She went up; that is, the woman went up the stairs with her child in her arms to the upper room that had been built for Elisha. The meaning is more clearly conveyed by New American Bible “The mother took him upstairs.”

Laid him on the bed of the man of God: In verses 18-31 the Hebrew text consistently has the man of God instead of “Elisha.” Good News Translation often simply has “Elisha,” which is more natural in English. However, the author uses the man of God instead of “Elisha” since he is giving the woman’s point of view. Here translators may use both the name and the title by saying “she laid the child on the bed of Elisha the prophet.” The following verses make it clear that Elisha was not staying with the family at the time this incident occurred.

Shut the door upon him: This indicates that the dead child was left alone in the upper room where the prophet normally stayed during his visits to Shunem (see the comments on verse 4).

Went out: In view of what happens next, it is very likely that this means she went out to the field where the harvest was taking place and where she could find her husband. Parole de Vie makes this explicit with “Then she went out to the field.”

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .