2 Kings 7:2

2 Kings 7:2 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Then a lord on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, Behold, if the Lord would make windows in heaven, might this thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.
• New International Version (NIV)The officer on whose arm the king was leaning said to the man of God, “Look, even if the Lord should open the floodgates of the heavens, could this happen?” “You will see it with your own eyes,” answered Elisha, “but you will not eat any of it!”
• English Standard Version (ESV)Then the captain on whose hand the king leaned said to the man of God, "If the Lord himself should make windows in heaven, could this thing be?" But he said, "You shall see it with your own eyes, but you shall not eat of it."
• New King James Version (NKJV)So an officer on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God and said, “Look, if the Lord would make windows in heaven, could this thing be?” And he said, “In fact, you shall see it with your eyes, but you shall not eat of it.”

Context of 2 Kings 7:2

1Elisha said, ‘Now listen to the Lord's message! This is what the Lord says: “About this time tomorrow, five kilograms of good flour will cost only one piece of silver. Ten kilograms of barley will also cost one piece of silver. You will be able to buy this food at the gate of Samaria.” ’ The special officer who was near to the king said to the man of God, ‘That will never happen! Even if the Lord opens the skies and sends us rain, it could not happen so soon.’ Elisha said, ‘You yourself will see this happen, but you will not eat any of the food!’ 3At this time, there were four men who had leprosy. They were at Samaria's gate where people went in to the city. They said to each other, ‘We should not stay here. If we wait here we will die. 4There is no food in the city. If we go in there we will die. And if we stay here, we will die. So we will go out to the camp of the Syrian army. We will ask them to be kind to us. They may let us stay alive, or they may kill us. But we would have died anyway.’

2 Kings 7:2 word by word

וַיַּ֣עַן הַשָּׁלִ֡ישׁ אֲשֶׁר־לַמֶּלֶךְ֩ נִשְׁעָ֨ן עַל־יָד֜וֹ אֶת־אִ֣ישׁ הָאֱלֹהִים֮ וַיֹּאמַר֒ הִנֵּ֣ה יְהוָ֗ה עֹשֶׂ֤ה אֲרֻבּוֹת֙ בַּשָּׁמַ֔יִם הֲיִהְיֶ֖ה הַדָּבָ֣ר הַזֶּ֑ה וַיֹּ֗אמֶר הִנְּכָ֤ה רֹאֶה֙ בְּעֵינֶ֔יךָ וּמִשָּׁ֖ם לֹ֥א תֹאכֵֽל׃ סRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Then a lordשָׁלִישׁshâlîysh shâlôsh shâlôsh · officerH7991
• on whose handיָדyâd · handH3027
• the kingמֶ֫לֶךְmelek · kingH4428
• leanedשָׁעַןshâ‛an · to leanH8172
• answeredעָנָה‛ânâh · to answerH6030
• the manאִישׁ'îysh · manH376
• of Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
• and saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• would makeעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to makeH6213
• windowsאֲרֻבָּה'ărubbâh · windowH699
• in heavenשָׁמַיִםshâmayim shâmeh · heavenH8064
• might this thingדָּבָרdâbâr · word: thingH1697
• Behold, thou shalt seeרָאָהrâ'âh · to see: seeH7200
• with thine eyesעַ֫יִן‛ayin · eyeH5869
• but shalt not eatאָכַל'âkal · to eatH398

Cross-references for 2 Kings 7:2

• 2 Kings 5:18But I pray that the Lord will forgive me, your servant, when I do this one thing: My master, the king of Syria, often goes into the temple of our god, Rimmon. When he bends down low to worship Rimmon, he takes hold of my arm. So I also have to bend down low with him. I ask the Lord to forgive me when I do that.’
• Genesis 18:12So Sarah laughed to herself. She thought, ‘I have become old and weak. My husband is also old. I will never have a baby and be happy like that.’
• Numbers 11:21Moses said to the Lord, ‘There are 600,000 men here. But you have said, “I will give to them meat to eat for a whole month.”
• Psalms 78:19They spoke against God, and they said, ‘Can God give us food to eat here in the wilderness?
• Genesis 7:11When Noah was 600 years old, on the 17th day of the second month, streams of water came up everywhere from below the earth. Also, the water in the heavens poured down on the earth.
• Malachi 3:10Now you must bring the whole tithe that belongs to me. Store it in my temple, so that there will be food in my house. Obey me and then see what I will do.’ That is what the Lord Almighty says. ‘You will see how much I will bless you! You will not have enough room to store all the good things that I will give to you. I will pour blessings out of the sky like rain.
• 2 Kings 7:17The king had told his special officer to stand at the gate of the city. When the people ran out of the city, they knocked him down. He fell under their feet and he died. The man of God had already said that this would happen, when the king had come to his house.
• Deuteronomy 3:27Go up to the top of Mount Pisgah. Stand there and look all around, to the west, north, south and east. Look carefully at the land, because you will not go across the Jordan River.
• 2 Chronicles 20:20Early the next morning, Jehoshaphat prepared to leave with his army. They started to march to the Tekoa desert. When they were ready to leave, Jehoshaphat stood up and he said, ‘Listen to me, people of Judah and people who live in Jerusalem! Trust in the Lord your God. Then you will be safe. Believe the message that his prophets have spoken. Then you will win the battle.’
• Isaiah 7:9The capital city of Ephraim is Samaria. And the king of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If you do not continue to trust me, you will not be strong enough to win.” ’
• Romans 3:3But you may say, ‘Some Jews did not believe God's messages as they should have done. Because of that, maybe God will not do what he said he would do.’
• 2 Timothy 2:13Even if we no longer trust him, he will still be someone that people can trust. He will always remain true to his nature.’
• Hebrews 3:17Who was God angry with for 40 years? He was angry with those same people. They did what was wrong. So they died and their bodies remained in the wilderness.

Commentaries on 2 Kings 7:2

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2Then a lord - שליש shalish . This word, as a name of office, occurs often, and seems to point out one of the highest offices in the state. So unlikely was this prediction to be fulfilled, that he thought God must pour out wheat and barley from heaven before it could have a literal accomplishment. But shalt not eat thereof - This was a mere prediction of his death, but not as a judgment for his unbelief; any person in his circumstances might have spoken as…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2A lord - Rather, “the captain,” as in Exodus 14:7; 1 Kings 9:22; etc. The term itself, שׁלישׁ shâlı̂ysh (derived from שׁלושׁ shâlôsh “three,”) may be compared with the Latin “tribunus.” Windows - Rather, “sluices” (compare Genesis 7:11). The “lord” means to say “If Yahweh were to open sluices in heaven, and pour down grain as He poured down rain in the time of the Deluge, even then could there be such abudnance as thou speakest of?”Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 2Joram's officer did not believe, so he missed out on God's blessings.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 22. a lord on whose hand the king leaned--When an Eastern king walks or stands abroad in the open air, he always supports himself on the arm of the highest courtier present. if the Lord would make windows in heaven--The scoffing infidelity of this remark, which was a sneer against not the prophet only, but the God he served, was justly and signally punished (see 2Ki 7:20).Read the comment

Topics related to 2 Kings 7:2

• Elisha
• Israel, Prophecies Concerning
• Prophecy
• Unbelief

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• man of God
• Elisha
• Manner
• Samaria
• Astronomy
• Benhadad
• Buying
• Captain

Commentaries on 2 Kings 7

• 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