Komentaryo sa 2 Mga Hari 4:35: Tze'enah Ure'enah, Rashi & Metzudat David

“He got on top of him and bent over him, etc.” [4:35]. Elisha got on top of the child and spread himself over the child. The child sneezed seven times consecutively and opened its eyes. Elisha called his servant Gehazi and said to him, call the Shunamite. Gehazi called her and she came to Elisha, who said, take you son. She came and fell on his feet and bowed down to the ground. She took her son and left.

Pirke Rabbi Eliezer writes about this haftorah. “One day Elisha visited Shunem” [4:8]. Rabbi Joshua the son of Korhah said: the dead are revived in the days of the Messiah, because of the merit of giving charity. This happened here with Elisha, but no woman could see it. Whatever woman saw his face would die. Elisha hid himself from the women and went from mountain to mountain and from one cave to the other. He came to the city of Shunem, to an important woman, who honored him greatly. The woman said to her husband. No woman can look at the face of the holy man, since they would die. Therefore, let me build him a separate chamber in the attic and when he will come to the city, he can stay in the room alone. They built the chamber and he was always there when he came to the city. Afterwards, when he would call the Shunamite, she would stand in the door, since she was afraid that she would die, if she would see his face. Afterwards, when the child died, it was revived because of the merit of the charity with which she honored Elisha.⁷Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer, chap. 33.

The Talmud writes in [tractate] Berakhot, about the verse “she said to her husband, I know that, etc.” [4:9]. Rabbi Yose the son of Hanina said. We learn from this verse that a woman in her house recognizes whether guests are good or bad, much more than the husband. Rabbi Yose the son of Hanina further said in the name of Rabbi Eliezer the son of Jacob. A person who honors a scholar in his house and gives him food and drink and gives him a present, it is like he had brought the daily offering. We learn this from the verse “he comes this way regularly” [4:9].⁸B. Berakhot, 10b. The Hebrew for “daily offering” is “tamid” and the verse also uses the term “tamid” [regularly]. The homily is built on the two uses of the word “tamid.”

[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.”