2 Kings 8:5

And it came to pass, as he was telling the king how he had restored a dead body to life, that, behold, the woman, whose son he had restored to life, cried to the king for her house and for her land. And Gehazi said, My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(5) A dead body.—The dead.

Cried.—Was crying. Literally, the Hebrew runs, And it came to pass, he (emphatic) was telling . . . and behold the woman was crying, &c. The woman came in, and began her prayer to the king, while he was talking with Gehazi about her and her son.

This is her son.—Who was now grown up, and came as his mother’s escort.

Benson Commentary

2 Kings 8:5-6. As he was telling the king, &c., the woman cried to the king, &c. — By the order of Providence she came to present her petition, and brought her son with her, in that very instant of time when Gehazi was telling the story of Elisha’s restoring him to life, that the king might be more fully satisfied of the truth of what he related from her own mouth, and that it might make the deeper impression upon him. Providence ought to be carefully observed, and devoutly acknowledged, in ordering the circumstances of events; for sometimes, as here, those that are minute of themselves, prove of great consequence. And when the king asked the woman, she told him — That is, she confirmed what Gehazi had said. Thus did God even force him to believe, what he might have had some colour to question, if he had only had Gehazi’s word for it. So the king appointed, saying, Restore all that was hers — Not only her house and land, but all the profits that had been made of them, and brought into his treasury. This was a high act of justice, and an argument of some goodness left in a bad man.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

8:1-6 The kindness of the good Shunammite to Elisha, was rewarded by the care taken of her in famine. It is well to foresee an evil, and wisdom, when we foresee it, to hide ourselves if we lawfully may do so. When the famine was over, she returned out of the land of the Philistines; that was no proper place for an Israelite, any longer than there was necessity for it. Time was when she dwelt so securely among her own people, that she had no occasion to be spoken for to the king; but there is much uncertainty in this life, so that things or persons may fail us which we most depend upon, and those befriend us which we think we shall never need. Sometimes events, small in themselves, prove of consequence, as here; for they made the king ready to believe Gehazi's narrative, when thus confirmed. It made him ready to grant her request, and to support a life which was given once and again by miracle.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

During the Shunammite's absence in Philistia, her dwelling and her grain-fields had been appropriated by some one who refused to restore them. She therefore determined to appeal to the king. Such direct appeals are common in Oriental countries. Compare 2 Kings 6:26; 2 Samuel 14:4; 1 Kings 3:16.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

4-6. the king talked with Gehazi—Ceremonial pollution being conveyed by contact alone, there was nothing to prevent a conference being held with this leper at a distance; and although he was excluded from the town of Samaria, this reported conversation may have taken place at the gate or in one of the royal gardens. The providence of God so ordained that King Jehoram had been led to inquire, with great interest, into the miraculous deeds of Elisha, and that the prophet's servant was in the act of relating the marvellous incident of the restoration of the Shunammite's son when she made her appearance to prefer her request. The king was pleased to grant it; and a state officer was charged to afford her every facility in the recovery of her family possession out of the hands of the occupier.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

The woman was by God’s wonderful and gracious providence brought thither in the most advantageous season.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And it came to pass, as he was telling the king how he had restored a dead body to life,.... Which was the Shunammite's son:

that, behold, the woman whose son he had restored to life cried to the king for her house, and for her land; came and presented her petition to the king at that very instant:

and Gehazi said, my lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life; the very person I am speaking of.

Geneva Study Bible

And it came to pass, as he was telling {c} the king how he had restored a dead body to life, that, behold, the woman, whose son he had restored to life, cried to the king for her house and for her land. And Gehazi said, My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life.

(c) God's wonderful providence appears in this, that he caused the king to desire to hear him, whom before he contemned and also hereby prepared an entrance to the poor widows suit.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

5. had restored a dead body to life] R.V. to life him that was dead. This would be among the greatest of the great works of Elisha, and Jehoram’s interest would consequently be at its height.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 5. - And it came to pass, as he was telling the king how he - i.e. Elisha - had restored a dead Body to life. This was undoubtedly the greatest of all Elisha's miracles, and Gehazi naturally enlarged upon it. As an eye-witness (2 Kings 4:29-36), he could give all the details. That, behold, the woman, whose son he had restored to life, cried to the king for her house and for her land. The coincidence can scarcely have been accidental. Divine providence so ordered matters that, just when the king's interest in the woman was most warm, she should appear before him to urge her claim. At another time, Jehoram would, it is probable, have been but slightly moved by her complaint. Under the peculiar circumstances, he was deeply moved, and at once granted the woman the redress for which she asked. And Gehazi said, Wry lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life. The Shunammite was accompanied by her son, now a boy of at least tea or eleven years old - the actual object of Elisha's miracle. The king's interest in the woman would be still more roused by this circumstance. 2 Kings 8:5

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

While he was relating this, the woman herself came into invoke the help of the king to recover her property, and was pointed out to the king by Gehazi as the very woman of whom he was speaking, which caused the king to be so interested in her favour, that after hearing her complaint he sent a chamberlain with her (saris as in 1 Kings 22:9), with instructions to procure for her not only the whole of her property, but the produce of the land during her absence. - For עזבה without mappiq, see Ewald, 247, d.