2 Kings 6:23

Provision. Heb. kerah, a “feast,” or “banquet.” The Syrians were given not ordinary food but such as was prepared for special occasions. According to the unwritten law of the desert, a man who accepts food in a tent becomes a friend and must be protected.

They went to their master. When they returned to their country the Syrians were a far different group of men from what they were when they made their inroad into Israel.

From enemies they had been changed to friends. The meal that they had eaten had fed not only their bodies but their souls. They had learned a lesson that they would not soon forget.

Came no more. This was the natural effect of the chivalrous treatment that Joram had accorded his captives. For the time being the Syrian inroads into Israel ceased. Joram had accomplished by his feast what he could not have accomplished by force of arms. Kindness proved itself a more powerful weapon than the sword. When men do good to their enemies, they do good to themselves. God is kind not only to the righteous but also to the wicked, making “his sun to rise on the evil and on the good” and sending “rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matt. 5:45). So men are to love their enemies and treat with kindness those who do ill to them. Only by such a spirit can the bitterness and strife between the children of men be driven out.