Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Kings 4:31

"And Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff upon the face of the child; but there was neither voice, nor hearing. Wherefore he returned to meet him, and told him, saying, The child is not awaked." — 2 Kings 4:31 (ASV)

There was neither voice, nor hearing. — 1 Kings 18:29; see the margin, and Isaiah 21:7.

Therefore he went again. — And he came back to meet him (Elisha).

The child is not awaked. — The lad did not wake.

The Rabbis explain Gehazi’s failure by assuming that he had disobeyed his master’s instruction by loitering on the way. This is contradicted by the narrative itself; he had acted with all speed. Others blame him on other grounds, which, in the absolute silence of the text, cannot be substantiated. The prophet says no word of censure when he receives the announcement of the failure. Bähr thinks that Elisha himself was at fault, both in supposing he could transfer the spirit and power of a prophet to his servant, and in acting with excessive haste without a divine prompting (Compare to 2 Samuel 7:3 and following).

The true explanation is suggested in the Note on 2 Kings 4:29. (Bähr is mistaken in understanding the staff to be other than a walking staff. A different word would be used for rod or sceptre.)