2 Kings 7: Four men with a skin disease find the Syrian camp empty
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What happens?
Elisha says that Yahweh says that by this time tomorrow flour and barley will be sold cheaply at the gate of Samaria; the officer on whose hand the king leans doubts it, and Elisha tells him he will see it but not eat of it. Four men with a skin disease (this Bible: lepers) at the city gate decide to go over to the Syrians, and find their camp empty: the Lord had made the Syrians hear the sound of a great army, and they had fled in the twilight, leaving everything behind. After eating and hiding some of the plunder, the four go and tell the city; the king fears a trap, but men sent with two chariots follow the Syrians' trail of thrown-away clothing and equipment to the Jordan. The people plunder the camp, the prices are just as Elisha said, and the officer is trampled to death in the gate, as the man of God had said.
Who is speaking?
The narrator tells the story. No verse is in gold: God speaks no words in this chapter. In verse 1 Elisha passes on what Yahweh says; he speaks those words, so they are not in gold. The officer and Elisha speak in verse 2, and the narrator gives their words again in verses 18 and 19. The four men speak to one another in verses 3, 4 and 9, and to the gatekeepers in verse 10. The Syrians speak to one another in verse 6. The king speaks in verses 12 and 14, and one of his servants in verse 13. Verse 6, that the Lord made the Syrians hear the sound of an army, and verse 16, that it happened according to Yahweh's word, are the narrator's words. God's own words are printed in gold, and those verses are marked God speaks
1Elisha said, “Hear Yahweh’s word. Yahweh 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.’”
In plain English: Elisha said, "Hear the word of Yahweh. This is what Yahweh says: 'Tomorrow about this time a seah of fine flour will be sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria.'"
Good to know: Here Elisha passes on what Yahweh says, so these words are Elisha's, and they are not in gold. A seah is a measure the dictionary gives as "a certain measure ... for grain", and a shekel is, in the dictionary's words, "probably a weight; used as a commercial standard". The text says in verse 16 that it happened "according to Yahweh's word".
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2Then the captain on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, “Behold, if Yahweh made windows in heaven, could this thing be?” He said, “Behold, you will see it with your eyes, but will not eat of it.”
In plain English: Then the officer (this Bible: the captain) on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, "Look, even if Yahweh made windows in the sky, could this happen?" Elisha said, "Look, you will see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of it."
The Hebrew word: "Windows" is arubbah, which the dictionary gives as "a lattice; (by implication) a window", and also a "sluice (with openings for water)". It is the word for "the sky's windows" that opened at the flood in . The officer's words and Elisha's answer are given again in verse 19, and verses 17 and 20 tell what happened to him.
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3Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate. They said to one another, “Why do we sit here until we die?
In plain English: Now there were four men with a skin disease (this Bible: leprous men) at the entrance of the gate. They said to one another, "Why are we sitting here until we die?
Good to know: "Leprous" is the word tsara, the skin disease of (see the note there). The law says of a person with the disease, "His dwelling shall be outside of the camp" (). The text says these four men were at the entrance of the gate, and in verse 4 they speak of going into the city.
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4If 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.”
In plain English: If we say, 'We will go into the city,' the famine is in the city, and we will die there. If we sit here, we will die too. So come, let us go over (literally: fall) to the camp (this Bible: army) of the Syrians. If they spare our lives, we will live; and if they kill us, we will only die."
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5They 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.
In plain English: They got up at twilight to go to the camp of the Syrians. When they came to the edge of the camp of the Syrians, there was no one there.
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6For 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.”
In plain English: For the Lord had made the army of the Syrians hear the sound of chariots and the sound of horses, the sound of a great army. They said to one another, "Look, the king of Israel has hired the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians to come against us."
The Hebrew word: Here the Hebrew says Adonai, "the Lord", not the name Yahweh. The dictionary gives it as "the Lord (used as a proper name of God only)". This Bible says "Lord" in 426 of the 430 verses that use it. The text says the Lord made the Syrians hear the sound; what they thought it was is in their own words.
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7Therefore 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.
In plain English: So they got up and fled at twilight. They left their tents, their horses and their donkeys, the camp just as it was, and fled for their lives.
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8When 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.
In plain English: When these men with the skin disease (this Bible: lepers) came to the edge of the camp, they went into one tent, ate and drank, carried off silver, gold and clothing from it, and went and hid them. Then they came back, went into another tent, carried things off from there too, and went and hid them.
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9Then 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.”
In plain English: Then they said to one another, "We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news, and we are keeping quiet. If we wait until morning light, punishment (or: guilt) will catch up with us. So come, let us go and tell the king's household."
The Hebrew word: "Punishment" is avon, which the dictionary gives as "perversity, i.e. (moral) evil". This Bible says "iniquity" or "iniquities" in 193 of the 215 verses that use it, about 9 times out of 10.
What changes: Read as "punishment", the men fear they will be punished if they wait. Read as "guilt" (or: iniquity), they fear the wrong of keeping quiet will be found out against them. Either way, they go and tell.
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10So 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.”
In plain English: So they came and called out to the gatekeepers of the city and told them, "We went to the camp of the Syrians, and there was no one there, not even the sound of a person, only the horses tied up, the donkeys tied up, and the tents just as they were."
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11Then the gatekeepers called out and told it to the king’s household within.
In plain English: The gatekeepers called out, and it was told to the king's household inside.
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12The 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.’”
In plain English: The king got up in the night and said to his servants, "Let me tell you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we are hungry, so they have gone out of the camp to hide in the open country, thinking (literally: saying), 'When they come out of the city, we will take them alive and get into the city.'"
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13One 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.”
In plain English: One of his servants answered, "Please let some men take five of the horses that are left, the ones remaining in the city. Look, they are like all the crowd of Israel who are left in it; look, they are like all the crowd of Israel who have come to an end (this Bible: are consumed). Let us send and see."
Good to know: The Hebrew gives the two sentences side by side, and this Bible keeps both: "they are like all the multitude of Israel who are left in it" and "they are like all the multitude of Israel who are consumed" (or: have come to an end). The old Greek translation in this collection (Brenton) has the sentence once. The text does not explain more.
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14Therefore they took two chariots with horses; and the king sent them out to the Syrian army, saying, “Go and see.”
In plain English: So they took two chariots with horses, and the king sent them after the army of the Syrians, saying, "Go and see."
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15They 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.
In plain English: They went after them as far as the Jordan, and the whole road was full of clothing and equipment that the Syrians had thrown away in their haste. The messengers came back and told the king.
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16The 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 Yahweh’s word.
In plain English: The people went out and plundered the camp of the Syrians. So a seah of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two seahs (this Bible: two measures) of barley for a shekel, according to Yahweh's word.
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17The 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.
In plain English: The king had put the officer on whose hand he leaned in charge of the gate. The people trampled him in the gate, and he died, as the man of God had said when the king came down to him.
Good to know: Verses 17 to 20 tell again what Elisha said in verses 1 and 2, and say that it happened: the prices in verse 16, and the officer who saw it but did not eat of it.
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18It 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;”
In plain English: It happened as the man of God had told the king: "Two seahs of barley for a shekel, and a seah of fine flour for a shekel, will be sold tomorrow about this time at the gate of Samaria,"
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19and that captain answered the man of God, and said, “Now, behold, if Yahweh 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.”
In plain English: and the officer had answered the man of God, "Now look, even if Yahweh made windows in the sky, could such a thing happen?" and he had said, "Look, you will see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of it."
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20It happened like that to him, for the people trampled over him in the gate, and he died.
In plain English: And that is what happened to him: the people trampled him in the gate, and he died.
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