When Elisha had come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and lying on his bed. He went in therefore, and shut the door on them both, and prayed to Yahweh. He went up, and lay on the child, and put his mouth on his mouth, and his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands. He stretched himself on him; and the child’s flesh grew warm. Then he returned, and walked in the house once back and forth; and went up, and stretched himself out on him. Then the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes.
A dead child was revived by someone lying on top of them mouth-to-mouth, causing the child to sneeze exactly seven times.
Medicine
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The cited passage
What current science says
Once a person is clinically dead (no heartbeat, no breathing, no brain activity), mouth-to-mouth alone cannot restart life. CPR can sometimes restart a heart that has very recently stopped, but it requires chest compressions — not just lying on someone. And even successful resuscitation doesn't produce a specific number of sneezes. The 'exactly seven sneezes' detail is the cherry on top of the absurdity sundae — sneezing is a nasal reflex, not a reboot sequence.
What the text says
This comes from 2 Kings 4:32-35. Elisha lay upon the dead child twice, placing his mouth, eyes, and hands on the child's, until the boy's flesh grew warm and he sneezed seven times and opened his eyes.
Three honest ways to read this passage
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As history
The text records how its authors understood the world with the knowledge they had. Read this way, a difference from modern science is a window into the ancient mind, not a failure.
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As accommodation
The text speaks to its first audience in their own terms, to make a point that isn't mainly about physics or biology. Read this way, the scientific detail is the vehicle, not the cargo.
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As contradiction
The text makes a claim about the physical world that modern findings dispute. Read this way, the difference is a genuine factual disagreement worth naming.
GEBible doesn't pick one of these for you. Each entry shows the passage, what it says, and what current science says — nothing more.