מלכים ב ד׳:ח׳-ל״ז

ושם אשה גדולה. חשובה, וראיתי בפרקי דרבי אליעזר (פרק לג): אחותה של אבישג השונמית היתה:

There [lived] a prominent woman. [I.e.,] an important [woman]. And I saw in Pirkei of Rabbi Eliezer,¹⁰Chapter 23. that she was the sister of Avishag the Shunamis.¹¹See I Melochim 1:1-4.¹²She is also identified as the mother of Iddo the prophet.—Radak See I Melochim 13:1 and Rashi there.

ויהי מדי עברו. באותה העיר, יסור אל ביתה לאכל לחם:

Thereafter, whenever he passed through. In that city, he would stop at her house to eat a meal.

יסור. לשון הווה, היה סר שם:

He would go. [יור is] the present tense, [i.e.,] he would go there.

הנה נא ידעתי. שלא ראתה זבוב על שלחנו, וקרי על סדינו (ברכות י ב):

“Behold, now I know.” Because she never saw a fly at his table or semen on his sheet.¹³Maseches Berachos 10b. From here we derive that a woman recognizes her guests better than her husband does.

ויהי היום. ויהי יום אחד:

And the day came. And it was one day.

חרדת אלינו. בשבילנו:

You have busied yourself with us. On our account.

את כל החרדה הזאת. לשום אל לבך את העסק הזה, כמו (ישעיהו סו ב): וחרד על דברי, זהיר על הדבר שיהא עשוי, ונותנו אל לבו:

With all this attention. To put your heart into this task, as in, “and shudders [=וחרד] concerning My word,”¹⁴Yeshayahu 66:2. [i.e.,] is diligent concerning the task that it be accomplished, and puts his heart into it.

מה לעשות לך. מה את צריכה שנעשה לך, שבשבילנו עסקת כל זה:

What can be done for you? What do you need that we do for you, for you busied yourself on our account.

בתוך עמי. בתוך קרובי, אין אדם מזיקני, איני צריכה למלך ולא לשר הצבא:

“In the midst of my people.” Among my relatives, [i.e.,] no one harms me. I have no need for the king or for the general of the army.¹⁵Alternatively, “I dwell among my relatives and they can speak to the king on my behalf if necessary.”—Radak

ויאמר. אלישע לגחזי:

And he said. Elisha [said] to Geichazi.

ומה לעשות לה. נגד הטובה הזאת:

“Then what is there to do for her?” To reciprocate for this favor.

למועד הזה כעת חיה. כמו שאת קיימת היום ולשלום, כך תהי קיימת למועד הזה, וחובקת בן:

“At this season [next year] when the time comes to give birth.” Just as you are alive and well today, so will you be alive at this season [next year]¹⁶I.e., Elisha was guaranteeing her future health by comparing it to her present state of health. Alternatively, חַיָּה refers to a woman who gives birth and כָּעֵת חַיָּה refers to a nine month span, the normal period of pregnancy. Elisha told her that the baby will be born after fully developing in the womb.—Metzudas Dovid at this time and embracing a son.

אל אדוני. אל תאמר חובקת בן, מה לי חבוקו אם סופי לקוברו, וזה שאמרה לו כשמת, הלא אמרתי לא תשלה אותי:

“Do not my master.” Do not say, “embracing a son.” Why do I need to embrace him if I will end up burying him?¹⁷She suspected that her son would survive for only a short period because the prophet used the expression “you will be hugging a son” instead of “you will have a son,” the expression used by the angels when they told Avrohom that Sarah will bear him a son. See Bereishis 18:10.—Malbim This is what she said to him when he died, “Did I not say, ‘Do not mislead me’?”

אל תכזב. אל תראני דבר שיפסוק, יש בידך לבקש רחמים וינתן לי בן, אך בבקשה ממך אל תתן לי אלא בן של קיימא:

Do not deceive. Do not show me something that will fail. You have power to beg mercy, so that a son will be given to me. But I beg you, do not give me [any child], rather a child who will live.

אל תכזב. כמו (שם נ יא): לא יכזבו מימיו:

Do not deceive. Like “whose waters will not fail.”¹⁸Yeshayahu 58:11.

כעת חיה. כעת הזאת שהיתה בחיים ובשלום, ולכך נקוד כָּעֵת:

When the time was for her to give birth. Like this time when she was alive and well. Therefore, the word is voweled [to mean], like “this” time.¹⁹I.e., the ‘כ’ is voweled with a קָמַץ instead of a שְׁוָא.

ראשי ראשי. הנני חולה בראשי:

“My head! My head!” I am sick in my head.²⁰It is common for those in pain to repeat their cries; see Yirmiyahu 4:19.—Radak

ויאמר. אביו אל אחד מן הנערים, שאהו אל אמו:

He said. His father said to one of the servants, “Carry him to his mother.”

נהג ולך. מהר:

“Drive and go on.” [I.e.,] hurry.

אל תעצר לי. אל תעכב על ידי את הרכיבה:

Do not hold back from riding because of me. Do not hold back the riding [pace] because of me.²¹Some say she walked alongside the donkey and others say she rode the donkey.—Radak

ותאמר שלום. הרי זה מקרא קצר, שהרי היה לו לכתוב, וישאל לה ותאמר שלום:

And she said, “[All is] well.” This is an abbreviated verse, for it should have been written, “And he asked her, and she said, ‘We are well.’”

הלא אמרתי. לך, אל תכזב בשפחתך:

Did I not say. To you, “Do not deceive your maidservant”?²²Below v. 16.

לא תשלה. לא תשגה אותי על דבר טעות:

“Do not mislead”? Do not mislead me concerning a mistake.²³Alternatively, Gא תַשְׁגֶּה means “do not grieve me.”—Targum

לא תברכנו. לא תשאל לשלום, וכל זה, שלא ירבה דברים וישאלהו להיכן אתה הולך, והוא אומר להחיות את המת, ואין זה כבוד הנס להתהלל בו מי שבא על ידו והוא לא עשה כן, אלא לכל השואלו הוא אומר, רבי שלחני להחיות את המת (תנחומא בשלח כו, ירושלמי סנהדרין י ב):

Do not greet him. Do not inquire about his welfare. All this [was done] to discourage conversation, where one might ask him, “Where are you going?” and he would say, “To revive the dead.” It is not respectful for the miracle when the maker brags about it. But, he did not obey.²⁴Geichazi took his mission very lightly and considered it a joke. He was therefore unsuccessful in his mission. Radak When anyone asked him [where he was going], he responded, “My master sent me to revive the dead.”²⁵Alternatively, Elisha initially thought that the boy had merely fainted and therefore his personal presence would not be necessary.—Malbim

ויגהר עליו. תרגם יונתן: ואלהי עלוהי. הוא לשון עייפות, יש דוגמתו בברייתא דהאזינו ובספרי ומנחם פתר: 'ויגהר' פתרון המלה כפי ענינה, נשתטח עליו:

And he spread himself upon him. [Targum] Yonoson rendered ‘וְאַלְהֵי עֲלוֹהִי’, an expression of weariness.²⁶I.e., “he laid exhausted upon him.” There is a similar word in the Beraisa of Ha’azinu and in Sifrei. But Menachem rendered ‘וַיִּגְהַר’, an interpretation of the word according to its context, “he prostrated himself upon him.”²⁷See I Melochim 18:42.

ויזורר. נתעטש:

[The boy] sneezed. He sneezed.²⁸According to the Zohar, the boy that Elisha revived was Chavakuk the prophet. This is alluded to in v. 16 above, where the prophet tells the woman “you will be hugging [=חֹבֶקֶת] a son.”