Christian Standard Bible
2 Kings 6:28
28Then the king asked her, “What’s the matter?” She said, “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son, and we will eat him today. Then we will eat my son tomorrow.’
2 Kings 6:28 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, This woman said unto me, Give thy son, that we may eat him to day, and we will eat my son to morrow.
- New International Version (NIV)Then he asked her, “What’s the matter?” She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son so we may eat him today, and tomorrow we’ll eat my son.’
- English Standard Version (ESV)And the king asked her, "What is your trouble?" She answered, "This woman said to me, 'Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.'
- New King James Version (NKJV)Then the king said to her, “What is troubling you?” And she answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’
Context of 2 Kings 6:28
26As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, “My lord the king, help!” 27He answered, “If the Lord doesn’t help you, where can I get help for you? From the threshing floor or the winepress?” Then the king asked her, “What’s the matter?” She said, “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son, and we will eat him today. Then we will eat my son tomorrow.’ 29So we boiled my son and ate him, and I said to her the next day, ‘Give up your son, and we will eat him,’ but she has hidden her son.” 30When the king heard the woman’s words, he tore his clothes. Then, as he was passing by on the wall, the people saw that there was sackcloth under his clothes next to his skin.
Read all of 2 Kings 62 Kings 6:28 word by word
וַיֹּֽאמֶר־לָ֥הּ הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ מַה־לָּ֑ךְ וַתֹּ֗אמֶר הָאִשָּׁ֨ה הַזֹּ֜את אָמְרָ֣ה אֵלַ֗י תְּנִ֤י אֶת־בְּנֵךְ֙ וְנֹאכְלֶ֣נּוּ הַיּ֔וֹם וְאֶת־בְּנִ֖י נֹאכַ֥ל מָחָֽר׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for 2 Kings 6:28
- Genesis 21:17God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What’s wrong, Hagar? Don’t be afraid, for God has heard the boy crying from the place where he is.
- Judges 18:23They called to the Danites, who turned to face them, and said to Micah, “What’s the matter with you that you mustered the men?”
- 1 Samuel 1:8“Hannah, why are you crying?” her husband, Elkanah, would ask. “Why won’t you eat? Why are you troubled? Am I not better to you than ten sons?”
- 2 Samuel 14:5“What’s the matter?” the king asked her. “Sadly, I am a widow; my husband died,” she said.
- Psalms 114:5Why was it, sea, that you fled? Jordan, that you turned back?
- Isaiah 22:1A pronouncement concerning the Valley of Vision: What’s the matter with you? Why have all of you gone up to the rooftops?
- Leviticus 26:29You will eat the flesh of your sons; you will eat the flesh of your daughters.
- Deuteronomy 28:53“You will eat your offspring, the flesh of your sons and daughters the Lord your God has given you during the siege and hardship your enemy imposes on you.
- Isaiah 9:20They carve meat on the right, but they are still hungry; they have eaten on the left, but they are still not satisfied. Each one eats the flesh of his arm.
- Isaiah 49:15“Can a woman forget her nursing child, or lack compassion for the child of her womb? Even if these forget, yet I will not forget you.
- Lamentations 4:10The hands of compassionate women have cooked their own children; they became their food during the destruction of my dear people.
- Ezekiel 5:10As a result, fathers will eat their sons within Jerusalem, and sons will eat their fathers. I will execute judgments against you and scatter all your survivors to every direction of the wind.
- Matthew 24:18and a man in the field must not go back to get his coat.
- Luke 23:29Look, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the women without children, the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed!’
Commentaries on 2 Kings 6:28
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 28The king had assumed that the cry of the woman was for food. Her manner indicated that it was not so. He therefore proceeded to inquire what she wanted of him. This woman - Both women, it would seem, were present; and the aggrieved one pointed to the other.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 24-33Verses 24-33 Learn to value plenty, and to be thankful for it; see how contemptible money is, when in time of famine it is so freely parted with for any thing that is eatable! The language of Jehoram to the woman may be the language of despair. See the word of God fulfilled; among the threatenings of God's judgments upon Israel for their sins, this was one, that they should eat the flesh of their own children, De 28:53-57. The truth and the awful justice…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 26-29Cannibalism (the act of eating human flesh) in extreme times was part of God’s warning of judgment for unfaithfulness and disobedience (Deuteronomy 28:53, 57). It also happened during the siege that led to Jerusalem's fall (Lamentations 4:9–10).Read the comment
Topics related to 2 Kings 6:28
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on 2 Kings 6
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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