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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 2 Kings 6:24-33

This last paragraph of this chapter should, of right, have been the first of the next chapter, for it begins a new story, which is there continued and concluded. Here is, I. The siege which the king of Syria laid to Samaria and the great distress which the city was reduced to thereby. The Syrians had soon forgotten the kindnesses they had lately received in Samaria, and very ungratefully, for aught that appears without any provocation, sought the destruction of it, 2 Kgs. 6:24. There are base... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Kings 6:28

And the king said unto her, what aileth thee ?.... His passion subsiding, or pitying her as in distress, and supposing that there might be something particular and pressing in her case: and she answered : this woman said unto me ; who was now with her, and to whom she pointed: give thy son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow ; and this was agreed to between them, that first one should be eaten, and then the other, and that they should feed upon one as long... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Kings 6:24-33

Half-heartedness. Jehoram was altogether half-hearted in his religion. He "halted between two opinions." While he paid a certain amount of respect to Elisha, as the prophet of Jehovah, he nevertheless allowed the worship of Baal to continue in the capital ( 2 Kings 10:18-28 ), if not elsewhere, and maintained the calf-worship also at Dan and Bethel ( 2 Kings 3:3 ). He had suffered himself to be guided by Elisha in respect of the Syrian prisoners captured by the prophet ( 2 Kings 6:23 ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Kings 6:24-33

Samaria besieged. I. A CITY IN DISTRESS . Once more the people of Samaria were in great straits. A besieging army was at their gates, and, most terrible of all, the horrors of famine were within their walls. They were reduced to the greatest extremities. The women were actually beginning to cook and eat their own children. Whichever way they looked, the prospect was dark. To open the gates to the Syrians meant death or captivity. And the longer they remained within their walls, the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Kings 6:24-33

Subjects worth considering. "And it came to pass after this, that Benhadad king of Syria gathered all his host, and went up, and besieged Samaria," etc. These verses, brimful of the wicked and the horrible, press the following subjects on our attention. I. THE INHUMANITY OF WAR . "And it came to pass after this, that Benhadad king of Syria gathered all his host, and went up, and besieged Samaria. And there was a great famine in Samaria: and, behold, they besieged it, until an... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Kings 6:24-33

The siege of Samaria. Unwarned by the failure of previous attempts, Benhadad was soon engaged in a new war on Israel. The fresh invasion was made the occasion of a fresh deliverance, more wonderful than any of the preceding, but not before Samaria had been reduced to the most desperate straits. I. THE HORRORS OF A SIEGE . 1. The city invested . The King of Syria advanced with his army, and struck a direct blow at the capital of the country. Samaria was the key of the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Kings 6:28

And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? Probably, as Bahr suggests, the woman explained to the king that she did not appear before him to beg food, but to claim his interposition as judge, in a case in which she considered herself to be wronged. Such an appeal the king was bound to hear; and he therefore asks," What aileth thee?" i.e. "What is thy ground of complaint?" Then she tells her story. And she answered, This woman said unto me, Give thy son, that we may eat him today, and... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 2 Kings 6:28

The king had assumed that the cry of the woman was for food. Her manner indicated that it was not so. He therefore proceeded to inquire what she wanted of him.This woman - Both women, it would seem, were present; and the aggrieved one pointed to the other. read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - 2 Kings 6:28-29

2 Kings 6:28-29. The king said, What aileth thee? Is there any thing singular in thy case? Dost thou fare worse than thy neighbours? Truly, yes: she and one of her neighbours had made a barbarous agreement, that, all provisions failing, they should boil and eat her son first, and then her neighbour’s: hers was eaten, (who can think on it without horror?) and now her neighbour hid hers. This shocking story is a terrible effect of the divine vengeance, which Moses, about six hundred years... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - 2 Kings 6:8-33

Miracles of warning to Israel (6:8-8:15)The remaining stories of Elisha concentrate on his dealings with the rulers of Israel and Syria. God was going to use Syria to punish Israel for its sin during the period of the Omri dynasty, but first he had various lessons to teach the two nations.On one occasion when Israel and Syria were fighting each other, Elisha repeatedly warned the Israelite king of Syrian ambushes (8-10). The Syrian king was furious when he learnt why his ambushes failed, and... read more

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