Mavet signifies “death” and “severe illness,” as in “His heart died (va-yamot) within him, and he became as a stone” (1 Sam. xxv. 37), that is, his illness was severe. For this reason it is stated concerning the son of the woman of Zarephath, “And his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him” (1 Kings xvii. 17). The simple expression va-yamoth would have given the idea that he was very ill, near death, like Nabal when he heard what had taken place.
Some of the Andalusian authors say that his breath was suspended, so that no breathing could be perceived at all, as sometimes an invalid is seized with a fainting fit or an attack of asphyxia, and it cannot be discovered whether he is alive or dead: in this condition the patient may remain a day or two.5
R. Yosef Qafiḥ is quite confident that Rambam is accepting the traditional view that the son of the woman of Sarepta had actually died, and not the approach of “one of the Andalusians” that he had not, and he scathingly dismisses the opposing understanding of Rambam’s position: