3 Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate: and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die?
"Command the children of Israel that they put out of the camp every leper, and everyone who has an issue, and whoever is unclean by the dead. Both male and female shall you put out, outside of the camp shall you put them; that they not defile their camp, in the midst of which I dwell." The children of Israel did so, and put them out outside of the camp; as Yahweh spoke to Moses, so did the children of Israel.
Yahweh said to Moses, If her father had but spit in her face, shouldn't she be ashamed seven days? let her be shut up outside of the camp seven days, and after that she shall be brought in again.
"The leper in whom the plague is shall wear torn clothes, and the hair of his head shall hang loose. He shall cover his upper lip, and shall cry, 'Unclean! Unclean!' All the days in which the plague is in him he shall be unclean. He is unclean. He shall dwell alone. Outside of the camp shall be his dwelling.
Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honorable, because by him Yahweh had given victory to Syria: he was also a mighty man of valor, [but he was] a leper.
If we say, We will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there; and if we sit still here, we die also. Now therefore come, and let us fall to the host of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die.
Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the fortified cities, and let us be silent there; for Yahweh our God has put us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against Yahweh.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on 2 Kings 7
Commentary on 2 Kings 7 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 7
2Ki 7:1-16. Elisha Prophesies Incredible Plenty in Samaria.
1. Hear ye the word of the Lord—This prediction, though uttered first to the assembled elders, was intimated to the king's messengers, who reported it to Jehoram (2Ki 7:18).
To-morrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, &c.—This may be estimated at a peck of fine flour for 2s. 6d., and two pecks of barley at the same price.
in the gate of Samaria—Vegetables, cattle, all sorts of country produce, are still sold every morning at the gates of towns in the East.
2. a lord on whose hand the king leaned—When an Eastern king walks or stands abroad in the open air, he always supports himself on the arm of the highest courtier present.
if the Lord would make windows in heaven—The scoffing infidelity of this remark, which was a sneer against not the prophet only, but the God he served, was justly and signally punished (see 2Ki 7:20).
3. there were four leprous men—The account of the sudden raising of the siege and the unexpected supply given to the famishing inhabitants of Samaria, is introduced by a narrative of the visit and discovery, by these poor creatures, of the extraordinary flight of the Syrians.
leprous men at the entering in of the gate—living, perhaps, in some lazar house there (Le 13:4-6; Nu 5:3).
5. they rose up in the twilight—that is, the evening twilight (2Ki 7:12).
the uttermost part of the camp of Syria—that is, the extremity nearest the city.
6, 7. the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots—This illusion of the sense of hearing, whereby the besiegers imagined the tramp of two armies from opposite quarters, was a great miracle which God wrought directly for the deliverance of His people.
8-11. these lepers … did eat and drink—After they had appeased their hunger and secreted as many valuables as they could carry, their consciences smote them for concealing the discovery and they hastened to publish it in the city.
10. horses tied, and asses tied, and the tents as they were—The uniform arrangement of encampments in the East is to place the tents in the center, while the cattle are picketed all around, as an outer wall of defense; and hence the lepers describe the cattle as the first objects they saw.
12-15. the king … said unto his servants, I will now show you what the Syrians have done—Similar stratagems have been so often resorted to in the ancient and modern wars of the East that there is no wonder Jehoram's suspicions were awakened. But the scouts, whom he despatched, soon found unmistakable signs of the panic that had struck the enemy and led to a most precipitate flight.
2Ki 7:17-20. The Unbelieving Lord Trodden to Death.
17. the king appointed the lord on whose hand he leaned,—&c. The news spread like lightning through the city, and was followed, as was natural, by a popular rush to the Syrian camp. To keep order at the gate, the king ordered his minister to keep guard; but the impetuosity of the famishing people could not be resisted. The lord was trodden to death, and Elisha's prophecy in all respects accomplished.