2 Kings 6:24-33

Famine in Samaria

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24Some time later, Ben-hadad king of Aram assembled his entire army and marched up to besiege Samaria.

25So there was a great famine in Samaria. Indeed, they besieged the city so long that a donkey’s head sold for eighty shekels of silver, and a quarter cab of dove’s dung sold for five shekels of silver.

26As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, “Help me, my lord the king!”

27He answered, “If the LORD does not help you, where can I find help for you? From the threshing floor or the winepress?”

28Then the king asked her, “What is the matter?” And she answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son, that we may eat him, and tomorrow we will eat my son.’

29So we boiled my son and ate him, and the next day I said to her, ‘Give up your son, that we may eat him.’ But she had hidden her son.”

30When the king heard the words of the woman, he tore his clothes. And as he passed by on the wall, the people saw the sackcloth under his clothes next to his skin.

31He announced, “May God punish me, and ever so severely, if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders through this day!”

32Now Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. The king sent a messenger ahead, but before he arrived, Elisha said to the elders, “Do you see how this murderer has sent someone to cut off my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door to keep him out. Is not the sound of his master’s footsteps behind him?”

33While Elisha was still speaking with them, the messenger came down to him. And the king said, “This calamity is from the LORD. Why should I wait for the LORD any longer?”

Berean Standard Bible

Read aloud

Ben-hadad gathers his entire army and besieges Samaria. The city experiences a severe famine. A donkey's head sells for a high price, and even dove's dung is measured as food. The king hears a woman's cry and sees the suffering that the siege has produced.

The woman reports that they agreed to eat her son first and the other woman's son the next day. They ate her child, but the other woman then hid her own. The account gives the horror of starvation without softening it. The king tears his clothes, and the people see that he is wearing sackcloth beneath them.

Instead of turning toward repentance, the king blames Elisha and sends a messenger to kill him. Elisha sits with the elders while the messenger approaches, and he knows the king has sent someone to take his head. The messenger arrives, and the king follows, asking why he should continue to wait for the LORD.

The chapter ends before the answer. The king has worn sackcloth, but now he threatens God's prophet and rejects further waiting for the LORD. His outward expression of grief has not prevented a violent response.

Questions

1 What causes the terrible conditions in Samaria?

AnswerBen-hadad's army besieges the city, producing a famine so severe that ordinary food becomes impossibly expensive.

2 What do the people see when the king tears his clothes?

AnswerThey see sackcloth against his skin beneath his clothes, an outward expression of mourning or distress.

3 Whom does the king blame?

AnswerThe king blames Elisha for the city's suffering and sends a messenger to take the prophet's head.

4 How can we express distress without turning it against someone else?

AnswerTell God and a trustworthy person how bad things are, and seek help for the actual need. The king's threat against Elisha cannot feed the city. Anger and grief do not give us permission to harm another person.

What This Means for Us

This is one of the Bible's most disturbing famine scenes, and it should not be turned into a tidy illustration. The suffering is real, and the king's sackcloth does not automatically make his response faithful.

Extreme pressure reveals where blame travels. When circumstances become unbearable, make room for lament and urgent action, but do not assume that punishing a truth-teller will solve the crisis or restore what has been lost.

Prayer

Lord, remember families facing hunger, war, and conditions we can scarcely imagine. Give leaders compassion and wisdom, protect the vulnerable, and keep our own suffering from turning us toward blame, cruelty, or despair. Amen.

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