complete verse (2 Kings 4:35)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 2 Kings 4:35:

  • Kupsabiny: “Elisha got up and went around in that room, and then he returned again and stretched himself over the child. Then suddenly, the child sneezed seven times and after that opened the eyes.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Elisha got up and walked back and forth in the room. Once again he got up on the bed and stretched his own body on top of the child’s body. Then that child sneezed seven times and opened his eyes.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Elisha stood-up, and walked-back-and-forth in the room. Then he lay-upon the child again. The child sneezed seven times, then he opened his eyes.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Elisha got up and walked back and forth in the room several times. Then he stretched his body on the boy’s body again. The boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes!” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on 2 Kings 4:35

He got up again: Since the pronoun he may be ambiguous here, translators will need to make it clear that it was Elisha who got up at this point and not the child. The Hebrew verb rendered got up again is better translated “got up” (Good News Translation, Revised English Bible, New Living Translation). The meaning is that Elisha returned to a standing position, not that he got up a second time after lying on the boy.

Walked once to and fro in the house: The word house here probably refers to the small guest room where the prophet found the boy. The adverb once actually occurs two times in this statement, which is literally “walked in the house once here and once here.” This seems to imply more than a single round trip in the small room. New American Bible is therefore probably correct in translating “paced up and down the room.” Contemporary English Version is similar with “walked back and forth in the room.”

Went up: As in verse 34, this refers again to Elisha’s getting up on the bed where the child was.

Stretched himself upon him: See verse 34.

The child sneezed seven times: The Hebrew verb for sneezed does not occur elsewhere in the Old Testament. While some readers may try to make something special of the number seven, this need not concern translators. Their task is simply to translate the meaning faithfully and this should be relatively easy to do. Certain commentators have suggested that this statement about the child’s sneezing was a later addition to the text and should be omitted, but there is little convincing evidence for this view, and translators should not drop it. The word order of the Hebrew and the punctuation of the Masoretic Text strongly favor connecting seven times with the verb sneezed. Osty-Trinquet, however, connects seven times with the verb stretched. All other translations take seven times with the verb sneezed.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator’s Notes on 2 Kings 4:35

4:35a Elisha turned away

Then Elisha stepped down

-or-

Elisha got down ⌊from the bed⌋

4:35b and paced back and forth across the room

and began to walk here and there inside the room.

-or-

and walked around in the room ⌊for some time⌋ .

4:35c Then he got on the bed

Then he went to the bed

-or-

After that he got on the bed again.

4:35d and stretched himself out over the boy again,

and placed himself over the boy once again.

-or-

He lay over the child’s body as he did before.

4:35e and the boy sneezed seven times

The boy sneezed seven times

-or-

⌊This time⌋ the child sneezed seven times

4:35f and opened his eyes.

and opened his eyes!

-or-

and his eyes opened!

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