reference. Salutation is the forerunner of conversation and one bent on speed would avoid every temptation to loiter.

Lay my staff upon the face of the child - Perhaps to assuage the grief of the mother, by letting her feel that something was being done for her child.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

29-31. take my staff … and lay … upon the face of the child—The staff was probably an official rod of a certain form and size. Necromancers used to send their staff with orders to the messengers to let it come in contact with nothing by the way that might dissipate or destroy the virtue imparted to it. Some have thought that Elisha himself entertained similar ideas, and was under an impression that the actual application of his staff would serve as well as the touch of his hand. But this is an imputation dishonorable to the character of the prophet. He wished to teach the Shunammite, who obviously placed too great dependence upon him, a memorable lesson to look to God. By sending his servant forward to lay his staff on the child, he raised [the Shunammite's] expectations, but, at the same time, taught her that his own help was unavailing—"there was neither voice, nor hearing." The command, to salute no man by the way, showed the urgency of the mission, not simply as requiring the avoidance of the tedious and unnecessary greetings so common in the East (Lu 10:1), but the exercise of faith and prayer. The act of Gehazi was allowed to fail, in order to free the Shunammite, and the people of Israel at large, of the superstitious notion of supposing a miraculous virtue resided in any person, or in any rod, and to prove that it was only through earnest prayer and faith in the power of God and for His glory that this and every miracle was to be performed.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

I will not leave thee, until thou goest home with me. For she had no great confidence in Gehazi, nor was her faith so strong as to think that the prophet could work so great a miracle at this distance, and by his staff; which possibly was one reason why this did no good. Compare Matthew 9:18 13:58 17:20.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And the mother of the child said,.... Having no faith in what the servant was to do, or could do:

as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee; signifying she would not go with his servant, but insisted upon it that he himself went with her, or she would not depart:

and he arose, and followed her; influenced by her importunity, and a sense of favours he had received from her, and more especially by the Spirit of God.

Geneva Study Bible

And the mother of the child said, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And he arose, and followed her.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

30. I will not leave thee] Whether the staff sent by Gehazi may have an effect, she cannot know. Her only security is in Elisha’s presence, and with him she will return to her desolated home. It seems as though the prophet had not at first intended to go with her, but she will take no refusal, so he prepares for the journey. ‘She, not regarding the staff or the man, holds fast to Elisha. No hopes of his message can loose her fingers. She imagined that the servant, the staff, might be severed from Elisha: she knew that wherever the prophet was, there was power’ (Bp Hall).

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 30. - And the mother of the child said, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth (comp. 2 Kings 3:2, 4, 6), I will not leave thee. Apparently, the woman supposed that Elisha intended to do nothing more, but trust the child's recovery to such virtue as might inhere in his staff. But her own resolution was long ago taken - she would be content with nothing less than bringing the prophet face to face with her dead child. She "will not leave" him till he consents to accompany her to her home. And he arose, and followed her; as, no doubt, he had intended from the first. 2 Kings 4:30

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The mother of the boy does not appear, indeed, to have anticipated any result from the measures adopted by Elisha; for she swears most solemnly that she will not leave him. But the question arises, whether this urging of the prophet to come himself and help arose from doubt as to the result of Gehazi's mission, or whether it was not rather an involuntary utterance of her excessive grief, and of the warmest wish of her maternal heart to see her beloved child recalled to life. We may probably infer the latter from the fulfilment of her request by Elisha.