2 Kings 4:23

And he said, Wherefore wilt thou go to him to day? it is neither new moon, nor sabbath. And she said, It shall be well.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(23) Wiltt thou go.—Art thou going. Archaic forms of the pronoun and participle are here used.

It is neither new moon, nor sabbath.—Comp. Amos 8:5. This remark is interesting, because it implies that the faithful in the northern kingdom were wont to visit prophets on these holy days for the sake of religious instruction and edification. Thenius suggests a doubt whether the later practice of resorting to the Scribes on these days has not here been transferred by an anachronism to the days of Elisha. (Comp. Numbers 18:11 seq.; Leviticus 23:3, for the legal mode of observing new moons and Sabbath days.)

It shall be well.—Omit it shall be. The expression may be equivalent to our common “all right;” admitting the truth of what is said, yet persisting in one’s purpose. She did not want to be delayed, nor to have her faith shaken by argument.

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

Her husband did not connect the illness with his wife's demand, but thought she wished to attend one of the prophet's devotional services. It is evident that such services were now held with something like regularity on Carmel for the benefit of the faithfull in those parts.

New moon - By the Law the first day of each month was to be kept holy. Offerings were appointed for such occasions Numbers 28:11-15, and they were among the days on which the silver trumpets were to be blown Numbers 10:10; Psalm 81:3. Hence, "new moons" are frequently joined with "sabbaths" (see Isaiah 1:13; Ezekiel 45:17; Hosea 2:11; 1 Chronicles 23:31).

It shall be well - Rather, as in the margin, "Peace." i. e., "Be quiet - trouble me not with inquiries - only let me do as I wish."

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

22. she called unto her husband—Her heroic concealment of the death from her husband is not the least interesting feature of the story.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

New moon and sabbath were the chief and usual times in which they resorted to the prophets for instruction, for which he supposed she now went, not suspecting but that the child was well by this time.

It shall be well; my going will not be troublesome to him, nor prejudicial to thee or me. Heb. peace, i.e. peace be to thee, farewell; or, be contented, let me go.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And he said, wherefore wilt thou go to him today?.... What reason is there for it? what is the meaning of it?

it is neither new moon nor sabbath; neither the first day of the month, nor the seventh day of the week, times which were religiously observed; so with the Heathens the new moon and the seventh of the week, and so the fourth, were sacred (u); which notions they borrowed from the Jews; see Gill on 1 Samuel 20:5 and when, it seems, it was usual to frequent the house of the prophet, to hear the word of God read and explained, and other religious exercises performed, as praying and singing praise, and receiving some good instructions and advice. Joseph Kimchi gives a different sense of these words:"there is not a month past, no, not a week, since thou sawest him;''why therefore shouldest thou be in such haste to go to him? so the words for new moon and sabbath may signify:

and she said, it shall be well; it was right for her to go, and it would be well for him and her, and the family; or, "peace" (w), be easy and quiet, farewell: it is much he had no mistrust of the death of the child, or that it was worse, since it went from him ill.

(u) Hesiod. Opera & Dies, l. 2.((w) "pax", Pagninus, Montanus, &c.

Geneva Study Bible

And he said, Wherefore wilt thou go to him to day? it is neither {n} new moon, nor sabbath. And she said, It shall be well.

(n) For at such times the people were wont to resort to the prophets for doctrine and consolation.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

23. it is neither new moon, nor sabbath] These were the principal occasions of assembling for worship, and it is clear from this history that even in Israel, while the house of Ahab was still on the throne, religious services were regularly held by the prophets in the name of Jehovah. The prophets performed all the duties of the priesthood where it was impossible to have the services of priests or Levites. Thus Elijah sacrificed on Mt Carmel before the slaughter of the priests of Baal (1 Kings 18:33). And for purposes of teaching and prayer they appear to have observed the days specially appointed in the Law. On the observance of the new moon cf. 1 Samuel 20:5; 1 Samuel 20:18; 1 Samuel 20:24. For its institution see Numbers 10:10; Numbers 28:11. In the latter passage is a description of the sacrifice to be offered; and we know from the Psalms (Psalm 81:3) that it was celebrated with the sound of the trumpet. On the observance when it came to be without any spiritual reality, see Isaiah 1:14.

It shall be well] The Heb. word is literally ‘Peace’. But it is used in salutations and enquiries after the welfare of another, as below in verse 26. Here however the woman appears to use it as a means of putting aside further questioning. So it would be equivalent to ‘Let be’. ‘Say no more’. ‘Let me have my way’.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 23. - And he said, Wherefore wilt thou go to him today? it is neither new moon nor sabbath. The husband demurred; he saw no occasion for the journey. It was not either "new moon" or "sabbath" - times when evidently the prophets conducted services, which were attended by pious persons from the neighborhood: what could she want of Elisha? He had evidently no idea that the child was dead. Probably he had not realized to himself that he was in any danger. And she said, It shall be well. She uttered the single word shalom, literally, "peace," but used, like the German gut, or the English "all right," to content an inquirer without giving him a definite answer. And the husband accepted her assurance, and did not press for an explanation. The ass and the servant were placed at her disposal without more words. 2 Kings 4:23

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The mother took the dead child at once up to the chamber built for Elisha, laid it upon the bed of the man of God, and shut the door behind her; she then asked her husband, without telling him of the death of the boy, to send a young man with a she-ass, that she might ride as quickly as possible to the man of God; and when her husband asked her, "Wherefore wilt thou go to him to-day, since it is neither new moon nor Sabbath?"

(Note: From these words, Theod., Kimchi, C. a Lap., Vatabl., and others have drawn the correct conclusion, that the pious in Israel were accustomed to meet together at the prophets' houses for worship and edification, on those days which were appointed in the law (Leviticus 23:3; Numbers 28:11.) for the worship of God; and from this Hertz and Hengstenberg have still further inferred, that in the kingdom of the ten tribes not only were the Sabbath and new moons kept, as is evident from Amos 8:5 also, but the prophets supplied the pious in that kingdom with a substitute for the missing Levitical priesthood.)

she replied, shalom; i.e., either "it is all well," or "never mind." For this word, which is used in reply to a question after one's health (see 2 Kings 4:26), is apparently also used, as Clericus has correctly observed, when the object is to avoid giving a definite answer to any one, and yet at the same time to satisfy him.