Hidden within the politics and violence of 1st and 2nd Kings stands a bold, shrewd, and unnamed woman.
Assertiveness
In chapter 4, she is described as a “well-to-do woman,” and she used her resources to host the prophet Elisha any time he was in Shunem (v. 8). Eventually, she wanted to make a guest room in their house just for Elisha, and she told her husband, “I know that this man who often comes our way is a holy man of God. Let’s make a small room on the roof and put in it a bed and a table, a chair and a lamp for him. Then he can stay there whenever he comes to us” (vv. 9-10). This woman throws patriarchal submission to the wind. She asserts her ideas to her husband and then she makes them happen. Does this mean she disrespects her husband or dominates over him? Of course not. Scripture makes no suggestion that that’s the case.
Contentedness
As a “well-to-do woman,” the Shunammite woman uses her resources well. She chooses to feed and host the prophet of God, giving her resources to the service of the LORD. And when Elisha asks how he can repay her, she graciously declines his offer to repay her at all. She is content with what she has, rather than wanting more. Elisha even offers to speak to the king or the commander of the army on her behalf, but she refuses (v. 13).
Renewed hope
As with many amazing women in the Bible (Sarah, Rachel, Hannah, Elizabeth), this woman is unable to conceive children. When she refuses any kind of reward for her services, Elisha tells her, “About this time next year, you will hold a son in your arms.” The woman replies, “No, my lord! Please, man of God, don’t mislead your servant” (v. 16). She has likely tried for many painful years to conceive without success and has buried her dreams of being a mother to protect her own heart. It’s easier not to want something you can’t have. Yet, though she resisted belief, afraid to get her hopes up again after all this time, Elisha’s prophecy comes true.
Nurture
Years later, when the miracle child was older, he developed a terrible headache. He went to his father in the fields to tell him about his pain, and his father had a servant carry the boy to his mother. The Shunammite woman held the boy on her lap until noon, and then he died on her lap. Whether she suspected the pain was bad enough to lead to death, whether she did anything beside hold him to treat the pain, we don’t know. But we do know that she held him, comforted him, and loved him until his final breath. Then, she carried him to the room she had made for Elisha years ago, and laid him on the bed.
Faith
At this point, she knows who to call for help. She tells her husband, “Please send me one of the servants and a donkey so I can go to the man of God quickly and return” (v. 22). Her husband protests, thinking it odd to visit Elisha on a day that’s not the New Moon or the Sabbath, but she doesn’t let this deter her. She doesn’t get angry, nor does she waste words. She simply says, “That’s all right,” and rushes to the man of God at Mount Carmel (vv. 23-25). Running into the cave where Elisha is staying, she falls to the ground and grasps his feet in distress. “Did I ask you for a son, my lord? Didn’t I tell you, ‘Don’t raise my hopes’?” (v. 28). Refusing to leave his side, she travels back to her house with Elisha, where he enters the room with the child and performs a miracle raising him to life. In her time of distress, the woman knows that the prophet of the LORD can comfort her and heal her son, and when she is reunited with her son, she bows at Elisha’s feet in gratitude.
More assertiveness
This is all we are told about the Shunammite woman until chapter 8. Aram had besieged Samaria, and there was famine and hardship in the land. Per Elisha’s recommendation, the woman and her family had stayed in the land of the Philistines for seven years. When those seven years were over and the siege was lifted, the family returned to their home. The woman marches into the king’s presence to appeal to have her house and land returned to her (v.3). She goes alone, without her husband, to the highest authority in the land. Elisha’s servant is there when she appears, and between the two of them, successfully negotiate for the return of her land.
We don’t know much about this woman’s personality. Perhaps she was riddled with fear during each of these stages of her story, but she didn’t let that stop her. She didn’t let anything stop her – not her husband, not her own doubt, not even death. I aspire to be like the Shunammite woman, to see clearly the situation I’m in and to act without hesitation in the way I know I’m called to. To offer generosity to those God has put in my life. To trust God even when I’m afraid to have my hopes shattered. To unashamedly assert my ideas and my needs. And, most of all, to never let anything of this world stand in my way.
Neglected Word 