There was neither voice, nor hearing. — 1 Kings 18:29; see margin, and Isaiah 21:7.
Wherefore he went again. — And he came back to meet him (Elisha).
The child is not awaked. — The lad woke not.
The Rabbis explain Gehazi’s failure by assuming that he had disobeyed his master’s injunction by loitering on the way. This is contradicted by the narrative itself. He had acted with all despatch. Others blame him on other grounds, which, in the absolute silence of the text, cannot be substantiated. The prophet says no word of censure when he receives the announcement of the failure. Bähr thinks that Elisha himself was at fault in supposing he could transfer the spirit and power of a prophet to his servant; and acted in over-haste without a Divine incentive. (Comp. 2 Samuel 7:3 seq.)
The true explanation is suggested in the Note on 2 Kings 4:29. (Bähr is wrong in taking the staff to be other than a walking staff. A different word would be used for rod or sceptre.)