The Shunammite Woman and Elisha’s Blessing

The First Reading usually introduces the theme of the Gospel.  Today’s First Reading and the Gospel Reading are about receiving the “holy men” who serve as God’s representatives.   In Scripture, a “holy man” refers to someone who has the mission and responsibility as the bearer of God’s word.  In today’s New Covenant Church, the men of our ministerial priesthood fulfill that role.  Those of us who are the faithful of the priesthood of believers expect God’s representatives to be trained in Biblical exegesis and the Church’s interpretation of Sacred Scripture so that they will declare God’s authoritative word from the pulpit and not just their opinions, thoughts, or prejudices.

In the First Reading, a woman generously receives God’s prophet Elisha into her home because she tells her husband, “I know that he is a holy man of God.”  Not only does Elisha’s presence in her home enrich her life, but Elisha rewards her generosity by his petition to the Lord bless his barren benefactress with a child.

This passage is one of seven stories of miraculous births in the Bible in addition to the birth of Jesus (the eighth miraculous birth):

1. In the story of Abraham and Sarah, they were both elderly, and Sarah was barren, yet God made Sarah fertile, and she bore a son in their old age.  God told them to name the child Isaac (Gen 18:9-11; 21:1-3).
2. Rebekah was barren until Isaac prayed for her, and God gave them twin sons who they named Esau and Jacob (Gen 25:20-24).
3. Rachel was barren until God gave her a son, and she named him Joseph (30:22-24).
4. Manoah’s wife was barren, but God answered her prayer and gave her a child who became the mighty warrior Samson (Judg 13:2-7, 24).
5. Hannah was barren, but God heard her prayer and gave her a child who became the prophet Samuel (1 Sam 1:1-2, 10-11, 20).
6. Elisha petitioned God for the birth of a son for his benefactress, the barren Shunammite woman (2 Kng 4:14-17).
7. Zechariah and Elizabeth were elderly when God made Elizabeth fertile, and she gave birth to John the Baptist (Lk 1:1-25, 57-58).

There are only five annunciation stories in the Bible in which a woman received a direct message of a future birth by an agent of God: 

1. Sarah, the mother of Isaac
2. Manoah’s wife who became the mother of the prophet Samuel
3. The Shunammite woman
4. The Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus
5. Elisabeth, the mother of John the Baptist

There are three differences between Elisha’s annunciation story and the gift of a child to the other barren women or the other annunciation stories in the Bible:

1. All the other stories of the gift of children to barren women originate from the word of God, but this one is from the prophet’s initiative as recompense for the woman’s kindness to him.
2. God’s agent provided a name for the future sons in the other stories but not in this one.
3. All the other stories lead to the birth of someone destined to play a significant role in salvation history.  However, there is no record that this unnamed child played any significant role in the Biblical narrative.

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Michal E Hunt, Copyright © 2014; revised 2023 Agape Bible Study; used with permission