This verse epitomizes the Shunammite woman’s heartfelt acceptance of God’s gracious intervention in her life.
“Then she went in and fell at his feet and bowed herself to the ground, and she took up her son and went out.” (v.37) describes the Shunammite woman’s powerful response once her child, who had died, was miraculously raised back to life by the prophet Elisha. In the broader story of 2 Kings 4, we learn that Elisha, who was active as a prophet in the northern kingdom of Israel around the mid-9th century BC, had earlier promised the woman she would have a son. When the child later died unexpectedly, God used Elisha to restore him. The Shunammite woman’s act of bowing low suggests her deep gratitude and reverence for God’s power working through His prophet.
In the surrounding narrative, the location of Shunem carries significance. Situated in the territory of Issachar, in the Jezreel Valley of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, Shunem was on a trade route connecting different parts of the ancient Near East. People traveling often passed by, and it was in this place that Elisha formed a relationship of mutual respect and hospitality with the Shunammite woman. Her humble home became a reminder that God’s grace and miraculous deeds can be encountered anywhere, not only in royal courts or temple precincts.
This moment in verse 37 highlights the culmination of God’s faithfulness in the woman’s life. Her first impulse upon receiving such a profound gift was worship—falling at Elisha’s feet echoes similar scenes in the Bible where worshipers express passionate thanksgiving, and it prefigures the intense gratitude found in passages like Luke 7:16 from the New Testament, where Jesus brings new life to those once deemed lost. Through Elisha’s ministry, we see a glimpse of God’s restorative power and a foreshadowing of Jesus’s own power over death and disease (John 11:43-44).
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2 Kings 4:37 meaning
“Then she went in and fell at his feet and bowed herself to the ground, and she took up her son and went out.” (v.37) describes the Shunammite woman’s powerful response once her child, who had died, was miraculously raised back to life by the prophet Elisha. In the broader story of 2 Kings 4, we learn that Elisha, who was active as a prophet in the northern kingdom of Israel around the mid-9th century BC, had earlier promised the woman she would have a son. When the child later died unexpectedly, God used Elisha to restore him. The Shunammite woman’s act of bowing low suggests her deep gratitude and reverence for God’s power working through His prophet.
In the surrounding narrative, the location of Shunem carries significance. Situated in the territory of Issachar, in the Jezreel Valley of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, Shunem was on a trade route connecting different parts of the ancient Near East. People traveling often passed by, and it was in this place that Elisha formed a relationship of mutual respect and hospitality with the Shunammite woman. Her humble home became a reminder that God’s grace and miraculous deeds can be encountered anywhere, not only in royal courts or temple precincts.
This moment in verse 37 highlights the culmination of God’s faithfulness in the woman’s life. Her first impulse upon receiving such a profound gift was worship—falling at Elisha’s feet echoes similar scenes in the Bible where worshipers express passionate thanksgiving, and it prefigures the intense gratitude found in passages like Luke 7:16 from the New Testament, where Jesus brings new life to those once deemed lost. Through Elisha’s ministry, we see a glimpse of God’s restorative power and a foreshadowing of Jesus’s own power over death and disease (John 11:43-44).