2 Kings 7:9-19

9 Then they said one to another, "We do not what is right. 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 gatekeepers 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 gatekeepers, and they told it to the king's house within.
12 And the king arose in the night and said unto his servants, "I will now show you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we are hungry; therefore they have gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, `When they come out of the city, we shall catch them alive and get into the city.'"
13 And one of his servants answered and said, "Let some take, I pray thee, five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city -- behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel that are left in it; behold, I say, they are even as all the multitude of the Israelites who are consumed -- and let us send and see."
14 They took therefore two chariot horses; and the king sent after the host of the Syrians, saying, "Go and see."
15 And they went after them unto the Jordan; and lo, all the way was full of garments and vessels which the Syrians had cast away in their haste. And the messengers returned and told the king.
16 And the people went out and despoiled the tents of the Syrians. So a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the LORD.
17 And the king appointed the lord on whose hand he leaned to have the charge of the gate. And the people trod upon him in the gate, and he died, as the man of God had said, who spoke when the king came down to him.
18 And it came to pass as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, "Two measures of barley for a shekel, and a measure of fine flour for a shekel, shall be tomorrow about this time in the gate of Samaria."
19 And that lord answered the man of God and said, "Now, behold, if the LORD should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be?" And he said, "Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof."

2 Kings 7:9-19 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.

Third Millennium Bible (TMB), New Authorized Version, Copyright 1998 by Deuel Enterprises, Inc., Gary, SD 57237. All rights reserved.