2 Kings 7:9 - Exposition

Then they said one to another, We do not well. It was a tardy recognition of what their duty required of them. As Grotius says, "Officium civium est ea indicate, quae ad salutem publicam pertinent." Their fellow-countrymen in the city of Samaria were perishing of hunger, mothers eating their children, and the like, while they employed hour after hour in collecting and hiding away their booty. They ought, as soon as they had satisfied their hunger, to have hurried back to the city and spread the good news. This day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace ; i.e. we keep silence, and do not proclaim them, as we ought. If we tarry till the morning light, some mischief will come upon us ; rather, punishment will fall on us ; we shall suffer for what we have done—a very reasonable supposition. Now therefore come, that we may go and tell the king's household. The "king's household" means the court, the medium through which the king was ordinarily approached.