What is the meaning of 2 Kings 6:25? So there was a great famine in Samaria. • The text presents a literal, historic scarcity so intense that daily life ground to a halt. • The famine is God-allowed, following Ben-hadad’s invasion (2 Kings 6:24) and mirroring covenant warnings like Deuteronomy 28:53: “You will eat the flesh of your own sons and daughters …”. • Similar judgments fell in 1 Kings 18:2 and Lamentations 4:9–10, underscoring that prolonged disobedience invites real-world consequences. Indeed, they besieged the city so long • A siege cuts off food, water, and hope; here the Arameans ringed Samaria until every storehouse was empty. • Deuteronomy 28:52 foretold, “They will besiege all the towns throughout the land… until the high walls you trust in come down”. • Other sieges—2 Ki 17:5 against Samaria again, 2 Kings 24:10 against Jerusalem, 2 Chronicles 32:1 against Hezekiah—confirm that God’s word stands literally fulfilled in Israel’s history. That a donkey’s head sold for eighty shekels of silver • Donkeys were unclean for eating (Leviticus 11:2–7), and the head is the least edible part, yet people now pay eighty shekels—roughly the price of a healthy horse—showing sheer desperation. • Inflation under judgment is also pictured in Haggai 1:6 and Revelation 6:6; when God withholds blessing, even worthless items gain exorbitant value. • Lamentations 4:5 laments a similar reversal: “Those who once ate delicacies are destitute in the streets”. And a quarter cab of dove’s dung sold for five shekels of silver • Whether literal bird droppings (used for fuel or salt) or a meager pulse-based food, the phrase signals that nothing nourishing remained. • Five shekels—months of wages—buys barely a handful, echoing Ezekiel 4:9–10 where the prophet eats rationed bread during a mock siege. • The hopelessness will make the coming deliverance (2 Kings 7:1,16) shine brighter, proving God can overturn scarcity in a night. summary 2 Kings 6:25 records a real famine during a real siege. God’s covenant warnings came to pass: unclean donkey heads and mere scraps commanded luxury prices. The verse exposes how sin leads to literal, crushing want, yet it also sets the stage for the Lord’s miraculous rescue in the next chapter—reminding believers today that His word is unfailingly accurate, His judgments just, and His mercy ready to break through any siege. |
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