The woman is not so much reproaching the prophet as pouring out the bitter grief of her soul. She did not ask for this child in the first place; he was the result of the prophet’s promise. But that child thus given, now has been taken from her. She does not say this in so many words; she does not need to, for Elisha now understands fully the meaning of her grief. Her words reveal the bitterness of her sorrow. She knows only that this son, whom she did not demand, is gone and that her grief is infinitely greater than if she had never been permitted to know his love.