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Why did he sneeze seven times?

In 2 Kings 4:18-37 we read about the seventh miracle-sign that Elisha performed when he raised the Shunammite’s son from the dead. He was not a small boy, for we read in verse 18 that “the child was grown” when he died. His mother made a quick trip to Mount Carmel to find the prophet and return with him to the house. In 2 Kings 4:35, 36, 37 we read,

³⁵ Then he [Elisha] returned and walked in the house once back and forth, and went up and stretched himself on him; and the lad sneezed seven times and the lad opened his eyes. ³⁶ He called Gehazi and said, “Call this Shunammite.” So he called her. And when she came in to him, he said, “Take up your son.” ³⁷ Then she went in and fell at his feet and bowed herself to the ground, and she took up her son and went out.

This story follows the creation pattern, where God “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life” (Genesis 2:7). Elisha essentially did the same thing, and the boy was raised from the dead.

A few days ago, my youngest grandson asked me, “Why did he sneeze seven times?” I had never considered the question, so I told him, “I don’t know.” He was delighted that he had finally stumped me, but then I think God came to my rescue.

The word “sneeze” is from the Hebrew word zarar, “to scatter, dispense.” It is spelled with a zayin (“weapon”) and a double resh (“head”). My grandson’s name is Zayne, so he came across this passage because he saw his name in this letter. Zayin is also the number seven in Hebrew, so that seems to be his Hebrew identification number.

Zarar (“sneeze”) also begins with the Hebrew letter zayin. When combined with the double resh (“head”), it literally refers to a scattering from one’s head—that is, a sneeze. The zayin, being the number seven, seems to suggest seven sneezes.

But there is more to this than meets the eye. The story is about resurrection from the dead. In the law, death is typified by leprosy, and to be healed of leprosy is to be raised from the dead. The law of cleansing lepers (after they have been healed, of course) is found in Leviticus 14. There we find that it takes two birds (doves) to cleanse lepers, and that the priest was to baptize the healed leper seven times by sprinkling (Leviticus 14:7).

Hence, Naaman the Syrian leper, was told to wash himself in the Jordan seven times (2 Kings 5:10). If he did so in the manner prescribed in the law, he would have been sprinkled seven times in the Jordan. This is the origin of the rite of baptism, which John the Baptist performed in the Jordan as he prepared the way for Christ’s coming. Baptism symbolizes death and resurrection, moving from death to “newness of life” (Romans 6:4).

In the law, those who touched a dead body were rendered unclean for seven days (Numbers 19:11). They had to be separated during that time, so that others might not also be rendered unclean by touching them. This law also applied (more rarely) to those who had been raised from the dead. We see this in the story of Lazarus, who was raised on Abib 1 (Hebrew calendar). His family held a celebration supper for him seven days later in the evening, “six days before the Passover” (John 12:1). This was on Abib 8.

But in the case of the boy that Elisha raised, we find no mention of any seven-day time of separation from his mother. She simply “took up her son and went out” (2 Kings 4:37). Why? I believe that sneezing seven times was God’s way of fulfilling his seven-day time of separation, so that the time would be shortened. Each sneeze represented a day.

Each sneeze gave evidence that the breath of life was in him. Instead of showing this evidence over a period of seven days, the sneezes shortened the time. It is an example of how the law may be fulfilled in alternative ways.