Up until this point, Eliyahu only represented God’s trait of strict justice. After Eliyahu resurrects the woman's dead son for the child's own sake the true man of God is revealed – one who represents God's trait of compassion in the world, and performs miracles through this trait. The widow’s praise for Eliyahu as messenger of God's word is a type of Divine assent to what seems to be Eliyahu's new path: he now represents God both in strict justice and in mercy and compassion. The symmetrical structure of the story highlights Eliyahu’s second prayer as the climax of the story.