2 Kings 7:1-6

1 Elisha replied, “Hear the word of the LORD. This is what the LORD says: About this time tomorrow, a seah^[a] of the finest flour will sell for a shekel^[b] and two seahs^[c] of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria.”

2 The officer on whose arm the king was leaning said to the man of God, “Look, even if the LORD should open the floodgates of the heavens, could this happen?” “You will see it with your own eyes,” answered Elisha, “but you will not eat any of it!”

The Siege Lifted

3 Now there were four men with leprosy^[d] at the entrance of the city gate. They said to each other, “Why stay here until we die?

4 If we say, ‘We’ll go into the city’—the famine is there, and we will die. And if we stay here, we will die. So let’s go over to the camp of the Arameans and surrender. If they spare us, we live; if they kill us, then we die.”

5 At dusk they got up and went to the camp of the Arameans. When they reached the edge of the camp, no one was there,

6 for the Lord had caused the Arameans to hear the sound of chariots and horses and a great army, so that they said to one another, “Look, the king of Israel has hired the Hittite and Egyptian kings to attack us!”

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2 Kings 7:1-6 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO 2 KINGS 7

This chapter begins with a prophecy of great plenty in Samaria on the morrow, and of the death of an unbelieving lord, 2Ki 7:1,2, relates the case of four lepers, who that night went into the Syrian camp, which was deserted, occasioned by the noise of chariots, horses, and a host, which they fancied they heard, 2Ki 7:3-9, the report which the lepers made to the king's household of this affair, and the method the king's servants took to know the truth of it, 2Ki 7:10-15 which, when confirmed, the people went out and spoiled the tents of the Syrians, whereby the prophecy of plenty was fulfilled, 2Ki 7:16, and the unbelieving lord having post at the gate of the city assigned him, was trod to death, and so the prediction concerning him had its accomplishment also, 2Ki 7:17-20.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 8

1. ver 16
2. 2 Kings 5:18
3. ver 19; Genesis 7:11; Psalms 78:23; Malachi 3:10
4. ver 17
5. Leviticus 13:45-46; Numbers 5:1-4
6. S Exodus 14:24; 2 Samuel 5:24; Ezekiel 1:24
7. 2 Samuel 10:6; Jeremiah 46:21
8. S Numbers 13:29

Footnotes 4

[a]. That is, probably about 12 pounds or about 5.5 kilograms of flour; also in verses 16 and 18
[b]. That is, about 2/5 ounce or about 12 grams; also in verses 16 and 18
[c]. That is, probably about 20 pounds or about 9 kilograms of barley; also in verses 16 and 18
[d]. The Hebrew for "leprosy" was used for various diseases affecting the skin; also in verse 8.