2 Kings 6:30

30 When the king heard the words of the woman he rent his clothes--now he was passing by upon the wall--and the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth beneath upon his body--

2 Kings 6:30 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 6:30

And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the
woman, that he rent his clothes
At the horror of the fact reported, and through grief that his people were brought into such distress through famine:

and he passed by upon the wall;
returning to his palace:

and the people looked, and, behold, he had sackcloth upon his flesh;
which, in token of humiliation for averting the calamities he was under, he had put there before, and now was seen through the rending of his clothes.

2 Kings 6:30 In-Context

28 And the king asked her, "What is your trouble?" She answered, "This woman said to me, 'Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.'

29 So we boiled my son, and ate him. And on the next day I said to her, 'Give your son, that we may eat him'; but she has hidden her son."

30 When the king heard the words of the woman he rent his clothes--now he was passing by upon the wall--and the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth beneath upon his body--

31 and he said, "May God do so to me, and more also, if the head of Eli'sha the son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders today."

32 Eli'sha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. Now the king had dispatched a man from his presence; but before the messenger arrived Eli'sha said to the elders, "Do you see how this murderer has sent to take off my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door, and hold the door fast against him. Is not the sound of his master's feet behind him?"