2 Kings 7:8

8 When these leprous men had come to the edge of the camp, they went into a tent, ate and drank, carried off silver, gold, and clothing, and went and hid them. Then they came back, entered another tent, carried off things from it, and went and hid them.

2 Kings 7:8 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 7:8

And when these lepers came to the uttermost part of the camp,
they went into one tent
The first they came to:

and did eat and drink;
which was the first thing they did, being hungry, and almost starved:

and carried thence silver, and gold, and raiment, and went and hid it;
in a place without the camp, where they thought it would be safe, and where they could come at it again:

and came again and entered into another tent, and carried thence also,
and went and hid it;
this, Josephus says ^F26, they did four times.

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FOOTNOTES:

F26 Ut supra, (Antiqu. l. 9. c. 4.) sect. 5.

2 Kings 7:8 In-Context

6 For the Lord had caused the Aramean army to hear the sound of chariots, and of horses, the sound of a great army, so that they said to one another, "The king of Israel has hired the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Egypt to fight against us."

7 So they fled away in the twilight and abandoned their tents, their horses, and their donkeys leaving the camp just as it was, and fled for their lives.

8 When these leprous men had come to the edge of the camp, they went into a tent, ate and drank, carried off silver, gold, and clothing, and went and hid them. Then they came back, entered another tent, carried off things from it, and went and hid them.

9 Then they said to one another, "What we are doing is wrong. This is a day of good news; if we are silent and wait until the morning light, we will be found guilty; therefore let us go and tell the king's household."

10 So they came and called to the gatekeepers of the city, and told them, "We went to the Aramean camp, but there was no one to be seen or heard there, nothing but the horses tied, the donkeys tied, and the tents as they were."

Footnotes

• [a]. A term for several skin diseases; precise meaning uncertain