2 Kings chapter 7

Elisha says food will be abundant. Four lepers discover the enemy has fled. Israel plunders the camp.

 


 

ELISHA SAYS FOOD WILL BE ABUNDANT

 

VERSE 1. Elisha said, “Hear the LORD’s word. The LORD says, ‘Tomorrow about this time a seah of fine flour will be sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.’ ”

The prophet Elijah performed seven known miracles. And his disciple Elisha performed 15. Read more »

a seah of fine flour. One seah is about 7 liters or 1.9 gallons or 0.8 pecks.

a shekel. A shekel is about 10 grams or about 0.35 ounces. In this context, it was probably a silver coin weighing that much.

 

VERSE 2. Then the captain on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, “Behold, if the LORD made windows in heaven, could this thing be?” He said, “Behold, you will see it with your eyes, but will not eat of it.”

could this thing be? The first words out of the king’s mouth are doubts.

you will see it with your eyes, but will not eat of it. Due to his doubt, the king will not experience the miracle.

This is fulfilled in verse 17 below, where the king is trampled to death.

 

FOUR LEPERS DISCOVER THE ENEMY HAS FLED

 

VERSE 3. Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate. They said to one another, “Why do we sit here until we die?

 

VERSE 4. If we say, ‘We will enter into the city,’ then the famine is in the city, and we will die there. If we sit still here, we also die. Now therefore come, and let’s surrender to the army of the Syrians. If they save us alive, we will live; and if they kill us, we will only die.”

let’s surrender to the army of the Syrians. This is not a story of triumphant faith.

 

VERSE 5. They rose up in the twilight to go to the camp of the Syrians. When they had come to the outermost part of the camp of the Syrians, behold, no man was there.

 

VERSE 6. For the Lord had made the army of the Syrians to hear the sound of chariots and the sound of horses, even the noise of a great army; and they said to one another, “Behold, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians to attack us.”

the Lord. The word Hebrew translated “Lord” (mixed case) is “Adonai.”

the sound of chariots, and the sound of horses. Horses and chariots appear in the Old Testament. They are not a natural phenomenon of the time-space continuum. What are they? Read more »

 

VERSE 7. Therefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, their horses, and their donkeys, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life.

 

VERSE 8. When these lepers came to the outermost part of the camp, they went into one tent, and ate and drank, then carried away silver, gold, and clothing and went and hid it. Then they came back, and entered into another tent and carried things from there also, and went and hid them.

 

VERSE 9. Then they said to one another, “We aren’t doing right. Today is a day of good news, and we keep silent. If we wait until the morning light, punishment will overtake us. Now therefore come, let’s go and tell the king’s household.”

Today is a day of good news, and we keep silent. To share good news with other people is seen as a moral imperative.

The Old Testament foresees Gentiles coming to faith in the One God of Israel and bringing gifts to Jerusalem. Here are the key Bible verses about this »

 

VERSE 10. So they came and called to the city gatekeepers; and they told them, “We came to the camp of the Syrians, and, behold, there was no man there, not even a man’s voice, but the horses tied, and the donkeys tied, and the tents as they were.”

called to the city gatekeepers. They share the good news.

 

VERSE 11. Then the gatekeepers called out and told it to the king’s household within.

 

ISRAEL PLUNDERS THE CAMP

 

VERSE 12. The king arose in the night, and said to his servants, “I will now show you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we are hungry. Therefore they have gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, ‘When they come out of the city, we shall take them alive, and get into the city.’ ”

 

VERSE 13. One of his servants answered, “Please let some people take five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city. Behold, they are like all the multitude of Israel who are left in it. Behold, they are like all the multitude of Israel who are consumed. Let’s send and see.”

 

VERSE 14. Therefore they took two chariots with horses; and the king sent them out to the Syrian army, saying, “Go and see.”

 

VERSE 15. They went after them to the Jordan; and behold, all the path was full of garments and equipment which the Syrians had cast away in their haste. The messengers returned and told the king.

 

VERSE 16. The people went out and plundered the camp of the Syrians. So a seah of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, according to the LORD’s word.

a seah of fine flour. One seah is about 7 liters or 1.9 gallons or 0.8 pecks.

a shekel. A shekel is about 10 grams or about 0.35 ounces. In this context, it was probably a silver coin weighing that much.

 

VERSE 17. The king had appointed the captain on whose hand he leaned to be in charge of the gate; and the people trampled over him in the gate, and he died as the man of God had said, who spoke when the king came down to him.

he died. Just as Elisha had said in verse 2 above, the king did not experience the miracle.

 

VERSE 18. It happened as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, “Two seahs of barley for a shekel, and a seah of fine flour for a shekel, shall be tomorrow about this time in the gate of Samaria;”

Two seahs of barley. One seah is about 7 liters or 1.9 gallons or 0.8 pecks.

a shekel. A shekel is about 10 grams or about 0.35 ounces. In this context, it was probably a silver coin weighing that much.

 

VERSE 19. and that captain answered the man of God, and said, “Now, behold, if the LORD made windows in heaven, might such a thing be?” and he said, “Behold, you will see it with your eyes, but will not eat of it.”

 

VERSE 20. It happened like that to him, for the people trampled over him in the gate, and he died.

 


next chapter »

« previous chapter


2 KINGS

CHAPTERS: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25

RESOURCES: Summary, Outline, Memorize, Corrupt Leaders, Miracles, Horses and Chariots of Fire

Unless otherwise noted, all Bible quotations on this page are from the World English Bible and the World Messianic Edition. These translations have no copyright restrictions. They are in the Public Domain.