4 Kings 4:16
He said to her: At this time, and this same hour, if life accompany, thou shalt have a son in thy womb. But she answered: Do not, I beseech thee, my lord, thou man of God, do not lie to thy handmaid.
Open 4 Kings 4:16 in the Motif Searcher, word by word across all five texts →Show on the spiral →The verse in its languages
- Vulgate (Clementine)
- dixit ad eam : In tempore isto, et in hac eadem hora, si vita comes fuerit, habebis in utero filium. At illa respondit : Noli quæso, domine mi vir Dei, noli mentiri ancillæ tuæ.
- Septuagint (Swete)
- καὶ εἶπεν Ἐλεισαῖε πρὸς αὐτήν Εἰς τὸν καιρὸν τοῦτον, ὡς ἡ ὥρα ζῶσα, σὺ περιειληφυῖα υἱόν· ἡ δὲ εἶπεν Μή, κύριε μου, μὴ διαψεύσῃ τὴν δούλην σου.
- Hebrew (WLC)
- וַיֹּ֗אמֶר לַמּוֹעֵ֤ד הַזֶּה֙ כָּעֵ֣ת חַיָּ֔ה אתי חֹבֶ֣קֶת בֵּ֑ן וַתֹּ֗אמֶר אַל אֲדֹנִי֙ אִ֣ישׁ הָאֱלֹהִ֔ים אַל תְּכַזֵּ֖ב בְּשִׁפְחָתֶֽךָ
Haydock's commentary
Womb. Hebrew, "At this season, according to the time of life, (Haydock; or of a woman with child, Menochius) thou shalt embrace a son" in thy arms. (Haydock) See Genesis xviii. 10. (Calmet)
If is added by St. Jerome, agreeably to an usual form of speaking. (Menochius)
The prophet assures the woman, that she will not only live, but also bear a son, and nurse him.
Lie, deceive, (ver. 28; Haydock) or flatter me with vain hopes. (Calmet) She might think that the prophet was not actually inspired. (Menochius)
Through joy, she could hardly believe. See Luke xxiv. 41. (Haydock)
From Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary, 1859, in the transcription made by Todd Easton and kept online by John Paul Wohlschied at johnblood.gitlab.io/haydock.
The Fathers on this verse
St Ambrose On the Duties of the Clergy, Chapter I. We are taught by David and Solomon how to take counsel with our own heart. Scipio is not to be accounted prime author of the saying which is ascribed to him. The writer proves what glorious things the holy prophets accomplished in their time of quiet, and shows, by examples of their and others' leisure moments, that a just man is never alone in trouble
6. Let us compare this leisure of his with that of others. Other men for the sake of rest are wont to withdraw their minds from business, and to retire from the company and companionship of men; to seek the retirement of the country or the solitude of the fields, or in the city to give their minds a rest and to enjoy peace and quietness. But Elisha was ever active. In solitude he divided Jordan on passing over it, so that the lower part flowed down, whilst the upper returned to its source. On Carmel he promises the woman, who so far had had no child, that a son now unhoped for should be born to her. He raises the dead to life, he corrects the bitterness of the food, and makes it to be sweet by mixing meal with it. Having distributed ten loaves to the people for food, he gathered up the fragments that were left after they had been filled. …