2 Kings 7:10

10 So they went back to the city and told the gatekeepers what had happened. “We went out to the Aramean camp,” they said, “and no one was there! The horses and donkeys were tethered and the tents were all in order, but there wasn’t a single person around!”

2 Kings 7:10 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 7:10

So they came and called to the porter of the city
The chief of those that had the care of the gate of it; for there were more than one, as follows:

and they told them;
the porter, and the watchmen with him:

we came to the camp of the Syrians, and, behold, there was no man
there, neither voice of man;
not one to be seen or heard:

but horses tied, and asses tied;
to their mangers; the latter, as well as the former, were used for war, not only to carry burdens, but to fight upon, as Aelianus ^F1 relates of some people; and especially when there was a want of horses, as Strabo ^F2; and both observe that this creature was sacrificed to Mars:

and the tents as they were;
none of them struck, nor anything taken out of them.

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FOOTNOTES:

F1 De Animal. l. 12. c. 34.
F2 Geograph. l. 15. p. 500.

2 Kings 7:10 In-Context

8 When the lepers arrived at the edge of the camp, they went into one tent after another, eating and drinking wine; and they carried off silver and gold and clothing and hid it.

9 Finally, they said to each other, “This is not right. This is a day of good news, and we aren’t sharing it with anyone! If we wait until morning, some calamity will certainly fall upon us. Come on, let’s go back and tell the people at the palace.”

10 So they went back to the city and told the gatekeepers what had happened. “We went out to the Aramean camp,” they said, “and no one was there! The horses and donkeys were tethered and the tents were all in order, but there wasn’t a single person around!”

11 Then the gatekeepers shouted the news to the people in the palace.

12 The king got out of bed in the middle of the night and told his officers, “I know what has happened. The Arameans know we are starving, so they have left their camp and have hidden in the fields. They are expecting us to leave the city, and then they will take us alive and capture the city.”