Paul Kretzmann Commentary - 2 King 7:12 - 7:20

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Paul Kretzmann Commentary - 2 King 7:12 - 7:20


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The Great Plenty in Samaria

v. 12. And the king,
having received the astounding news, arose in the night and said unto his servants, his attendants, the members of his council, I will now show you what the Syrians have done to us; he suspected a ruse. They know that we be hungry, therefore are they gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, When they come out of the city, we shall catch them alive, for it would then be an easy matter to surprise and to overwhelm the defenders of the city, weakened as they were by hunger, and get into the city.

v. 13. And one of his servants,
a member of his council, answered and said, Let some take, I pray thee, five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city, (behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel that are left in it; behold, I say, they are even as all the multitude of the Israelites that are consumed, that is, the scouts would either return safe to the city and share the fate of the others by suffering death by famine, or they would fall into the hands of the enemies and be slain, in which case they would be no worse off than those who had already fallen,) and let us send and see.

v. 14. They took therefore two chariot horses,
two chariots with the necessary horses and probably a single horseman. And the king sent after the host of the Syrians, saying, Go and see.

v. 15. And they went after them unto Jordan,
for it was an easy matter to follow the path of their flight; and, lo, all the way was full of garments and vessels, personal belongings of the fleeing soldiers, which the Syrians had cast away in their haste. And the messengers returned and told the king.

v. 16. And the people,
who had undoubtedly awaited the return of the scouts with the greatest eagerness, went out, and spoiled the tents of the Syrians, loading themselves with booty. So a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel and two measures of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the Lord, v. 1.

v. 17. And the king appointed the lord on whose hand he leaned,
his adjutant, to have the charge of the gate, to maintain order and prevent accidents; and the people, overexcited as they were and unwilling to listen to his commands, trode upon him in the gate, roughly bearing him down and crushing him to death. And he died, as the man of God had said, who spake when the king came down to him.

v. 18. And it came to pass as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, Two measures of barley for a shekel and a measure of fine flour for a shekel shall be tomorrow about this time in the gate of Samaria,


v. 19. and that lord answered the man of God and said, Now, behold, if the Lord should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.

v. 20. And so it fell out unto him; for the people trode upon him in the gate, and he died.
The circumstantial repetition of this sad event serves to impress its lesson; for God will not be mocked, as many a blasphemer has found out to his sorrow, often, unfortunately, when it was too late.