And they rose up in the twilight, to go unto the camp of the Syrians ,...., The dusk of the evening, or the evening twilight, as appears from 2 Kings 7:9 , and when they were come to the uttermost part of the camp of Syria ; not the further part of it, but the edge or border of it nearest to them: behold, there was no man there ; no sentinel or guard, which they expected, and to whom they would have surrendered themselves. read more
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 ,.... Or of many armies, as the Targum; either in the air by the ministry of angels; or the Lord so wrought upon their imagination, that they fancied they heard such noises; or he caused such noises in their ears: and they said one to another, lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites ; one of the nations of the Canaanites, and may... read more
Wherefore they arose and fled in the twilight ,.... Or in the dark, as the Targum; when the twilight was going off; so that the lepers came very quickly after they were gone, 2 Kings 7:5 . and left their tents, and their horses, and their asses ; such was their fright, that they could not stay to loose their cattle, with which they might have made greater speed, but ran away on foot: and they left even the camp as it was ; took nothing away with them, either money or provisions: ... read more
The uttermost part of the camp - Where the Syrian advanced guards should have been. read more
The Lord had made the - Syrians to hear a noise - This threw them into confusion; they imagined that they were about to be attacked by powerful auxiliaries, which the king of Israel had hired against them. read more
THE SIEGE OF SAMARIA ( continued ) : THE DELIVERANCE . read more
The sin of the scoffer, and its punishment. Unbelief may be involuntary, and so neither incur guilt nor deserve punishment. St. Paul "obtained mercy" notwithstanding his bitter persecution of the, early Christians, "because he did it ignorantly in unbelief" ( 1 Timothy 1:13 ). Modem skeptics are, no doubt, in many cases unable to believe, their eyes being blinded through their education, through ingrained prejudice or invincible ignorance. But to scoff at religion must be at all times a... read more
The force of will. "And there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate," etc. Here we have— I. MEN INVOLVED IN THE MOST WRETCHED CONDITION . "There were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate." Of all the diseases which afflict mankind none is more painful, loathsome, and disastrous than leprosy. It was the scourge of the Hebrew race. Moses minutely describes the appearance of this malady, and gives clear and forcible rules to govern the medical... read more
The four lepers. "God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform." Speculation might have exhausted itself in vain in conjecturing how Elisha's prediction was to be accomplished. Nevertheless, the wonder was performed by a series of events as simple as it was unlooked for. I. A POLICY OF DESPAIR . 1. The lepers at the gate . We are first introduced to four lepers at the entering in of the gate. They were outside, and had hitherto subsisted by food handed out or... read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 2 Kings 7:3-11
We are here told, I. How the siege of Samaria was raised in the evening, at the edge of night (2 Kgs. 7:6, 7), not by might or power, but by the Spirit of the Lord of hosts, striking terror upon the spirits of the besiegers. Here was not a sword drawn against them, not a drop of blood shed, it was not by thunder or hailstones that they were discomfited, nor were they slain, as Sennacherib's army before Jerusalem, by a destroying angel; but, 1. The Lord made them to hear a noise of chariots and... read more