2nd Kings Chapter 4 verse 28 Holy Bible
Then she said, Did I desire a son of my lord? did I not say, Do not deceive me?
read chapter 4 in ASV
Then she said, Did I make a request to my lord for a son? did I not say, Do not give me false words?
read chapter 4 in BBE
And she said, Did I desire a son of my lord? did I not say, Do not deceive me?
read chapter 4 in DARBY
Then she said, Did I desire a son of my lord? did I not say, Do not deceive me?
read chapter 4 in KJV
Then she said, Did I ask a son from my lord? did I not say, Do not deceive me.
read chapter 4 in WBT
Then she said, Did I desire a son of my lord? Didn't I say, Do not deceive me?
read chapter 4 in WEB
And she saith, `Did I ask a son from my lord? did I not say, Do not deceive me?'
read chapter 4 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 28. - Then she said, Did I desire a son of my lord? did I not say, Do not deceive me? The woman does not directly reveal her grief. Great sorrow is reticent, cannot endure to put itself into words. But she sufficiently indicates the nature of her trouble by the form of her reproach. "Did I ask for a son? Did I make complaint of my childlessness? Had I been importunate, and obtained my son of thee by much asking, I would not have complained. But I did not ask. I did not even snatch greedily at the offer. I demurred. I said, 'Do not deceive me.' But now thou hast done worse than deceive me. Thou hast kept the word of promise to the ear, and broken it to the hope. It is greater misery to have a child and lose him, than never to have had one at all." All this, and more, seems to be involved in the woman's words. And the prophet fully understood their meaning.
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(28) Then.--And; so in 2Kings 4:29; 2Kings 4:35.Did I desire (ask) a son of my lord?--Only the conclusion of her appeal is given. She says, Better to have had no son, than to have had one and lost him. The opposite of our poet's"'Tis better to have loved and lost,Than never to have loved at all."But this last is the fruit of reflection; her words are the spontaneous outflow of a mother's poignant sorrow. Or, perhaps, we should understand that grief does not allow her to specify the cause directly; she leaves the prophet to infer that from her questions.
