1 Kings 17:21

And he stretched himself [marg. measured himself, but Gesenius holds that stretch out is the primary meaning of the root] upon the child [cf. 2 Kings 4:34 . The commentators are again at variance as to whether these words imply the use of natural means or not. Those who hold that the child was dead naturally adopt the negative, and some (Keil, Rawlinson, al .) compare with it the action of our Lord in the case of the blind, deaf and dumb ( Matthew 9:35 ; Luke 7:14 ; John 9:6 , John 9:7 ). But surely the circumstances and the purpose alike, in these latter eases, were entirely different. The object of the touch, of anointing the eyes, etc; in these cases of healing, appears to have been to awaken a sufficient faith—without which "He could do no miracle" ( Matthew 13:58 )—in men whose infirmities of blindness, deafness, etc; prevented their attaining faith through the ordinary channels of seeing and hearing the merciful and gracious Son of man. But here the child, if not dead, was senseless. We are driven, therefore, to the belief that the prophet "used rational means for warming and revivifying" the child, "not with the hope that of themselves they would prove effectual, but in the sure confidence that God, in answer to his weeping supplication, would impart supernatural force to the natural human agencies," Bähr] three times [Not only in his prayer but also in this triple repetition do we recognize Elijah's profound conviction that only by the Almighty power of God could the child be restored, and that whatever means were used, God alone could make them effectual. For three is the number and signature of the Godheads" die eigentlieh gottliche Zahl, die Signatur des gottlichen Wesens" (Bähr, Symb. 1:143). Hence it is, inter alia, that "the calling upon the name of Jehovah in the old covenant"—he might have added, "and in the new;" cf. Mark 14:39 , Mark 14:41 ; 2 Corinthians 12:8 —"was a threefold act:" Psalms 55:17 ; Daniel 6:10 , Daniel 6:13 ; Numbers 6:24-26 ; Isaiah 6:3 (Bähr). The correspondence with 2 Corinthians 12:8 is very striking] and cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, I pray Thee [Heb. now ] let this child's soul come into him [Heb. upon his inside עַל is here, as elsewhere, used for אֵל ] again . [Though נֶפֶשׁ , here translated "soul," constantly means "life," yet it by no means settles the question whether the child was really living or dead. For,