After the child died, the woman went to Elisha, and he came to the house. Elisha went in, shut the door, prayed, and lay on the child, placing mouth, eyes, and hands on him. The child’s body became warm, he sneezed seven times, and opened his eyes (2 Kings 4:32–35).
In 2 Kings 4:28–37, the Shunammite mother presses Elisha with her earlier warning that she did not ask to be given false hope. Elisha first sends Gehazi ahead with his staff, but nothing changes. Elisha then comes to the house, prays, and physically attends to the child until warmth returns and the child revives. This scene continues the larger Shunammite story that began with her hospitality to Elisha and the promised birth of a son, followed by the child’s sudden death. The passage sits among a series of Elisha narratives that highlight concrete needs—food, sickness, loss, death—and the prophet’s actions in response.
This passage presents a death-and-restoration story centered on Elisha, the Shunammite mother, and her son. The text explicitly shows the mother’s pain sharpened by earlier hope: she reminds Elisha she did not ask for a son and warns against being “deceived” by a gift that can be lost (verse 28).
A careful answer keeps the immediate passage, the book's argument, and the whole-Bible storyline together, so the question is answered in context instead of as a detached idea.
Start with 2 Kings 4:32-35, then read the surrounding section so the answer stays connected to the passage's flow.
32When Elisha was come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid on his bed.
33He went in therefore, and shut the door on them both, and prayed to Yahweh.
34He went up, and lay on the child, and put his mouth on his mouth, and his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands: and he stretched himself on him; and the flesh of the child grew warm.
35Then he returned, and walked in the house once back and forth; and went up, and stretched himself on him: and the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes.