2 Kings 7:6

6 for the Lord ^[a] had caused the Aramean camp to hear the sound of chariots, horses, and a great army.^[b] The Arameans had said to each other, "The king of Israel must have hired the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Egypt to attack 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, 'Let's go into the city,' we will die there because the famine is in the city, but if we sit here, we will also die. So now, come on. Let's go to the Arameans' camp. If they let us live, we will live; if they kill us, we will die."

5 So the diseased men got up at twilight to go to the Arameans' camp. When they came to the camp's edge, they discovered that there was not a [single] man there,

6 for the Lord had caused the Aramean camp to hear the sound of chariots, horses, and a great army. The Arameans had said to each other, "The king of Israel must have hired the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Egypt to attack us."

7 So they had gotten up and fled at twilight abandoning their tents, horses, and donkeys. The camp was intact, and they had fled for their lives.

8 When these men came to the edge of the camp, they went into a tent to eat and drink. Then they picked up the silver, gold, and clothing and went off and hid them. They came back and entered another tent, picked [things] up, and hid them.

Footnotes

• [a]. Many Hb mss read Lord
• [b]. 2 Sm 5:24