So he asked, “Then what should be done for her?” “Well, she has no son,” Gehazi replied, “and her husband is old.”
The giving of a son to such as were old, and had been long childless, was an ancient instance of the divine power and favour, in the case of Abraham, and Isaac, and Manoah, and Elkanah; we find it here among the wonders wrought by Elisha.
Commenting on 2 Kings 4:8-17
And he said,.... That is, Elisha to Gehazi, when he returned to him, and told him what the Shunammite said: what then is to be done for her? something he thought should be done in gratitude, the favours they had received, and advises with his servant what could be thought of, he being one about the house: and Gehazi answered, verily she hath no child...
And he said, What then [is] to be done for her? And Gehazi answered, Verily she hath no child, and her husband is old. (l) Which was shameful and therefore he would that his master should pray to God for her that she might be fruitful.