2 Kings 6:24-33

Ben-hadad’s Siege of Samaria

24 Afterward ¹Ben-hadad king of Syria mustered his entire army and went up and besieged Samaria.

25 And there was a great famine in Samaria, as they besieged it, until a donkey’s head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and the fourth part of a kab^[a] of dove’s dung for five shekels of silver.

26 Now as the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, saying, “Help, my lord, O king! ”

27 And he said, “If the Lord will not help you, how shall I help you? From the threshing floor, or from the winepress? ”

28 And the king asked her, “What is your trouble? ” She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow. ’

29 ²So we boiled my son and ate him. And on the next day I said to her, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him. ’ But she has hidden her son. ”

30 When the king heard the words of the woman, ³he tore his clothes—now he was passing by on the wall—and the people looked, and behold, ⁴he had sackcloth beneath on his body—

31 and he said, ⁵“May God do so to me and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders today. ”

32 Elisha was sitting in his house, ⁶and the elders were sitting with him. Now the king had dispatched a man from his presence, but before the messenger arrived Elisha said to the elders, “Do you see how this ⁷murderer has sent to take off my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door and hold the door fast against him. Is not the sound of his master’s feet behind him? ”

33 And while he was still speaking with them, the messenger came down to him and said, “This trouble is from the Lord! ⁸Why should I wait for the Lord any longer? ”

2 Kings 6:24-33 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO 2 KINGS 6

In this chapter are recorded other wonders of Elisha, as causing iron to swim, 2Ki 6:1-7 having knowledge of the secret counsels of the king of Syria, which he disclosed to the king of Israel, 2Ki 6:8-12 smiting the Syrian army with blindness sent to take him, and which he led into the midst of Samaria, 2Ki 6:13-23, and the chapter is closed with an account of the siege of Samaria, and a sore famine in it, 2Ki 6:24-33.

Cross References

• 1. 6:24 1 Kgs. 20:1
• 2. 6:29 [Lev. 26:29; Deut. 28:53, 57; Ezek. 5:10]
• 3. 6:30 1 Kgs. 21:27
• 4. 6:30 1 Kgs. 21:27
• 5. 6:31 [1 Kgs. 19:2]; See Ruth 1:17
• 6. 6:32 Ezek. 8:1; 14:1; 20:1
• 7. 6:32 [1 Kgs. 18:4; 21:13]
• 8. 6:33 [Job 2:9]

Footnotes

• [a] 6:25 A 'shekel' was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams; a 'kab' was about 1 quart or 1 liter