The Shunammite Restored to Her Land
2 Kings 8:1-6
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2 K.8.1 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ואלישע: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- דבר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אל: NEG
- האשה: NOUN,f,sg,def
- אשר: PRON,rel
- החיה: VERB,hiph,perf,3,m,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- בנה: NOUN,m,sg,abs+SUFF,3,f,sg
- לאמר: INF,qal,infc
- קומי: VERB,qal,imp,2,f,sg
- ולכי: VERB,qal,imp,2,f,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- וביתך: NOUN,m,sg,cs
- וגורי: NOUN,m,pl,abs,poss:2ms
- באשר: CONJ
- תגורי: VERB,qal,impf,2,f,sg
- כי: CONJ
- קרא: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- לרעב: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- וגם: CONJ
- בא: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- אל: NEG
- הארץ: NOUN,f,sg,def
- שבע: NUM,card
- שנים: NOUN,f,pl,abs
Parallels
- 2 Kgs.4:18-37 (structural): Immediate narrative parallel — the earlier account of the same Shunammite woman whose son was restored by Elisha; 8:1 refers back to that story and her circumstances.
- Gen.41:29-30 (verbal): Shared motif and wording of a seven‑year famine — Joseph’s interpretation predicts seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine, the same period mentioned in 2 Kgs 8:1.
- Gen.12:10 (thematic): Famine causes a household to sojourn in a foreign land (Abram goes to Egypt); parallels Elisha’s instruction that the woman and her household go live elsewhere because of the famine.
- 1 Kgs.17:8-16 (thematic): Elijah’s interaction with the widow of Zarephath during a time of drought/famine — both narratives feature a prophet, a widow, and God’s providential care amid famine.
- 1 Kgs.17:17-24 (allusion): Elijah raises the widow’s son, a miracle that parallels Elisha’s restoration of the Shunammite’s son (cf. 2 Kgs 4), linking the prophetic pattern of death and restoration.
Alternative generated candidates
- Elisha spoke to the woman who had revived her son, saying, “Arise, go away with your household and dwell wherever you can, for the LORD has summoned a famine, and it has come upon the land for seven years.”
- Elisha spoke to the woman whose son he had restored, saying, "Arise, go away with your household and live wherever you can, for the LORD has called for a famine, and it has come upon the land for seven years."
2 K.8.2 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ותקם: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- האשה: NOUN,f,sg,def
- ותעש: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,f,sg
- כדבר: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- איש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- האלהים: NOUN,m,sg,def
- ותלך: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- היא: PRON,dem,3,f,sg
- וביתה: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,cstr+PRSFX,3,f,sg
- ותגר: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- בארץ: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,def
- פלשתים: NOUN,m,pl,cstr
- שבע: NUM,card
- שנים: NOUN,f,pl,abs
Parallels
- 2Kgs.8.1 (structural): Immediate context: Elisha instructs the woman to depart and remain abroad for seven years — verse 2 continues that command and its fulfillment.
- 2Kgs.4.8-37 (structural): The earlier Shunammite episode: same woman who received Elisha’s hospitality and whose son was restored; provides background for her identity and later return.
- 1Kgs.17.8-16 (thematic): Elijah sends the widow of Zarephath (a foreign woman) to provide during famine — parallels a prophet directing a household to find refuge/provision outside Israel.
- Ruth 1:1-2 (thematic): Household departs the land because of famine and sojourns in a foreign country (Moab) — similar motif of leaving home due to famine and living abroad.
- Gen.26:6-11 (thematic): Isaac sojourns in Gerar among the Philistines (Abimelech) — echoes the motif and phrase of dwelling in Philistine territory.
Alternative generated candidates
- The woman rose and did as the man of God commanded; she went away with her household and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years.
- The woman rose and did according to the word of the man of God. She went with her household and dwelt in the land of the Philistines seven years.
2 K.8.3 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויהי: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- מקצה: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- שבע: NUM,card
- שנים: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- ותשב: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- האשה: NOUN,f,sg,def
- מארץ: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- פלשתים: NOUN,m,pl,cstr
- ותצא: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,f,sg
- לצעק: PREP+VERB,qal,inf
- אל: NEG
- המלך: NOUN,m,sg,def
- אל: NEG
- ביתה: NOUN,m,sg,suff-3,f,sg
- ואל: CONJ+PREP
- שדה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Ruth 1:1-22 (thematic): Famine forces a household to sojourn in a foreign land and later return home; parallels the motif of leaving because of famine and the woman's subsequent return to reclaim her life/property.
- 2 Kings 4:1 (structural): Earlier episode in the Elisha cycle where a vulnerable woman appeals for help over threatened loss of her household/property; parallels the narrative pattern of a woman's crisis and appeal leading to restoration.
- 1 Kings 21 (thematic): A royal connection to land conflict (Naboth's vineyard) and the king's role in the fate of property; contrasts with 2 Kgs 8 where royal authority is invoked to restore the woman's house and field.
- Leviticus 25:10-13 (thematic): Jubilee legislation mandating return of ancestral land and restoration after periods of alienation; provides legal/theological background for later motifs of restitution of houses and fields.
- Genesis 47:13-26 (thematic): Famine-era dispossession in Egypt, where land and people come under the control of central authority; echoes the themes of famine-driven displacement and transfer/possession of land by officials.
Alternative generated candidates
- At the end of seven years the woman returned from the land of the Philistines and went out to present her case to the king concerning her house and her field.
- At the end of seven years the woman returned from the land of the Philistines; she went out to plead with the king concerning her house and her field.
2 K.8.4 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- והמלך: NOUN,m,sg,def
- מדבר: VERB,qal,ptc,3,m,sg
- אל: NEG
- גחזי: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- נער: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- איש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- האלהים: NOUN,m,sg,def
- לאמר: INF,qal,infc
- ספרה: VERB,qal,imp,2,m,sg+OBJ=3f,sg
- נא: PART
- לי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- כל: DET
- הגדלות: ADJ,f,pl,def
- אשר: PRON,rel
- עשה: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- אלישע: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- 2 Kings 4:1-7 (thematic): Shows Elisha's miracle of provision (the widow's oil), an example of the 'great things' the king asks Gehazi to recount.
- 2 Kings 4:32-37 (thematic): Elisha raises the Shunammite's son — a prominent, dramatic miracle that would be considered one of his 'great deeds.'
- 2 Kings 5:1-14 (thematic): The healing of Naaman the Syrian is a major sign attributed to Elisha and exemplifies the kind of wonders the king wants described.
- 2 Kings 7:3-20 (thematic): Elisha's prophecy and the miraculous end of the siege/famine in Samaria — another significant public deliverance counted among his great acts.
- 2 Kings 5:20-27 (structural): Passage centers on Gehazi, here named as Elisha's servant; connects to 8:4's identification of Gehazi as 'the young man of the man of God' and sheds light on his role and character.
Alternative generated candidates
- The king spoke to Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, “Tell me, please, of all the great deeds that Elisha has done.”
- While the king was speaking with Gehazi, the attendant of the man of God, he said, "Tell me all the great things that Elisha has done."
2 K.8.5 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויהי: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- הוא: PRON,3,m,sg
- מספר: VERB,qal,impf,1,m,sg
- למלך: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- את: PRT,acc
- אשר: PRON,rel
- החיה: VERB,hiph,perf,3,m,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- המת: NOUN,m,sg,def
- והנה: ADV
- האשה: NOUN,f,sg,def
- אשר: PRON,rel
- החיה: VERB,hiph,perf,3,m,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- בנה: NOUN,m,sg,abs+SUFF,3,f,sg
- צעקת: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- אל: NEG
- המלך: NOUN,m,sg,def
- על: PREP
- ביתה: NOUN,m,sg,suff-3,f,sg
- ועל: CONJ+PREP
- שדה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ויאמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- גחזי: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אדני: NOUN,m,sg,abs,1,sg
- המלך: NOUN,m,sg,def
- זאת: DEM,f,sg
- האשה: NOUN,f,sg,def
- וזה: CONJ+PRON,dem,m,sg,abs
- בנה: NOUN,m,sg,abs+SUFF,3,f,sg
- אשר: PRON,rel
- החיה: VERB,hiph,perf,3,m,sg
- אלישע: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- 2 Kings 4:8-37 (verbal): Same narrative: the Shunammite woman and the son whom Elisha restored to life — the earlier account of the event to which 2 Kings 8:5 refers.
- 1 Kings 17:17-24 (thematic): Elijah restores the widow of Zarephath’s son to life; a closely parallel motif of a prophet reviving a dead child and vindicating God’s power through a miracle.
- Luke 7:11-17 (thematic): Jesus raises the widow’s son at Nain; parallels with prophetic figures restoring life to a widow’s son and the public recognition of divine power and mercy.
- Mark 5:35-43 (thematic): Jesus raises Jairus’s daughter (also recounted in Matthew 9:18-26 and Luke 8:49-56); another instance of a holy man restoring a dead child, highlighting the recurring biblical motif of resurrection by a divinely empowered agent.
Alternative generated candidates
- As he was relating to the king how he had restored the dead, behold, the woman who had revived her son cried out to the king about her house and her field. Gehazi said, “My lord the king, this is the woman, and this is the son whom Elisha brought back to life.”
- As he recounted to the king how Elisha had restored the dead, behold, the woman whose son had been restored came and appealed to the king about her house and her field. Gehazi said, "My lord the king, this is the woman, and this is the son whom Elisha restored."
2 K.8.6 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- וישאל: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- המלך: NOUN,m,sg,def
- לאשה: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ותספר: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- לו: PRON,3,m,sg
- ויתן: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- לה: PREP+PRON,3,f,sg
- המלך: NOUN,m,sg,def
- סריס: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אחד: NUM,card,m,sg
- לאמר: INF,qal,infc
- השיב: VERB,hiphil,perf,3,m,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- כל: DET
- אשר: PRON,rel
- לה: PREP+PRON,3,f,sg
- ואת: CONJ
- כל: DET
- תבואת: NOUN,f,sg,cs
- השדה: NOUN,m,sg,def
- מיום: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- עזבה: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- הארץ: NOUN,f,sg,def
- ועד: CONJ+PREP
- עתה: ADV
Parallels
- Leviticus 25:23-28 (thematic): Law of land redemption and the principle that land ultimately belongs to the clan; provides the legal/theological background for restoring property and its produce to an owner who was dispossessed.
- Ruth 4:8-10 (verbal): Legal language of redemption and transfer of a family field (the kinsman‑redeemer acquiring/restoring land and rights) parallels the act of restoring a woman's field and its produce.
- 1 Kings 21:3-16 (allusion): Contrast with Naboth’s vineyard episode where royal desire leads to illicit seizure; 2 Kings 8:6 functions as a counter‑scene in the Deuteronomistic history in which royal authority is used to restore rather than confiscate property.
- 2 Kings 4:8-37 (structural): Immediate narrative parallel within the Elisha cycle: the Shunammite/widow stories (and Elisha’s involvement) provide the wider plot context for this woman’s petition and the prophet’s role in securing her restoration.
Alternative generated candidates
- The king questioned the woman, and she told him. Then the king gave her a royal official, saying, “Restore to her all that was hers, and all the produce of the field from the day she left the land until now.”
- The king questioned the woman, and when she had told him, the king gave her a eunuch, saying, "Restore to her all that belonged to her, and all the produce of the field from the day she left the land until now."
And Elisha spoke to the woman who had restored her son, saying, “Arise, go with your household and sojourn wherever you may sojourn, for the LORD has summoned a famine, and it will come upon the land for seven years.” So the woman rose and did as the man of God had spoken to her; she went away with her household and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years.
At the end of seven years she returned from the land of the Philistines and came to make appeal to the king concerning her house and her field. Now the king was speaking to Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, “Tell me, I pray you, all the great deeds that Elisha has done.”
As he recounted to the king how he had restored the dead to life, behold, the woman who had been the recipient of that deed cried out to the king concerning her house and her field. And Gehazi said, “My lord the king, this is the woman, and this is the son whom Elisha restored to life.”
Then the king asked the woman, and she told him; and the king appointed to her a court official, saying, “Restore to her all that belonged to her, and all the produce of the field from the day she left the land until now.”