2 Kings 7:1

Elisha Prophesies Hope for Relief

1 Elisha said, "Hear the word of Yahweh: 'Thus says Yahweh, "At this time tomorrow a seah of wheat bread flour [will sell] for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel in the gate of Samaria.'"

2 Kings 7:1 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 7:1

Then Elisha said, hear the word of the Lord
This he said to the king and those that were with him:

thus saith the Lord, tomorrow, about this time;
which very probably was the forenoon:

shall a measure of fine flour [be sold] for a shekel;
"a seah", the measure here spoken of, or "saturn", according to some ^F18, was a gallon and an half; but Bishop Cumberland ^F19 makes it two wine gallons and an half; and a shekel, according to his accurate computation, was two shillings and four pence farthing, and near the eighth part of one {t}:

and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria;
where the market was kept; the same sort of measure and of money is here used as before; and we learn from hence that a measure of wheat was equal to two of barley.

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FOOTNOTES:

F18 Godwin, ut supra. (Moses & Aaron, B. 6. c. 9.)
F19 Of Scripture Weights and Measures, c. 3. p. 86.
F20 lb. c. 4. p. 104, 105.

2 Kings 7:1 In-Context

1 Elisha said, "Hear the word of Yahweh: 'Thus says Yahweh, "At this time tomorrow a seah of wheat bread flour [will sell] for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel in the gate of Samaria.'"

2 Then the officer {on whom the king relied} answered the man of God and said, "Look, [even if] Yahweh [is] making windows in heaven, could this thing happen?" And he said, "Look, you [will be] seeing [it] with your eyes, but you shall not eat from it there."

3 Now four men who had a skin disease were [at] the entrance of the gate, and they said {to each other}, "Why [are] we sitting here until we die?

4 If we say, 'Let us go [into] the city,' the famine [is] in the city, and we shall die there; but if we sit here, we shall die. So then, come, let us fall into the camp of [the] Arameans. If they let us live, we shall live; but if they kill us, then we shall die."

5 So they got up at dusk to go to the camp of [the] Arameans. They went up to the edge of the camp of [the] Arameans, and look, there was no man there!