2 Kings 7:1-11

1 Then Elisha said , Hear ye the word of the LORD; Thus saith the LORD, To morrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.

2 Then a lord on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said , Behold, if the LORD would make windows in heaven, might this thing be? And he said , Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.

3 And there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate: and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die ?

4 If we say , We will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there: and if we sit still here, we die also. Now therefore come , and let us fall unto the host of the Syrians: if they save us alive , we shall live ; and if they kill us, we shall but die .

5 And they rose up in the twilight, to go unto the camp of the Syrians: and when they were come to the uttermost part of the camp of Syria, behold, there was no man there.

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: and they said one to another, Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us.

7 Wherefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and their asses, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life.

8 And when these lepers came to the uttermost part of the camp, they went into one tent, and did eat and drink , and carried thence silver, and gold, and raiment, and went and hid it; and came again , and entered into another tent, and carried thence also, and went and hid it.

9 Then they said one to another, We do not well: this day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace : if we tarry till the morning light, some mischief will come upon us: now therefore come , that we may go and tell the king's household.

10 So they came and called unto the porter of the city: and they told them, saying , We came to the camp of the Syrians, and, behold, there was no man there, neither voice of man, but horses tied , and asses tied , and the tents as they were.

11 And he called the porters; and they told it to the king's house within.

2 Kings 7:1-11 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO 2 KINGS 7

This chapter begins with a prophecy of great plenty in Samaria on the morrow, and of the death of an unbelieving lord, 2Ki 7:1,2, relates the case of four lepers, who that night went into the Syrian camp, which was deserted, occasioned by the noise of chariots, horses, and a host, which they fancied they heard, 2Ki 7:3-9, the report which the lepers made to the king's household of this affair, and the method the king's servants took to know the truth of it, 2Ki 7:10-15 which, when confirmed, the people went out and spoiled the tents of the Syrians, whereby the prophecy of plenty was fulfilled, 2Ki 7:16, and the unbelieving lord having post at the gate of the city assigned him, was trod to death, and so the prediction concerning him had its accomplishment also, 2Ki 7:17-20.

Footnotes

• [a]. a lord...: Heb. a lord which belonged to the king leaning upon his hand