English Standard Version
2 Kings 6:28
28And 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.'
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.’
- 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.’
- New Living Translation (NLT)But then the king asked, “What is the matter?” She replied, “This woman said to me: ‘Come on, let’s eat your son today, then we will eat my son tomorrow.’
Context of 2 Kings 6:28
26Now as the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, saying, "Help, my lord, O king!" 27And he said, "If the Lord will not help you, how shall I help you? From the threshing floor, or from the winepress?" 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.' 29So we boiled my son and ate him. And on the next day I said to her, 'Give your son, that we may eat him.' But she has hidden her son." 30When the king heard the words of the woman, he tore his clothes—now he was passing by on the wall—and the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth beneath on his body—
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 21:17And God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, "What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is.
- Judges 18:23And they shouted to the people of Dan, who turned around and said to Micah, "What is the matter with you, that you come with such a company?"
- 1 Samuel 1:8And Elkanah, her husband, said to her, "Hannah, why do you weep? And why do you not eat? And why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?"
- 2 Samuel 14:5And the king said to her, "What is your trouble?" She answered, "Alas, I am a widow; my husband is dead.
- Psalms 114:5What ails you, O sea, that you flee? O Jordan, that you turn back?
- Isaiah 22:1The oracle concerning the valley of vision. What do you mean that you have gone up, all of you, to the housetops,
- Leviticus 26:29You shall eat the flesh of your sons, and you shall eat the flesh of your daughters.
- Deuteronomy 28:53And you shall eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of your sons and daughters, whom the Lord your God has given you, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemies shall distress you.
- Isaiah 9:20They slice meat on the right, but are still hungry, and they devour on the left, but are not satisfied; each devours the flesh of his own arm,
- Isaiah 49:15"Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.
- Lamentations 4:10The hands of compassionate women have boiled their own children; they became their food during the destruction of the daughter of my people.
- Ezekiel 5:10Therefore fathers shall eat their sons in your midst, and sons shall eat their fathers. And I will execute judgments on you, and any of you who survive I will scatter to all the winds.
- Matthew 24:18and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak.
- Luke 23:29For behold, the days are coming when they will say, 'Blessed are the barren and 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
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries