2 Kings 6:24-29
New American Standard Bible
The Siege of Samaria—Cannibalism
24 Now it came about after this, that (A)Ben-hadad the king of Aram gathered all his army, and went up and besieged Samaria. 25 So there was a severe (B)famine in Samaria; and behold, they kept besieging it until a donkey’s head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and a fourth of a [a]kab of dove’s dung for five shekels of silver. 26 And as the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, saying, “Help, my lord the king!” 27 But he said, “[b]If the Lord does not help you, from where am I to help you? From the threshing floor, or from the wine press?” 28 Then the king said to her, “(C)What [c]is on your mind?” And she said, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son so that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’ 29 (D)So we cooked my son and ate him; and I said to her on the next day, ‘Give your son, so that we may eat him’; but she has hidden her son.”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 2 Kings 6:25 One kab equals about 2 qt. or 1.9 liters
- 2 Kings 6:27 Or No! Let the Lord help you
- 2 Kings 6:28 Lit to you
2 Kings 6:24-29
New International Version
Famine in Besieged Samaria
24 Some time later, Ben-Hadad(A) king of Aram mobilized his entire army and marched up and laid siege(B) to Samaria. 25 There was a great famine(C) in the city; the siege lasted so long that a donkey’s head sold for eighty shekels[a] of silver, and a quarter of a cab[b] of seed pods[c](D) for five shekels.[d]
26 As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried to him, “Help me, my lord the king!”
27 The king replied, “If the Lord does not help you, where can I get help for you? From the threshing floor? From the winepress?” 28 Then he asked her, “What’s the matter?”
She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son so we may eat him today, and tomorrow we’ll eat my son.’ 29 So we cooked my son and ate(E) him. The next day I said to her, ‘Give up your son so we may eat him,’ but she had hidden him.”
Footnotes
- 2 Kings 6:25 That is, about 2 pounds or about 920 grams
- 2 Kings 6:25 That is, probably about 1/4 pound or about 100 grams
- 2 Kings 6:25 Or of doves’ dung
- 2 Kings 6:25 That is, about 2 ounces or about 58 grams
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