2 Kings 6:30

30 And when the king had heard this, he rent his clothes, and passed by the wall; and all the people saw the hair-shirt, with which the king was clothed at the flesh within; (And when the king had heard this, he tore his clothes, and passed forth by the wall; and all the people saw the hair-shirt, or the sackcloth, with which the king was clothed upon his flesh;)

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 said to her, What wilt thou that I do to thee? (What wilt thou that I do for thee?) And she answered, This woman said to me, Give thy son, that we eat him today, and we shall eat my son tomorrow.
29 Therefore we seethed my son, and ate him. And I said to her in the tother day, Give thy son, that we eat him; and she hid her son. (And so we boiled my son, and ate him. And I said to her the next day, Give thy son to us now, so that we can eat him; but she hid her son.)
30 And when the king had heard this, he rent his clothes, and passed by the wall; and all the people saw the hair-shirt, with which the king was clothed at the flesh within; (And when the king had heard this, he tore his clothes, and passed forth by the wall; and all the people saw the hair-shirt, or the sackcloth, with which the king was clothed upon his flesh;)
31 And the king said, God do to me these things, and add these things too, if the head of Elisha, the son of Shaphat, shall stand on him today (shall remain on him this day).
32 Soothly Elisha sat in his house, and (the) eld men sat with him; then the king before-sent a man to Elisha, and before that that messenger came, Elisha said to the eld men, Whether ye know, that the son of (a) man-queller [hath] sent hither, that mine head be girded off? Therefore see ye, when the messenger cometh, shut ye the door, and suffer ye not him to enter; for lo! the sound of the feet of his lord is behind him. (And Elisha sat in his house, and the old men, or the elders, sat with him; then the king sent out a man from before himself to Elisha, but before that the messenger came, Elisha said to the old men, or the elders, Do ye not know, that this son of a man-killer hath sent a man here, to gird off my head? And so see ye, when the messenger cometh, that ye shut the door, and do not allow him to enter; for lo! the sound of the feet of his lord is behind him.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.