2 Kings 7:6

6 For the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host; and they said one to another, "Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians to come upon us."

2 Kings 7:6 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 7:6

For the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise
of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host,
&c.] Or of many armies, as the Targum; either in the air by the ministry of angels; or the Lord so wrought upon their imagination, that they fancied they heard such noises; or he caused such noises in their ears:

and they said one to another, lo, the king of Israel hath hired against
us the kings of the Hittites;
one of the nations of the Canaanites, and may be here put for the whole of those that remained, and who lived upon the borders of the land of Israel; though Josephus ^F25 has it, the kings of the isles; that is, of Chittim, see ( Jeremiah 2:10 )

and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us;
Egypt being now divided into petty kingdoms; or else the governors of the several nomes or districts of it are here meant: for the king of Israel to hire these kings was very unlikely in his present circumstances; but those unreasonable things, in their panic, their imaginations suggested to them.

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FOOTNOTES:

F25 Ut supra, (Antiqu. l. 9. c. 4.) sect. 5.

2 Kings 7:6 In-Context

4 If we say, `We will enter into the city,' then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there; and if we sit still here, we die also. Now therefore come, and let us fall unto the host of the Syrians. If they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die."

5 And they rose up in the twilight to go unto the camp of the Syrians; and when they had come to the outermost part of the camp of Syria, behold, there was no man there.

6 For the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host; and they said one to another, "Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians to come upon us."

7 Therefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents and their horses and their asses, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life.

8 And when these lepers came to the outermost part of the camp, they went into one tent and ate and drank, and carried from thence silver and gold and raiment, and went and hid it; and came again, and entered into another tent and carried from thence also, and went and hid it.