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2 Kings 7:1-7

King James Version (KJV)

“In our prayers we talk to God, in our Bible study God talks to us, and we had better let God do most of the talking.”
— D.L. Moody

Scripture focus

1. Then Elisha said, Hear ye the word of the LORD; Thus saith the LORD, To morrow about this time [shall] a measure of fine flour [be sold] for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria. 2. Then a lord on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, Behold, [if] the LORD would make windows in heaven, might this thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see [it] with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof. 3. And there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate: and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die? 4. If we say, We will enter into the city, then the famine [is] in the city, and we shall die there: and if we sit still here, we die also. Now therefore come, and let us fall unto the host of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die. 5. And they rose up in the twilight, to go unto the camp of the Syrians: and when they were come to the uttermost part of the camp of Syria, behold, [there was] no man there. 6. For the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, [even] the noise of a great host: and they said one to another, Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us. 7. Wherefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and their asses, even the camp as it [was], and fled for their life.

2 Kings 7:1-7 — KJV

Commentary

Commentary on 2 Kings 7:1

Theological / Devotional

The word of the Lord. The king of Israel had expressed his opinion, and now Elisha was to reveal the will of the Lord. It should be noted that the division between chapters six and seven at this point is artificial. A proper division would have been at ch. 6:24, where the present narrative begins. Elisha is now taking up the challenge of the king and is relating what the Lord is about to do. In full view of the people Joram had placed the blame for the present crisis upon God, and having turned against the Lord, he now proposed taking things into his own hands, in the hope of finding some means of relief. Elisha reveals that it is God and not the king who will provide relief.

Measure. Heb. se’ah. Six cabs were equal to a seah, and three seahs were equal to an ephah. The seah was approximately 6.66 dry qts. (6.4 liters) (see Vol. I, p. 167). On one day “the fourth part of a cab of dove’s dung” sold for “five pieces of silver” (ch. 6:25).

But on the next day 24 times that amount of wheat would be sold for a fifth the price. Or in other words, the amount of money that during the famine would purchase a bit of the cheapest and lowliest product that could be used to sustain life, would on the following day purchase 120 times as much of the best wheat flour.

The gate of Samaria. In Oriental cities where access is had to cities by gates through the city walls, the gate becomes a busy and thriving market place. When food became available, one of the gates of Samaria would be the center of distribution.

By SdaBc