2 Kings 7:4

4 If we say, We will go into the town, there is no food in the town, and we will come to our end there; and if we go on waiting here, death will come to us. Come then, let us give ourselves up to the army of Aram: if they let us go on living, then life will be ours; and if they put us to death, then death will be ours.

2 Kings 7:4 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 7:4

If we say we will enter into the city
Contrary to the law which forbid them:

then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there;
not being able to obtain food to preserve life:

and if we sit here, we die also;
having nothing to eat to support nature:

now therefore let us come, and fall unto the host of the Syrians;
put ourselves into their hands, and lie at their mercy:

if they save us alive, we shall live;
if they do not put us to death, but give us bread to eat, our lives will be preserved:

and if they kill us, we shall but die;
which we must inevitably do, whether we stay here, or go into the city.

2 Kings 7:4 In-Context

2 Then the captain whose arm was supporting the king said to the man of God, Even if the Lord made windows in heaven, would such a thing be possible? And he said, Your eyes will see it, but you will not have a taste of the food.

3 Now there were four lepers seated at the doorway into the town: and they said to one another, Why are we waiting here for death?

4 If we say, We will go into the town, there is no food in the town, and we will come to our end there; and if we go on waiting here, death will come to us. Come then, let us give ourselves up to the army of Aram: if they let us go on living, then life will be ours; and if they put us to death, then death will be ours.

5 So in the half light they got up to go to the tents of Aram; but when they came to the outer line of tents, there was no one there.

6 For the Lord had made the sound of carriages and horses, and the noise of a great army, come to the ears of the Aramaeans, so that they said to one another, Truly, the king of Israel has got the kings of the Hittites and of the Egyptians for a price to make an attack on us.