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Aram’s Siege of Samaria

24 Now it happened afterwards, that (A)Ben-hadad king of Aram gathered all his military camp and went up and besieged Samaria. 25 Now there was a great (B)famine in Samaria. And behold, they besieged it, until a donkey’s head was sold for [a]eighty shekels of silver, and a fourth of a [b]kab of dove’s dung for five shekels of silver. 26 As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, saying, “Save, my lord, O king!” 27 He said, “[c]If Yahweh does not save you, from where shall I save you? From the threshing floor, or from the wine press?” 28 And the king said to her, “(C)What [d]is the matter with you?” And she said, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’ 29 (D)So we boiled my son and ate him; and I said to her on the next day, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him’; but she has hidden her son.” 30 Now it happened that when the king heard the words of the woman, (E)he tore his clothes—now he was passing by on the wall—and the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth [e]beneath on his [f]body. 31 Then he said, “May (F)God do so to me and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat [g]remains on him today.”

Flour and Barley in Samaria

32 Now Elisha was sitting in his house, and (G)the elders were sitting with him. And the king sent a man from his presence; but before the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, “Do you (H)see how this son of a murderer has sent to take away my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door and [h]hold the door shut against him. Is not the sound of his master’s feet behind him?” 33 While he was still speaking with them, behold, the messenger came down to him and he said, “(I)Behold, this evil is from Yahweh; why should I wait for Yahweh any longer?”

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 6:25 Approx. 2 lb. or 0.8 kg, a shekel was approx. 0.4 oz. or 11 gm
  2. 2 Kings 6:25 A kab was approx. 2 qt. or 1.9 l
  3. 2 Kings 6:27 Lit No, let Yahweh help you
  4. 2 Kings 6:28 Lit to you
  5. 2 Kings 6:30 Lit within
  6. 2 Kings 6:30 Lit flesh
  7. 2 Kings 6:31 Lit stands
  8. 2 Kings 6:32 Lit press him with the door

The Lord Saves Samaria

24 Later King Ben Hadad of Syria assembled his entire army and attacked[a] and besieged Samaria. 25 Samaria’s food supply ran out.[b] They laid siege to it so long that[c] a donkey’s head was selling for eighty shekels of silver[d] and a quarter of a kab[e] of dove’s droppings[f] for five shekels of silver.[g]

26 While the king of Israel was passing by on the city wall, a woman shouted to him, “Help us, my master, O king!” 27 He replied, “No, let the Lord help you. How can I help you? The threshing floor and winepress are empty.”[h] 28 Then the king asked her, “What’s your problem?” She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Hand over your son; we’ll eat him today and then eat my son tomorrow.’ 29 So we boiled my son and ate him. Then I said to her the next day, ‘Hand over your son and we’ll eat him.’ But she hid her son!” 30 When the king heard what the woman said, he tore his clothes. As he was passing by on the wall, the people could see he was wearing sackcloth under his clothes.[i] 31 Then he said, “May God judge me severely[j] if Elisha son of Shaphat still has his head by the end of the day!”[k]

32 Now Elisha was sitting in his house with the community leaders.[l] The king[m] sent a messenger on ahead, but before he arrived,[n] Elisha[o] said to the leaders,[p] “Do you realize this assassin intends to cut off my head?[q] Look, when the messenger arrives, shut the door and lean against it. His master will certainly be right behind him.”[r] 33 He was still talking to them when[s] the messenger approached[t] and said, “Look, the Lord is responsible for this disaster![u] Why should I continue to wait for the Lord to help?”

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 6:24 tn Heb “went up.”
  2. 2 Kings 6:25 tn Heb “and there was a great famine in Samaria.”
  3. 2 Kings 6:25 tn Heb “and look, [they] were besieging it until.”
  4. 2 Kings 6:25 tn Heb “eighty, silver.” The unit of measurement is omitted.
  5. 2 Kings 6:25 sn A kab was a unit of dry measure, equivalent to approximately 2 quarts (2 liters).
  6. 2 Kings 6:25 tn The consonantal text (Kethib) reads “dove dung” (חֲרֵייוֹנִים, khareyonim), while the marginal reading (Qere) has “discharge” (דִּבְיוֹנִים, divyonim). Based on evidence from Akkadian, M. Cogan and H. Tadmor (II Kings [AB], 79) suggest that “dove’s dung” was a popular name for the inedible husks of seeds.
  7. 2 Kings 6:25 tn Heb “five, silver.” The unit of measurement is omitted.
  8. 2 Kings 6:27 tn Heb “From where can I help you, from the threshing floor or the winepress?” The rhetorical question expresses the king’s frustration. He has no grain or wine to give to the masses.
  9. 2 Kings 6:30 tn Heb “the people saw, and look, [there was] sackcloth against his skin underneath.”
  10. 2 Kings 6:31 tn Heb “So may God do to me, and so may he add.”
  11. 2 Kings 6:31 tn Heb “if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat stays on him today.”
  12. 2 Kings 6:32 tn Heb “and the elders were sitting with him.”
  13. 2 Kings 6:32 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  14. 2 Kings 6:32 tn Heb “sent a man from before him, before the messenger came to him.”
  15. 2 Kings 6:32 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  16. 2 Kings 6:32 tn Heb “elders.”
  17. 2 Kings 6:32 tn Heb “Do you see that this son of an assassin has sent to remove my head?”
  18. 2 Kings 6:32 tn Heb “Is not the sound of his master’s footsteps behind him?”
  19. 2 Kings 6:33 tn The Hebrew text also has “look” here.
  20. 2 Kings 6:33 tn Heb “came down to him.”
  21. 2 Kings 6:33 tn Heb “Look, this is a disaster from the Lord.”