2 Kings 6:28

28 Then the king asked her, "What's the matter?"^[a] She said, "This woman said to me, 'Give up your son, and we will eat him today. Then we will eat my son tomorrow.'

2 Kings 6:28 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 6:28

And the king said unto her, what aileth thee?
&c.] His passion subsiding, or pitying her as in distress, and supposing that there might be something particular and pressing in her case:

and she answered,

this woman said unto me;
who was now with her, and to whom she pointed:

give thy son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son
tomorrow;
and this was agreed to between them, that first one should be eaten, and then the other, and that they should feed upon one as long as it would last, and then on the other; for it is not to be limited precisely to a day and tomorrow.

2 Kings 6:28 In-Context

26 As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, "My lord the king, help!"

27 He answered, "If the Lord doesn't help you, where can I get help for you? From the threshing floor or the winepress?"

28 Then the king asked her, "What's the matter?" She said, "This woman said to me, 'Give up your son, and we will eat him today. Then we will eat my son tomorrow.'

29 So we boiled my son and ate him, and I said to her the next day, 'Give up your son, and we will eat him,' but she has hidden her son."

30 When the king heard the woman's words, he tore his clothes. Then, as he was passing by on the wall, the people saw that there was sackcloth under his clothes next to his skin.

Footnotes

• [a]. 2 Sm 14:4-5