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The Great Famine in Samaria
v. 24. And it came to pass after this, some years after these expeditions had ceased, that Benhadad, king of Syria, gathered all his host, and went up, and besieged Samaria, evidently with the object of making the land of Israel tributary altogether.
v. 25. And there was a great famine in Samaria; and, behold, they besieged it, until an ass's head, the poorest part of an unclean animal, was sold for fourscore pieces of silver (some $50), and the fourth part of a cab (about ten cubic inches)of dove's dung for five pieces of silver (a little over $3).
v. 26. And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman unto him, saying, Help, my lord, O king!
v. 27. And he said, in bitterness verging on despair, If the Lord do not help thee, whence shall I help thee, out of the barn-floor, the product of threshing, grain or flour, or out of the wine-press? It was the bitter irony of a soul beyond hope.
v. 28. And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, This woman, pointing out one whom she accused, said unto me, Give thy son that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow. What the Lord had foretold and threatened Deu_28:57, had come to pass in all its horror.
v. 29. So we boiled my son and did eat him, the most revolting form of cannibalism. And I said unto her on the next day, Give thy son that we may eat him; and she hath hid her son. So this unnatural mother, driven practically to insanity by excessive hunger, demanded justice, the fulfillment of the horrible bargain.
v. 30. And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he rent his clothes, in uncontrollable grief and horror; and he passed by upon the wall, and the people looked, and, behold, he had sackcloth within, as his undergarment, upon his flesh, the symbol of humility, which in his case, however, was more in the form of a mechanical exercise of penance.
v. 31. Then he said, in an unreasonable rage against the prophet whom he, in some way, held responsible for the terrible conditions now disclosed, God do so and more also to me if the head of Elisha, the son of Shaphat, shall stand on him this day! He pledged himself, by a terrible oath, to murder Elisha.
v. 32. But Elisha sat in his house, and the elders, the magistrates of the city, sat with him, probably for the purpose of asking his counsel and assistance. And the king sent a man from before him; but ere the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, having received a Revelation from God, See ye how this son of a murderer, namely, Jehoram, the son of Ahab, hath sent to take away mine head? Look when the messenger cometh, shut the door, and hold him fast at the door, not permitting him to enter and commit the crime which he had been commissioned to commit. Is not the sound of his master's feet behind him? Jehoram was following upon the heels of the messenger.
v. 33. And while he yet talked with them, behold, the messenger came down unto him; and he, the king, said, Behold, this evil is of the Lord; what should I wait for the Lord any longer? This was probably the course advised by Elisha, the king having been ready to capitulate some time before. The king's words were the cry of one in the depths of despair. Note: Although it is customary to this day to place the blame for many misfortunes on the Christians, the latter are, in truth, a blessing and a protection for every Country.